| A | B |
|---|
| mutualism | a relationship between 2 organisms that benefits both organisms |
| commensalism | relationship in which 1 organism benefits from the relationship and the other one is unaffected |
| predation | relationship in which 1 organism kills and eats another |
| parasitism | relationship in which an organism lives in or on another living organism, causing harm to the host |
| ecology | the study of living things and their environment |
| carrying capacity | the largest amount of a population that can be supported by an area |
| limiting factors | conditions in the environment that put limits on where an organism can live |
| population | a group of the same kind of organism living in a certain place |
| environment | everything that surrounds an organism |
| community | all of the populations that live in a certain place |
| niche | an organism's role or job in its habitat |
| range | area where a type of animal or plant population can be found |
| interact | to act upon each other |
| habitat | place where an organism lives |
| ecosystem | living and nonliving things in an environment, together with their interactions |
| nitrogen-fixing bacteria | special bacteria that change nitrogen gas into nitrogen compounds that can be used by plants |
| consumer | organism that obtains food by eating other organisms |
| producer | organism that makes its own food |
| scavenger | animal that eats only dead organisms |
| energy pyramid | a way of showing how energy moves through a food chain |
| decomposer | organism that breaks down the wastes or remains of other organisms |
| food chain | a way of showing food relationships between groups of organisms |
| succession | gradual change in organisms that occurs when the environment changes |
| cycle | something that happens over and over again in the same way |
| food web | a way of showing how food chains are related |
| climax | the last community in a succession |
| biome | a large region of the earth with particular plant and animal communities |
| natural resources | materials found in nature that are used by living things |
| renewable resources | natural resources that can be replaced, like air, water and soil |
| nonrenewable resources | natural resources that CANNOT be replaces, like coal and minerals |
| endangered species | living things that are in danger of dieing out |
| climate | overall weatherr in an area over a long period of time |
| pollution | release of harmful materials into the environment |
| conservation | wise use of natural resources |
