Ecosystems

2. characterized by trees that lose their leaves at the end of each growing season
4. interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association, typically to the advantage of both
6. Nonliving
8. one organism benefits, the other is unharmed
9. An overabundance of nutrients—primarily nitrogen and phosphorus—in water starts a process called eutrophication. Algae feed on the nutrients, growing, spreading, and turning the water green.
10. geologic features above and below Earth’s surface
11. uptake of anthropogenic carbon—currently responsible for absorbing 30% of carbon dioxide (CO2) fossil fuel-based emissions
12. capacity a species' average population size in a particular habitat. The species population size is limited by environmental factors like adequate food, shelter, water, and mates.
14. When two species compete for the same limited resource.
15. The unique position occupied by a species, both in terms of its physical use of its habitat and its function within an ecological community.

1. occurs when one organism captures and eats another.
3. limit a population’s growth regardless of the density.(Natural disasters, weather, unusual weather)
5. both organisms benefit
7. Living
12. When two species compete for the same limited resource.
13. Fragmentation the process during which a large expanse of habitat is transformed into a number of smaller patches of smaller total area isolated from each other by a matrix of habitats unlike the original