Ecological Concepts

Autotrophic

describes an organism that produces its own food and does not need to consume other organisms to survive

Commensalism

a type of symbiotic relationship in which one organism is benefited, and another is unaffected

Competition

a type of relationship between two different species that consume the same finite resource

Ecological role

the function that an organism performs in a given environment

Ecological services

benefits to the ecosystem or to another species conferred by the actions of an organism in a given environment

Ecology

the study of the interactions between different organisms and between organism and their environments

Endemic

describes a species that can only be found in one environment and cannot naturally live outside of that enviorment

Herbivory

the consumption of plant tissue

Heterotrophic

describes an organism that cannot produce its own food and consumes other organisms to survive

Invasive

a non-native species that is harmful to its new environment

Keystone species

a species that provides ecological services of great importance, disproportionately large relative to their abundance or biomass

Mutualism

a type of symbiotic relationship in which both organisms benefit

Native

a species that is located in the environment as a result of natural evolution and not human introduction

Native status

describes an organism in terms of where it originated through natural evolution and where it is currently found

Non- native

a species originated somewhere other than its current location and was moved there by humans

Parasitism

a type of symbiotic relationship in which one organism is benefited and another is harmed

Phylogeny

the evolutionary history of a species or group of related species

Predation

one organism consuming another living, non-plant organism

Symbiosis

a close physical relationship between organisms of different species in which at least one organism benefits