environment

everything that surrounds an organism and acts upon it

ecology

study of the relationship between living things and their environments

interact

process of organisms acting upon one another or on the nonliving parts of their environment

population

group of the same kind of organisms

living in a certain place

community

all the populations that live in a certain place and can interact with one another

ecosystem

group of communities interacting with each other and the nonliving parts of their environment

habitat

place where an organism lives

niche

organism's role, or job, in its habitat

limiting factor

condition in the environment that puts limits on the size a population can grow to

carrying capacity

largest population size that can be supported by the available resources of an area

range

area where a type of animal or plant population is found

climate

average weather of an area over a long period of time

biome

large region with a characteristic climate and plant and animal communities

succession

gradual change in populations of organisms that occurs when the environment changes

climax community

last community in a succession

natural resources

material found in nature that is used by living things

renewable resource

natural resource that can be reused or replaced

nonrenewable resource

natural resource that cannot be reused or replaced

conservation

wise use of natural resources