Communities

Describe the different levels of organisation in an ecosystem, scaling from individual organisms up to the entire ecosystem.

Explain the critical importance of interdependence and competition within a community.

Suggest the specific factors for which organisms might be competing in a given habitat when provided with appropriate information.

Suggest how organisms are adapted to survive in their specific living conditions.

Understand that an ecosystem consists of the interaction between a community of living organisms (biotic) and the non-living (abiotic) elements of their environment.

Explain that organisms require a continuous supply of materials from their surroundings and other living organisms to successfully survive and reproduce.

Describe how plants within a community or habitat compete for light, space, water, and mineral ions from the soil.

Describe how animals compete for food, mates, and territory.

Understand interdependence as the reliance of species on each other for food, shelter, pollination, and seed dispersal, meaning the removal of one species can affect the entire community.

Describe a stable community as one where all species and environmental factors are balanced, resulting in relatively constant population sizes.