Key Terms in Ecology
- There are several key terms that we use when referring to the various different components of an ecosystem and their levels of organisation:
- A population is defined as a group of organisms of the same species living in the same place at the same time
- A community includes all of the populations living in the same area at the same time
- Within a community, each species depends on other species for food, shelter, pollination, seed dispersal etc
- If one species is removed it can affect the whole community
- This is called interdependence
- A habitat is the place where an organism lives
- E.g. badgers, deer, oak trees and ants are all species that would live in a woodland habitat
- An ecosystem is defined as all the biotic factors and all the abiotic factors that interact within an area at one time
- Biotic factors includes all the living components such as plants and animals
- Abiotic factors includes all the non-living components such as light intensity, mineral ions, water availability
- Ecosystems can vary greatly in size and scale
- A small ecosystem might be a garden pond
- A large ecosystem might be the whole of Antarctica
Levels of organisation in an ecosystem
