Ecology Vocab

A place where an organism lives and that provides the types of food, shelter, moisture, and temperature needed for survival.

• habitat

• niche

• ecosystem

• organism

Cattle egrets forage (feed) in fields among cattle. The egret gets easy access to flying insects stirred up by the cattle, and the cattle don't care if they are there or not.

• mutualism
• commensalism
• competition
• parasitism

The living portions of the ecosystem.

• Biotic factors
• Abiotic factors

An organism that needs to eat other organisms to obtain energy is known as a:

• Autotroph
• Producer
• Consumer
• Mutualist

Population

• –a group of on particular organism that live in the same area
• includes all animals living in the same environment
• includes both living and nonliving things in an ecosystem
• a deer, a frog, and a ducks are an example of a population

The study of how living organisms interact with each other and with their physical environment

• Ecosystem

• Ecology

• Sustainability

• Biology

Predator

• –an organism that eats all or part of another organism
• an organism that is killed and eaten by another organism
• the name of a really bad movie
• an organism that is large and ferocious

Anything that can decrease the size of a population including living (biotic) and non living (abiotic) features of an ecosystem such as predators and drought.

• limiting factor
• habitat
• ecosystem
• carrying capacity

The nonliving aspects of an ecosystem.

• Abiotic factors
• Biotic factors

Red-billed oxpeckers are birds that often feed on parasites that infest impala.  This is an example of _______.

• commensalism
• mutualism
• neutralism
• competition