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Population Density (DP):

• Definition: The number of individuals of a species per unit area or volume in a specific habitat.

Growth Rate (GR):

• Definition: The rate at which a population's size increases or decreases over a given period.

Per Capita Growth Rate (CGR):

• Definition: The average growth rate of a population per individual, often expressed as the number of offspring produced per individual.

Biotic Potential (r):

• Definition: The maximum rate at which a population could increase under ideal conditions with unlimited resources.

Exponential Growth Pattern:

• Definition: A pattern of population growth where the population size increases at an accelerating rate.

Logistic Growth Pattern:

• Definition: A pattern of population growth where the population size levels off as it approaches the carrying capacity.

Carrying Capacity (K):

• Definition: The maximum number of individuals of a population that a given environment can support.

Density-Dependent Factors:

• Definition: Environmental factors, such as competition and predation, whose intensity is related to population density.

Environmental Resistance:

• Definition: Factors that limit the growth of a population, including density-dependent factors and other constraints in the environment.

Density-Independent Factors:

• Definition: Environmental factors, such as natural disasters, that affect populations regardless of their density.

r-Selected Strategies:

• Definition: Reproductive strategies that maximize population growth with a focus on producing many offspring, often in unstable environments.

K-Selected Strategies:

• Definition: Reproductive strategies that optimize the success of offspring by investing more time and resources in fewer offspring, often in stable environments.

Intraspecific Competition:

• Definition: Competition for resources among individuals of the same species.

Interspecific Competition:

• Definition: Competition for resources between individuals of different species.

Predators:

• Definition: Organisms that kill and consume other organisms (prey) for food.

Prey:

• Definition: Organisms that are hunted and consumed by predators.

Protective Coloration:

• Definition: A type of adaptation where organisms have colors or patterns that help them blend into their environment, providing protection from predators.

Symbiosis:

• Definition: A close and long-term interaction between different species.

Mutualism:

• Definition: A type of symbiosis where both interacting species benefit from the relationship.

Commensalism:

• Definition: A type of symbiosis where one species benefits, and the other is neither helped nor harmed.

Parasitism:

• Definition: A type of symbiosis where one organism (parasite) benefits at the expense of another (host).

Succession:

• Definition: The gradual and sequential process of ecological change in a particular area over time.

Primary Succession:

• Definition: The process of ecological succession starting from a barren, lifeless substrate, such as bare rock.

Pioneer Community:

• Definition: The initial community of organisms that colonize an area in primary succession.

Climax Community:

• Definition: The stable, mature community that eventually forms after the completion of ecological succession.

Ecological Disturbance:

• Definition: A disruption in the balance of an ecosystem, often leading to changes in community structure.

Secondary Succession:

• Definition: The process of ecological succession in an area where a previous community has been disrupted but soil remains.

Age Pyramid:

• Definition: A graphical representation of the age structure of a population, showing the number of individuals in different age groups.