Joel K.

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BOT 122 ECOLOGY The term ecology is defined as the study of the relationships of living organisms with each other and their surrounding physical and chemical environment. Definitions of ecological terms Ecosystem; this is a community of organisms and their physico-chemical environment interacting as an ecological unit. The living component of an ecosystem is called biotic while the nonliving component is referred to as abiotic. Community; this is a group of organisms belonging to a number of different species that coexist in the same area and interact through trophic and spatial relationships. Population; a group of organisms of one species occupying an area and usually isolated to some degree from other similar groups. Habitat; this is the typical environment of a particular organism, population or community. Ecological niche; this is the way of life of an organism. It combines the aspect of spatial habitat with the functional relationship of an organism. An organism niche describes both its location and its ‘job’. Autecology; this is the ecology of an individual species and its population including the effects of other organisms and their environment. Synecology; this is the study of communities (consist of many populations of different species). ECOLOGICAL PARAMETERS Studies of geographical distribution of plants shows that different kinds of plants grow in different places under different sets of environmental conditions. The various conditions which affect plants are