UNIT 1

• Community Ecology

  The study of interactions among species
• Symbiosis 


  Two species living in a close and long-term association with one another in an ecosystem.
• Biosphere

  The region of our planet where life resides
• Competition

  The struggle of individuals, either within or between species, to obtain a shared limiting resource.
• Competitive exclusion principle


  The principle states that two species competing for the same limiting resource cannot coexist.
• Resource partitioning 


  When two species evolve to divide a resource based on differences in their behavior or morphology.
• Predation


  An interaction in which one animal typically kills and consumes another animal.
• Parasitoid

  A specialized type of predator that lays eggs inside other organisms-referred to as its host.
• Parasitism

  An interaction in which one organism lives on or in another organism is referred to as the host.
• Pathogen

  A parasite that causes disease in its host.
• Herbivory 


  An interaction in which an animal consumes plants or algae.
• Mutualism


  An interaction between two species increases the chances of survival or reproduction for both species.
• Photosynthesis 


  The process by which plants and algae use solar energy to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) into glucose (C6 H12 O6) and oxygen (O2).
• Commensalism

  An interaction between two species in which one species benefits and the other species is neither harmed nor help
• Native species

  A species that lives in its historical range typically where it has lived for thousands or millions of years.
• Exotic species

  A species living outside its historical range. Also known as Alien species.
• Biome

  The plants and animals that are found in a particular region of the world.
• Terrestrial biome

  A geographic region of land is categorized by a particular combination of average annual temperature, annual precipitation, and distinctive plant growth forms.
• Aquatic Biome

  An aquatic region is characterized by a particular combined of salinity, depth, and water flow.
• Habitat

  An area where a particular species lives in nature.
• Tundra

  A cold and treeless biome with low-growing vegetation.
• Permafrost

  An impermeable, permanently frozen layer of soil.
• Taiga 


  A forest biome made up primarily of coniferous evergreen trees that can tolerate cold winters and short growing seasons. Also known as boreal forest.
• Invasive species

  A species that spreads rapidly across large areas and causes harm.
• Temperate rainforest

  A coastal biome typified by moderate temperatures and high precipitation.
• Temperate seasonal forest

  A biome with warm summers and cold winters with over 1 m (39 inches) of annual precipitation
• Shrubland

  A biome characterized by hot, dry summers and mild rainy winters. Also known as woodland.
• Ecosystem - all the living things (biotic) and nonliving parts (abiotic) that interact with one another within an area.
• Temperate grassland

  A biome characterized by cold, harsh winters and hot, dry summers. Also known as cold desert.
• Tropical rainforest

  A warm and wet biome found between 20 degrees North and 20 degrees South of the equator, with little seasonal temperature variation and high precipitation.
• Savanna

  A biome marked by warm temperatures and distinct wet and dry seasons. Also known as tropical seasonal forest.
• Hot desert

  A biome located at roughly 30 degrees North and 30 degrees South, and characterized by hot temperatures, extremely dry conditions, and sparse vegetation.
• Freshwater biomes

  Categorized as streams and rivers, lakes and ponds, or freshwater wetlands.