Biology (B)

Community Interactions

Lesson Objectives

• Define community as the term is used in ecology.
• Describe predation and its effects on population size and evolution.
• Explain why interspecific competition leads to extinction or greater specialization.
• Compare and contrast mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism.
• Outline primary and secondary succession, and define climax community.

Vocabulary

• climax community
• commensalism
• ecological succession
• host
• interspecific competition
• intraspecific competition
• keystone species
• mutualism
• parasite
• parasitism
• pioneer species
• predation
• predator
• prey
• primary succession
• secondary succession
• specialization