Name: Jaleb Weilie

Chapter 2 Section 1 Outline

I. Ecology
Organisms depend on other organisms and nonliving factors in their
environment for survival.

is a scientific discipline in which the relationships among living
organisms and the interaction the organisms have with their environments are
studied.
observe, experiment, and model, using a variety of tools and methods.
II. The Biosphere
is the portion of the earth that supports life.
Includes landmasses, the water, and the atmosphere.
A. Biotic Factors
are living factors in an organisms environment
Interactions among organisms are necessary for the survival for species in
the same geographic location
B. Abiotic Factors
are the nonliving factors in an organisms environment
adapt to survive in the abiotic factors present in their natural
environment.
III. Levels of Organization
is large and complex to study as a whole
Ecologists divide the levels of organization to study
The levels of organization are:
Organism

population
Biological community
ecosystem
biome
biosphere
The levels increase in complexity as the numbers and interactions between
organisms increase.
A. Organisms, populations, and biological communities


The lowest of organization is an individual organism
Organisms of a single species that share the same location at the same time
make up a
A biological community is a group of interacting organizations that occupy
an area at the same time.
B. Ecosystems, biomes, and the biosphere
An is a biological community and all of the abiotic factors that
affect it.
A is a large group of ecosystems that share the same climate and
have similar types of communities.
IV. Ecosystem Interactions
A habitat is an area where an organism lives
A niche is the role or position that an organism has in its environment
V. Community Interactions
A. Competition
Occurs when one or more than one organism uses a resource at one time
Competition is strong when resources are scarce
B. Predation
Predation is the act of one organism pursuing and consuming another
organism for food
The organism that pursues the other is the predator, the organism being
pursued is the prey
C. Symbiotic relationships
Symbiosis is a close relationship that exists when two or more species
live together
Mutualism: both benefit
Commensalism: one or more living things benefit, the other is
neither helped nor harmed
Parasitism: one organism benefits but the other is harmed and not
helped