Ecology Concepts

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habitat

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All the biotic and abiotic factors in the area where an organism lives.

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ecological niche

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All the physical, chemical and biological factors that a species needs to survive, stay healthy and reproduce. How an organism lives and functions within its habitat (the organism's job).

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competitive exclusion

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The principle that states that when two species are competing for the same resources, one species will be better suited to the niche, and the other species will be pushed into another niche or become extinct.

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ecological equivalent

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Species that occupy similar niches but live in different geographical regions.

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competition

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The term used to describe two organisms fighting for the same limited resources. It may be intraspecific (same species) or interspecific (different species) wanting the same resource.

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predation

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The process by which one organism captures and feeds upon another organism.

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symbiosis

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A close ecological relationship between two or more organisms of different species that live in direct contact with one another.

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mutualism

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An interspecies interaction in which both organisms benefit from one another.

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commensalism

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A relationship between two organisms in which one receives an ecological benefit from another, while the other neither benefits nor is harmed.

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parasitism

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A relationship similar to predation in that one organism benefits while the other is harmed, but different in that the host is kept alive.