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Animals and plants have features that allow them to adapt to their environment. The organisms in a community compete with each other for limited resources, including water and space. Plants also compete with each other for light and minerals.
Ecological words
Several words are used to describe organisms in their environment.
The meaning of some common words used to describe organisms
| word | meaning |
|---|---|
| environment | all the conditions that surround a living organism |
| habitat | the place where an organism lives |
| population | all the members of a single species that live in a habitat |
| community | all the populations of different organisms that live together in a habitat |
| ecosystem | a community and its habitat |
For example, a pond ecosystem consists of a pond habitat, inhabited by aquatic plants, waterside plants, micro-organisms, minnows and herons. The organisms together make up a community of living things.
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