Competition and Interdependence

Define a habitat.

A habitat is the environment in which an organism lives.

Elephants live in grasslands, which makes the grasslands their what?

Their habitat

Define a population.

A population is the total number of organisms of the same species living in the same geographical area.

Thousands of elephants live in the grasslands of Africa. What is this called?

A population

Define a community.

A community is the population of all the different species that live in the same habitat.

The African grasslands contain lots of different species such as giraffes, zebras and gazelles. What is this called?

A community

What does the word biotic mean?

The word biotic means living.

What are the living parts of an environment called?

The living parts of an environment are called biotic parts.

What does the word abiotic mean?

The word abiotic means non-living.

What are the non-living parts of an environment called?

The non-living parts of an environment are called abiotic parts.

Give two examples of abiotic parts of an environment.

• Water

• Minerals from the soil

Define an ecosystem.

An ecosystem is both the biotic and the abiotic parts of an environment and how they interact.

Why do organisms complete with each other?

Organisms compete with each other because the resources that they need are often short in supply.

What do plants compete for?

• Light

• Space

• Water

• Mineral ions in the soil

What do animals compete for?

• Food

• Water

• Mating partners

• Territory

Define interdependence.

Interdependence means that every animal depends on other living organisms for food.

Give an example of how plants depend on animals.

Plants depend on bees to spread their pollen for fertilisation.

Give two examples of animals depending on plants to survive.

• Bees depend on pollen produced by plants for their food.

• Zebras and gazelles depend on grass and shrubs for their food.

Give an example of animals depending on other animals to survive.

Lions depend on zebras and gazelles for their food.

What happens if a species went extinct from a community?

If a species went extinct from a community then it will affect the whole community.

Describe what would happen to a whole community if bees went extinct.

If bees went extinct,

• Lots of plant would not get pollenated so they won’t be able to reproduce.

• Animals which feed on these plants will run out of food so their population would fall.

• Animals which feed on these animals will run out of food as well so their population will fall too.

Define a stable community.

A stable community is when the population of organisms are in balance with each other and with the abiotic resources such as water.