Module 3 Intro

Module 3—Ecosystems and Their Diversity

Lesson Summary

In this lesson you explored the following question:

• How do biologists describe the relationships that exist between species, populations, communities, and ecosystems?

The following terms are keywords in this lesson:

• species
• population
• community
• biotic
• abiotic
• ecosystem
• biosphere
• biome

It is important to know the definitions for these terms, but more importantly you should understand how these terms are related. You have learned about the relationships that exist between species—for example, the competition for food and habitat. The relationships between populations were explored—for example, predator-prey relationships. You should know how populations are affected by the biotic and abiotic components in their environment and how these components create different ecosystems and biomes.

Human populations affect most other organism populations in one way or another. Roads, houses, and human populations have moved into most of the world’s ecosystems, including the national parks and tropical islands. In order to protect these natural environments, it is important to understand the ecological relationships that exist.

Lesson Glossary

biodiversity: the variety of species in an area and their range of behavioural, ecological, physiological, and other adaptations

biome: an ecosystem or group of ecosystems in a specific region on Earth that has a particular combination of biotic and abiotic factors

community: all the individuals in all the interacting populations in a given area

ecosystem: a community of populations together with the abiotic factors that surround and affect the ecosystem

morphology: the form and structure of an organism or any of its part

population: a group of individuals of the same species living in a specific area at the same time

species: organisms that are similar in appearance and behaviour and are able to breed with one another to produce fertile offspring