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Community An assemblage of all the organisms living together and potentially interacting in a particular area. Interspecific Interactions Relationships between individuals of different species in a community Interspecific Competition Competition between individuals or populations of two or more species requiring a limited resource. Mutualism An interspecific relationship in which bother partners benefit Predation An interaction between species in which one species, the predator, eats the other, the prey Herbivory Consumption of plant parts or algae by an animal Ecological Niche The role of a species in its community; the sum total of a species' use of the biotic and abiotic resources of its environment Coevolution Evolutionary change in which adaptions in one species act as a selective force on a second species, inducing adaptations that in turn act as a selective force on the first species; mutual influence on the evolution of two different interacting species Food Chain A sequence of food transfers from producers through one to four levels of consumers in an ecosystem Producers An organism that makes organic food molecules from CO2, H2O, and other inorganic raw materials: a plant, alga, or autotrophic prokaryote Primary Consumers In the trophic structure of an ecosystem, an organism that eats plants or algae Secondary Consumers An organism that eats primary consumers Tertiary Consumers An organism that eats secondary consumers Quaternary Consumers An organism that eats tertiary consumers Detritus Dead organic matter Scavengers An animal that feeds on the carcasses of dead animals Detritivore An organism that consumes organic wastes and dead organism Decomposers Prokaryotes and fungi that secrete enzymes that digest nutrients from organic material and convert them to inorganic forms Decomposition The breakdown of organic materials into inorganic ones Species Diversity The variety of species that make up a community. Species diversity includes both species richness (the total number of different species) and the relative abundance of the different species in the community Keystone Species A species that is not usually abundant in a community yet exerts strong control on community structure by the nature of its ecological role, or niche Disturbance In ecology, a force that changes a biological community and usually removes organism from it Ecological Succession The process of biological community change resulting from disturbance; transition in the species, composition of a biological community, often following a flood, fire, or volcanic eruption Primary Succession A type of ecological succession in which a biological community arises in an area without soil Secondary Succession A type of ecological succession that occurs where a disturbance has destroyed an existing biological community but left the soil intact. Invasive Species A non-native species that spread beyond its original point of introduction and causes environmental or economic damage Biological Control The intentional release of a natural enemy to attack a pest population Ecosystem All the organisms in a given area, along with the nonliving (abiotic) factors with which they interact; a biological community and its physical environment Chemical Cycling The use and reuse of a chemical element, such as carbon, within an ecosystem Biomass The amount, or mass, of organic material in an ecosystem Primary Production The amount of soalr energy converted to chimeical energy (in organic compounds) by autotrophs in an ecosystem during a given period Biogeochemical Cycle Any of the various chemical circuits that involve both biotic and abiotic components of an ecosystem Abiotic Reservoirs The part of an ecosystem where a chemical, such as carbon or nitrogen, accumulates or is stockpiled outside of living organisms Nitrogen Fixation The conversion of atmospheric nitrogen (N2) to nitrogen compounds (NH4+, NO3-) that plants can absorb and use. Sustainability The goal of developing, managing, and conserving Earth's resources in ways that meet the needs of people today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs