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nonliving factors in the environment; physical rather than biological; do not come from living organisms
abiotic
a variety of organisms in an ecosystem or biome
biodiversity
living factors in the environment
biotic
dominant community of plants and animals that come to live in an area
climax community
the changing sequence of communities that live in an ecosystem during a given time period
ecological succession
a community of interacting living organisms and the physical environment that they live in
ecosystem
a state of balance
equilibrium
a representation of several overlapping food chains in an ecosystem; includes the flow of energy from the Sun through producers to consumers and decomposers through multiple pathways
food web
a condition or resource that keeps a population at a certain size
limiting factor
the unique role or job of an organism in an ecosystem
niche
first organisms to live in an area
pioneer species
a process that develops a biotic community in a previously uninhabited and barren habitat with little or no soil
primary succession
a process started by an event that reduces an already established ecosystem to a smaller population of species
secondary succession
ability to maintain ecological processes over long periods of time; ability of an ecosystem to maintain its structure and function over time
sustainability
