APES - Unit 1: The Living World: Ecosystems

What are the levels of the natural world (biggest to smallest)?

1. Biome

2. Ecosystem

3. Community

4. Population

5. Individual

ecosystem

all living and nonliving things in an area

biome

distinguishable by:

1. Climate - precipitation & temperature

2. Plants and animals

community

all the living things in an area

population

one species in an area

individual

one living thing

What are the ways in which organisms can interact?

1. Food - predator/prey, herbivore/plant; have inverse relationship

2. Symbiosis/symbiotic relationships - species live closely together

   • parasitism, mutualism, & commensalism

parasitism

one benefits, one is harmed

mutualism

both benefit

commensalism

one benefits, the other is neutral

competition

vying for resources; can be between two of the same species or two different species; bad b/c reduces population size since there are less resources for each

• between the same species: more individuals = more competition

niche/resource partitioning

different species use the same resource in different ways to reduce competition; happens with evolution

• can be temporal, spatial, or morphological

temporal partitioning

species use the resource at different times

spatial partitioning

species use different areas of a shared habitat

morphological partitioning

species use different resources because they have different evolved body features