Important ecology definitions

• Abiotic factors


  Non living factors
• Biotic factors


  Living factors
• Biosphère


  The part of the planet containing living organisms
• Habitat 


  Where organisms live
• Ecology


  Study of organisms and their interaction with each other and their environment
• Ecosystem


  A group of organisms that work with each other and with their environment
• Food chain


  Sequence of organisms that shows the transfer of energy from one to the next
• Food web


  A series of interconnected food chain
• Population


  All the members of the same species living in an area
• Community


  All organisms in a habitat
• Qualitative survey


  Presence or absence of a species
• Quantitative survey


  The number of organisms
• Parasite


  An organism that lives in an organism of another species causing it harm
• Symbiosis


  Relationship between 2 organisms of different species where at least one of the species benefits
• Ectoparasites


  Lives on the outside of the host e.g fleas on a dog
• Endoparasites


  Lives inside the host e.g liverfluke in sheep or cattle
• Scramble competition


  Each organism tries to get as much of the resources as possible
• Contest competition


  Physical competition between 2 organisms with only 1 winning the resources
• Competition


  Organisms actively struggle for a resource that is in short supply
• Intra-specific competition


  between members of the same species
• Inter specific competition


  Between members of different species
• Predation


  Catching, killing and eating of another organism
• Prey


  Animal killed and eaten