Interactions of Living Things Vocab

Ecology

• the study of the interactions between living things
• Algae growing on the back of a crab is an example of ecology.

Biotic

• living
• A few biotic factors in a ranforest are trees, birds, and frogs.

Abiotic

• non living
• An abiotic factor in a rainforest is rain (water)

Population

• all the members of a species in a particular area
• The population of pandas in China is 1,000.

Community

• all the different populations living together in an area
• The community of species in a rainforest may include the king vulture, amazon river dolphin, and many more!

Ecosystem

• Abiotic factors and biotic factors
• The Amazon Rainforest is an ecosystem.

Biosphere

• all of earth and the organisms that inhabit it OR all of earth that supports life
• The biosphere supports life.

Herbivore

• organism that gets energy from, and only, plants
• Zebras are herbivores.

Carnivore

• organism that gets energy from, and only, meat
• Polar bears are carnivores.

Omnivore

• organism that gets energy from meat and plants
• Brown bears are omnivores.

Scavenger

• organism that mainly eats dead meat
• Eagles are scavengers.

Food Chain

• a diagram that starts with a consumer and ends with a producer
• Food chains usually have plants in them.

Food Web

• intersecting food chains
• Food webs have more than one food chain.

Energy Pyramid

• model of energy flow in a community
• Energy pyramids have producers and consumers.

Habitat

• an environment that provides what an organism needs to live, grow, and reproduce
• A toucan's habitat is the rainforest

Niche

• an organism's job in its environment
• The cactus' niche provided a place for the bird to have its nest.

Carrying Capacity

• largest population an area can support
• The area's carrying capacity was exceeded when 1,000 more birds flew in.

Prey

• animal hunted by another for food
• After many hours of hunting, the cat finally caught its prey.

Predator

• animal that preys on others
• The predator finally caught up to its prey.

Symbiosis

• the interaction of two different animals and at least one gets a nutritional advantage
• Clownfish and sea anemones both benefit from their symbiosis.

Mutualism

• symbiosis that benefits both organisms
• An example of mutualism is a clownfish and a sea anemone.

Commensalism

• symbiosis where one organism isn't harmed and the other is helped
• Commensalism between orchids and trees is that some orchids grow on trees and don't affect the tree.

Parasitism

• symbiosis where a parasite lives off its host; parasite is helped and host is harmed
• Parasitism between humans and bedbugs is the bedbugs harm the human by causing them skin irritation.

Limiting Factor

• an environmental factor that causes a population to decrease
• The limiting factor of little moisture made the plants not grow.