Food Chains, Food Webs, and Energy Levels Vocabulary

The intimate living together of members of two different species; including mutualism, commensalism, and, in some classifications parasitism

A situation in which predation reduces prey population and gives an advantage to competitors that might not otherwise be successful.

An organism that lives in or on another organism, deriving nourishment at the expense of its host, usually without killing it.

An ecological succession that begins in an area where no biotic community previously existed.

In primary succession on a terrestrial site, the plants, lichens, and microbes that first colonized a site.

The place or set of environmental contitions in which a particular organism lives.

A relatively stable, long-lasting community reached in a successional series; usually determined by climate and soil type.

The number or amount of something.

The functional role and positition of a species (population) within a community or and ecosystem, including what resources it uses, how and when it uses the resources, and how it reacts with other populations.

Any changes, either spontanious or by external factors, in the genetic material of a cell. These changes held in the gametes (sex cells) can be inherited by future generations or organisms.