WordMeaning Environment    all the conditions that surround a living organism Habitat the place where an organism lives Population all the members of a single species that live in a habitat Community all the populations of different organisms that live together in a habitat Ecosystem a community and its habitat

A pond ecosystem consists of a pond habitat inhabited by aquatic plants, waterside plants, microorganisms, minnows and herons. The organisms together make up a community of living things.

Different adaptations

Organisms live in different habitats need different adaptations. Animals and plants may have specific features that adapt them to their environment: these include barbs and spines, poisons and warning colours that deter predators and herbivores. Some harmless species may even resemble a poisonous or dangerous species to increase their chances of survival.

Each zone of this oak tree is home to a distinctive community of organisms.

Competition

Habitats have limited amounts of the resources needed by living organisms and organisms can only survive if they can get enough of these resources, so they must compete for resources with other organisms. If they are unsuccessful and cannot move to another habitat, they will die.

Animals

The resources that animals compete for include:

• food
• water
• space.

Animals may also compete for mates so that they can…