COMMUNITY

• What does the term "community" refer to in ecology?

  A group of different populations interacting
• What does symbiosis mean?

  A relationship where organisms live together
• What is mutualism?

  A relationship where both organisms benefit
• What is commensalism?

  A relationship where one benefits, the other is unaffected
• What is parasitism?

  A relationship where one organism benefits and the other is harmed
• What are the two classifications of parasites?

  Endoparasites and ectoparasites
• What is competition in an ecological context?

  Organisms competing for the same resources
• What is predation?

  One organism eats another organism
• What are autotrophs?

  Organisms that make their own food
• What are heterotrophs?

  Organisms that obtain nutrients from others
• What are the roles of producers, consumers, and decomposers in a community?

  • Producers: Organisms that produce their own food
  • Consumers: Organisms that consume other organisms
  • Herbivores: Eat plants
  • Carnivores: Eat meat
  • Omnivores: Eat both plants and animals
  • Decomposers: Organisms that eat dead matter
• What are scavengers?

  Organisms that eat soft tissues
• What are detritivores?

  Organisms that consume dead organic matter
• What are saprotrophs?

  Organisms that digest dead matter externally
• What are the trophic levels in an ecosystem?

  • Primary producers: Autotrophs converting solar energy
  • Primary consumers: Herbivores eating producers
  • Secondary consumers: Primary carnivores eating herbivores
  • Tertiary consumers: Secondary carnivores eating primary carnivores
  • Decomposers: Consumers of dead plants
• How is energy passed in a food chain?

  About 10% is passed to the next level
• What is biomass?

  Total mass of organisms at a trophic level
• What does the ecological pyramid illustrate?

  Energy and biomass distribution among trophic levels
• What is the difference between a food chain and a food web?

  • Food chain: A single path of energy flow
  • Food web: Interconnected food chains in a community
• What is primary succession?

  Succession in an area without previous vegetation
• What is secondary succession?

  Succession in a habitat previously occupied by vegetation
• What is ecological succession?

  • Process of change in species structure over time
  • Involves primary and secondary succession