| A | B |
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| Community | An assemblage of all the the populations of organisms living close enough together for potential interaction. |
| Biodiversity | The variety of of different kinds of organisms that make up a community. |
| Trophic Structure | The feeding relationships among the various species making up the community. |
| Interspecific Competition | When twon different species compete. |
| Competitive Exclusion Principle | When two species living in the same area compete for the same resource(s) one will eventually outcompete the other. |
| Niche | A species role in the community. |
| Resource Partitioning | A differentiation of niches that enables similar species to coexist in a communinty. |
| Predation | An interaction between species in which one species, the predator, eats the other, the prey. |
| Predator | A consumer in a biological community. |
| Prey | An organism eaten by a predator. |
| Parasitism | A symbiotic relationship in which the parasite, a type of predator, lives within or on the surface of a host, from which it derives food. |
| Coevolution | A series of reciprocal adaptations in two species. |
| Batesian Mimicry | A palatable or harmless species mimics an unpalatable or harmful model. |
| Mullerian Mimicry | Two unpalatable species that inhabit the same community mimic each other. |
| Keystone Species | A species that exerts strong control on community structure because of its ecological role, or niche. |
| Symbiotic Relationship | An interaction between two or more species that live together in direct contact. |
| Commensalism | A symbiotic relationship in which one partner benefits without significantly affecting the other. |
| Mutualism | A symbiotic relationship where both species benefit. |
| Disturbances | Events such as storms, fires, floods, drought, overgrazing, or human activities that damage biological communities, remove organisms from them, and alter the availability of resources. |
| Ecological Succession | The transition in species composition in a community. |
| Primary Succession | Succession that occurs in an area when a community arises in a virtually lifeless area with no soil. |
| Secondary Succession | Succession that occurs in an area where a disturbances has destroyed the existing community. |
| Ecosystem | A biotic community and the abiotic environment with which it ineteracts. |
| Energy Flow | The passage of energy through the components of the ecosystem. |
| Chemical Cycling | The circular movement of materials within the ecosystem. |
| Food Chain | The sequence of food transfer from trophic level to trophic level. |
| Producers | An organism that makes organic food molecules from carbon dioxide, water, and other inorganic raw materials: a plant, alga, or autotrophic bacterium. |
| Primary Consumers | An organism that eats only autotrophs. |
| Secondary Consumers | An organism that eats primary consumers. |
| Tertiary Consumers | An organism that eats secondary consumers. |
| Quaternary Consumers | An organism that eats tertiary consumers. |
| Detritivores | An organism that derives its energy from organic wastes and dead organisms. |
| Detritus | Nonliving matter. |
| Decomposition | The breakdown of organic materials into inorganic ones. |
| Food Web | A network of interconnecting food chains. |
| Biomass | The amount, or mass, of organic material in an ecosystem. |
| Primary Production | The amount of solar energy converted to chemical energy (organic compounds) by autotrophs in an ecosystem during a given time period. |
| Abiotic Reservoir | The part of and ecosystem where a chemical, such as carbon or nitrogen, accumulates or is stockpiled outside of living organisms. |
| Eutrophication | An increase in productivity of an aquatic ecosystem. |
| Zoned Reserve | An extensive region of land that includes one or more areas that are undisturbed by humans. The undisturbed areas are surrounded by lands that have been altered by human activity. |
