Communities

• Habitat - a place where an organism lives
• Population - all the organisms of one species which live in a habitat
• Community - all the populations of different species living in a habitat
• Stable community - a community in which the size of the populations of all the species remain relatively constant over time
• Interdependence - all organisms in an ecosystem depend upon each other
• Ecosystem - the interaction of a community of living organisms with the non-living parts of their environment
• Competition - when organisms in an ecosystem in which they both try to use the same limited resource
• Animals compete for;

  • Territory
  • Food and water
  • Mates
• Plants compete for;

  • Space
  • Water
  • Mineral ions
  • Light
• Omnivores - an organism that eats plants and and animals.
• Carnivores - an organism that eats animals.
• Herbivores - an organism that eats plants.
• Decomposers - bacteria and fungi that break down decaying material.
• Detritivores - small organisms which feeds on dead material.
• Decomposers and detritivores decompose dead plant and animal matter, which allows for nutrients to be recycled back into the ground to be used again.