Ecology

• Abiotic

  Non living factors eg temperature
• Biotic

  Living factors eg food
• Edaphic

  Soil factors eg water content
• Climatic

  Effect of weather over long periods of time eg light intensity
• Ecology

  The study of the interaction between groups of organisms and their environment
• Population

  Group of organisms of the same species living in part of an ecosystem
• Community

  Group of organisms of different species
• Ecosystem

  Community of organisms interacting with their environment
• Biosphere

  Part of the earth and its atmosphere where organisms can live
• Habitat

  Place where an organism lives
• Competition

  Plants and animals fight for resources eg food
• Predators

  Organism which kills and eats another organism called prey
• Parasites

  Organism that lives in or on another living organism called a host for nourishment causing it harm
• Producer

  Green plants which make their own food through photosynthesis
• Consumers

  Organisms that eat other organisms
• Food chain

  Feeding relationship between organisms in which energy is transferred from the sun to plants and then to animals
• Grazing food chain

  Starts with a living green plant
• Detritus food chain

  Starts with a dead organisms
• Decomposers

  Organism that breaks down the dead remains of plants and animals to recycle nutrients to soil
• Food web

  A series of interconnected food chains
• Pyramid of numbers

  A diagram which shows the number of each organism at each trophic level
• Food niche

  Functional role of an organism in a habitat
• Intra specific competition

  Takes place between members of the same species
• Inter specific competition

  Takes place between members of different species
• Contest competition

  Physical competition between 2 organisms
• Scramble competition

  Each organism tries to get as much of the resource as possible
• Prey

  Organism killed and eaten by a predator
• Predation

  Catching, killing and eating of another organism
• Symbiosis

  Relationship between 2 organisms of different species in which at least one of them benefits
• Symbiosis - mutualism

  Both organisms benefit
• Symbiosis - commensalism

  One organism benefits but does not cause harm to the host
• Symbiosis - parasitism

  One organism benefits but causes harm to the host
• Nutrient recycling

  The conversion of mineral elements such as carbon and nitrogen back and forth between abiotic and biotic forms for use in the ecosystem
• Nitrogen fixation (anaerobic)

  Nitrogen gas is fixed by nitrogen fixing bacteria to form ammonia, ammonium or nitrate
• Nitrification

  Nitrifying bacteria convert ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrate
• Pollution

  Any addition of harmful substances to the environment
• Pollutant

  Substance which contaminates the environment
• Conservation

  Wise management of the environment to maintain biodiversity and prevent extinction
• Biodiversity

  The range of living things in the ecosystem
• Waste management

  Methods of preventing waste and reducing harmful effects of waste on environment