AP Biology Notes on Ecology
UNIT 15 - ECOLOGY List of Terms Ecology: study of interactions of organisms with their environment and with each other Population: group of individuals of one species in one area that can breed and interact with one another Community: all the organisms in one area Ecosystem: All the organisms in an area and abiotic factors in that area Abiotic factors: nonliving, include temperature, water, sunlight, wind, rocks, etc. Biosphere: global ecosystem Biotic potential: max rate at which a population can increase under ideal conditions Influenced by factors like age at which reproduction begins, lifespan during which you can reproduce, # of reproductive periods in lifetime, and the max # of offspring the organism can produce