[OLD] Populations - Ecosystems: Key Terms

Question 1

Abiotic

Answer 1

Ecological factor making up part of the non-biological environment of an organism e.g temperature, pH

Question 2

Adaptation

Answer 2

Alterations in pattern or structure resulting from natural selection that allow the organism to be fitter

Question 3

Biotic

Answer 3

Ecological factor making up part of the biological environment of an organism e.g food availability

Question 4

Community

Answer 4

All the living organisms in an ecosystem at a given time

Question 5

Ecosystem

Answer 5

All the living and non-living components of a particular area

Question 6

Environment

Answer 6

Natural biological factors that affect life in a particular place and time

Question 7

Habitat

Answer 7

Where an organism normally lives, characterised by the physical conditions (abiotic factors) and other organisms present

Question 8

Interspecific competition

Answer 8

Competition between organisms of different species

Question 9

Intraspecific competition

Answer 9

Competition between organisms of the same species

Question 10

Niche

Answer 10

How an organism fits into its environment. What a species is like, where it occurs, what it eats and its interactions with other species. Only one species can occupy a given niche at a particular time.

Question 11

Population

Answer 11

Group of individuals of the same species that occupy the same habitat at the same time

Question 12

Ecology

Answer 12

The study of organisms and their interaction with the environment

Question 13

Carrying capacity

Answer 13

The maximum stable population size of a species that an ecosystem can support

Question 14

Predation

Answer 14

Where an organism kills and eats another organism