Ecology
Species
Community
Population
Ecosystem
Biosphere
Atmosphere
Hydrosphere
Lithosphere
Habitat
Niche
Biome
Ecotone
Biotic Environment
Abiotic Environment
Non-living factors in an environment.
Living factors in an environment.
A group of closely related organisms that are very
similar to each other and are usually capable of
interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.
The biosphere is the global ecological system
integrating all living beings and their relationships,
including their interaction with the elements of the
lithosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and
atmosphere.
Place where an organism or a biological population
normally lives or occurs.
Fundamental Niche - An organism free of
interference from other species which can use the
full range of conditions (biotic and abiotic) and
resources in which it can survive and reproduce is
called its fundamental niche.
Realised Niche - The part of fundamental niche that
an organism occupies as a result of limiting factors
present in its habitat.
Tolerance Range
Limiting Factors Limiting factors are environmental conditions that
limit the growth, abundance, or distribution of an
organism or a population of organisms in an
ecosystem.
The combined mass of water found on, above and
below the surface of the Earth.
A population is a group of individuals belonging to
the same species that live in the same region at the
same time. Population density is a measure of the
number of organisms that make up a population in a
defined area.
A large community of plants and animals that
occupies a distinct region. Terrestrial biomes,
typically defined by their climate and dominant
vegetation, include grassland, tundra, desert,
tropical rainforest, and deciduous and coniferous
forests.
An ecotone is a transition area between two biomes.
It is where two communities meet and integrate.
An ecosystem is a complex set of relationships
among the living resources, habitats and residents
(biotic and abiotic factors) of an area.
Earth's lithosphere includes the crust and the
uppermost mantle, which constitute the hard and
rigid outer layer of the Earth.
Tolerance refers to the niche breadth, or the range
of conditions that an organism can withstand.
Therefore, more tolerant organisms can withstand a
broader range of conditions.
The blanket of gas on the surface of the earth. Made
up of 80% nitrogen and 20% oxygen.
This is an interacting group of various species in a
common location. For example, a forest of trees and
undergrowth plants, inhabited by animals and rooted
in soil containing bacteria and fungi, constitutes a
biological community.
Symbiosis
Commensalism - One organism benefits, while the
other neither benefits nor is harmed.
Parasitism - One organism benefits by
harming/feeding off of the other.
Mutualism - Both organisms benefit.
Natural Selection
Evolution
Adaptation
Species Diversity Species diversity takes into consideration species
richness, which is the total number of different
species in a community.
The process by which different kinds of living
organisms are thought to have developed and
diversified from earlier forms during the history of the
earth. It is a change in the genetic composition of a
population during successive generations, often
resulting in the development of new species.
An adaptation can be defined as a characteristic of
an organism that makes it suited to its environment
or its particular way of life. It is a structural,
physiological (concerned with the body and how a
body functions) or behavioural characteristic that
enables the organism to survive and reproduce.
the process whereby organisms better adapted to
their environment tend to survive and produce more
offspring. Founded by the late great Charles
Bossman Darwin.
Ecosystem Stability
Ecosystem stability is an important corollary of
sustainability. Over time, the structure and function
of a healthy ecosystem should remain relatively
stable, even in the face of disturbance. If a stress or
disturbance does alter the ecosystem is should be
able to bounce back quickly.
Factors Affecting Population Growth
Biotic Potential
Exponential Population Growth
Environment Resistance
Carrying Capacity
The carrying capacity of a biological species in an
environment is the maximum population size of the
species that the environment can sustain
indefinitely, given the food, habitat, water, and other
necessities available in the environment.
