ecology

• Ecology is the study of the interrelationships of living organisms with each other and with their environment
• Environment - the combination of factors that surround and act upon an organism.
• Factors of the environment can be divided into two groups:

  • biotic factors
  • abiotic factors
• Biotic factors - living organisms (predators, prey, competitors, parasites, pathogens)
• Abiotic factors - Non-living chemical and physical factors
• Habitat - the place where a particular organism lives
• Species - a group of organisms of common ancestry that closely resemble each other and are normally capable of interbreeding to produce fertile offspring
• Population - all the members of a particular species living together in a particular habitat.
• Ecosystem - A community of living organisms interacting with each other and with their abiotic environment.
• Niche - the position or role of an organism within an ecosystem
• Biosphere - life supporting portions of Earth composed of air, land, fresh water and salt water.
• The abiotic environment supplies living organisms with many of the requirements that they need to survive.
• Abiotic factors may be divided into three groups:

  • edaphic factors
  • climatic factors
  • aquatic factors