Adaptations, interdependence and competition
Organisms depend on each other for survival. This is called interdependence. Both living and non-living factors will affect the abundance and distribution of organisms in a habitat.
Communities and populations
There are a number of key terms within communities and populations:
- an ecosystem is the interaction between a community of living organisms and their environment
- the environment consists of all the conditions that surround any living organism - both the other living things and the non-living things or physical surroundings
- a population is all the organisms of the same or closely-related species in an area
- an ecosystem is two or more populations of organisms (usually many more) in their environment
- a habitat is the place where an organism lives
- a community is two or more populations of organisms
Levels of organisation within an ecosystem
Organisms within an ecosystem are organised into levels.
| Producer | Producers are plants and algae, which photosynthesise. | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary consumer | Primary consumers are herbivores, which eat producers. | |
| Secondary consumer | Secondary consumers are carnivores, which eat primary consumers. | |
| Tertiary consumer | Tertiary consumers are also carnivores. They eat secondary consumers. |