Download Quiz 1 Study List - World of Science

Quiz 8 Study List 2017
Life Science – Populations and Ecosystems
6th Grade Science – Miss Fox
**Use your science journal and text book to review
Sustainability: Sustainable development is a current worldwide attempt by planners, leaders, and scientists to
conduct human activities in such a way that the environment is preserved. To pursue sustainability is to create
and maintain the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony to support present
and future generations.
Biodiversity: the number and variety of organisms in a given area during a specific period.
Interactions with the Environment:
 Limiting factor: condition in the environment that puts limits on the size a population can grow to
(food, predation, water, space, disease, human impact)
 Carrying capacity: largest population size that can be supported by the available resources of an area.
Interactions between Organisms:
 Competition: Organisms compete for the same resources (Water, food, shelter, sunlight)
 Predation (predator and prey): There are many interactions between species that consist of one
organism eating another.
o Predator: organism that kills and eats another organism
o Prey: organism that is killed and eaten by another organism
 Symbiotic relationships (Symbiosis): a relationship in which two different organisms live in close
association with each other.
Mutualism: a relationship between two species in which both species benefit. One type
of damselfish hides among the tentacles of the sea anemone. Safe from the anemone's
sting, it lures larger fish, which the anemone kills.
Commensalism: a relationship between two organisms in which one organism benefits and
the other is unaffected. The commensal organism may depend on its host for food, shelter,
support, or transportation.
Parasitism: a relationship between two species in which one species, the parasite, benefits
from the other species, the host, which is harmed. The mosquito shown here feeding on
human skin, is an important vector, or carrier, of disease.

Coevolution: the evolution of two species that is due to mutual influence. A variety of plant forms creates a
vast number of specific living places for animals, which depend on the plants for cover and for food, and
many plants have become dependent upon certain animals for seed dispersal, and protection.
Succession: the replacement of one type of community by another at a single place over a period of time.
Pioneer Species: a species that colonizes an uninhabited area and that starts a process of succession. Example
lichens.
An example of primary succession: Sometimes a small community starts to grow in an area where other
organisms had not previously lived. There is usually no soil, only rock. Most primary succession begins with
lichens, followed by mosses, insects and other tiny organisms. Ferns appear over time and are then replaced by
grasses and wildflowers. Over hundreds of year’s shrubs and trees grow; eventually the land is stable enough to
create a forest. Example – retreating glacier.
An example of secondary succession: Sometimes an existing community is destroyed by a disaster
(fire/flood). The original community may regrow through a series of stages. Example – abandoned farm.