1. Ecosystems Essential Question:
How do organisms interact with and respond to components of their environment?

2. Vocabulary Species Competition Population Coexistence
Community Cooperation
Ecosystem Symbiosis
Habitat Commensalism
Niche Parasitism
Biotic Mutualism
Abiotic

3. Concept How populations are affected in ecosystems;
Relationships among populations.

4. Species
Group of organisms that share characteristics and can breed with one another.
Example: white-tailed deer.

5. Population All the members of a species living in a certain area.
Example: white-tailed deer in a forest.

6. Community All the populations of different species living in an area.
Example: white-tailed deer, chipmunks, trees, fungi, insects living in a forest.

7. Ecosystem
All the living AND nonliving parts of an environment, plus how they interact.
Terrestrial – land (forest, desert, grassland.)
NC’s main ecosystem – temperate deciduous forest.
Aquatic - Freshwater – rivers, lakes, wetlands.
Aquatic - Marine – salty ocean water.

8. Habitat The place/home where an organism lives.
Example: a rotting log is a habitat for insects, worms, and fungi.

9. Niche
How an organism acts (the role it plays) in an ecosystem.

10. Biotic Factor The LIVING factors in an ecosystem.
Example: all the plants, fungi, and animals in a forest.

11. Abiotic Factor All the NONliving factors in an ecosystem.
Example: light, temperature, weather, soil, water.

12. Ecological Relationships
How and why do organisms interact with one another?

13. Vocabulary Competition Coexistence Cooperation Predation Symbiosis
Mutualism
Parasitism
Commensalism

14. Competition
Members of a population & community compete for what they need to survive:
Water, space, sunlight, food.

15. Coexistence
Members of a community living together, but not affecting the other’s survival in the ecosystem.

16. Cooperation
Members of a population working together for survival.

17. Predation One animal attacks and preys on another. Predator and prey.

18. Symbiosis
A close relationship between two species that benefits at least one of them.

19. Commensalism One species benefits; the other is not affected.
Example: egret & cattle

20. Parasitism One organism lives in/on another organism and harms it.
The parasite lives in/on the host.
Example: fleas, ticks, leeches.

21. Mutualism
Both species benefit from the interaction.