BIOSPHERE

• The regions of the surface, atmosphere, and hydrosphere of the earth occupied by living organisms
• 2 facts:
• Biosphere stretches from the deep ocean to the highest mountain tops
• Biosphere has evolved for 3.5 billion years

PARASITISM

• Relationship where one species benefits at the expense of the other species
• 2 facts:
• The host is not always killed
• Leeches are a parasite that are used to help humans, for example to treat circulation disorders

ECOLOGY

• The branch of biology that deals with the relationship of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings
• 2 facts:
• Hippocrates and Aristotle were among the first recorded scientists to write down their observations on what would be considered ecology
• The term "Ecology" was first coined by Ernst Haeckel in 1866

DENSITY DEPENDENT

• Factors where the effects on the size or growth of a population vary with the density of the population itself
• 2 facts:
• Disease will have a greater effect in limiting the growth of a large population, since overcrowding facilitates spread
• Main factor is availability of food

NICHE

• The specific job an organism has in its community
• 2 facts:
• No two species can occupy exactly the same niche
• A niche is the smallest unit of habitat that is occupied by a plant or animal

HERBIVORE

• An animal that feeds on plants
• 2 facts:
• Herbivores are an important link in the food chain as they consume plants in order to receive carbs produced by a plant from photosynthesis
• They are at the second level of the food chain

PRODUCER

• Organism that organically produces there own food for nutrition
• 2 facts:
• Producers are any kind of green plant
• Producers use glucose to make many things

DECOMPOSER

• An organism that breaks down organic material
• 2 facts:
• They are the last stop on the food chain
• Many times eat dead things on the ground to get nutrients

ECOSYSTEM