Mr G’s Environmental Systems

Species
A group of organisms that interbreed and produce fertile offspring. (three different species are illustrated below - click on each to see what they are)

Population
A group of organisms of the same species living in the same area at the same time, and which are capable of interbreeding. (below is a population of Sand Sedge (Carex arenaria) at Domburg, in the Netherlands)

Community
A group of populations living and interacting with each other in a common habitat. (all of the previous species form part of the biotic community found on Sand dunes in the Basque region of Spain)

Niche
When species share of a habitat and the resources in it. An organism’s ecological niche depends not only on where it lives but on what it does. (The part of the habitat in which a species can live in the absence of competitors and predators is called its fundamental niche. The part it actually occupies is its realized niche.)

Habitat
The environment in which a species normally lives

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