| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Allelopathy | competition between plant species in which chemical compounds released by one species inhibits the germination or growth of competing species |
| Commensalism | a symbiotic relationship in which one species benefits and the other is not affected |
| Competitive exclusion principle | the theory that species with identical niches cannot exist in the same geographic region because one would eventually drive the other to extinction |
| Euryphagous | an organism that can consume a wide variety of different foods |
| Fundamental niche | the niche space of a species if there was no competition with other species that decreases the range of resources conditions it could exist within |
| Interspecific competition | the interaction between individuals of two or more species in which the growth and/or fertility is decreased or the mortality is increased for both species |
| Intraspecific competition | the interaction between individuals of the same species in which the growth and/or fertility is decreased for both species |
| Keystone species | a species that due to its presence or absence can greatly change the productivity, species composition, or species diversity of an ecosystem |
| Lotka-Volterra Model | a mathematical model that relates cyclic fluctuations in the size of predator and pretty populations to the interaction between predators and prey: prey population: dN/dt = rN – a`PN and Predator populations dP/dt = fa`PN - qP |
| Mutualism | a symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit |
| Optimal foraging theory | the theory that predators evolve to focus their foraging activities upon prey species that provide the highest ratio of food energy relative to the energy required for foraging |
| Parasites | organisms that are wholly dependent on other organisms for nutrients and, in many cases, microhabitat |
| Parasitism | a symbiotic relationship in which one species benefits at the expense of the other |
| Predation | a biological interaction in which one organism consumes another |
| Realized niche | the reduced niche space occupied by a species due to the impact of competition with other species |
| Stenophagous | an organism with a very narrow range of foods |
| Symbiosis | the close association between two species that generally develops through coevolution. In many cases, the association is obligatory for the survival of both or one species. |
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