Ecology is the study of interactions between an organism and its environment.
- The environment of an organism consists of living organisms and nonliving factors.
- Plants are indicators of the environment.
Dispersal of fruits and seeds reduces seed predation and competition.
- Some seeds and fruits are dispersed by wind and water.
- Animals disperse many seeds and fruits.
The germination of a seed and growth of a plant depend on favorable environmental conditions.
- Many seeds lie dormant in a seed bank in the soil.
- Plants must deal with the environment both above- and below ground.
- Leaves provide an example of an ecological trade-off in a plant.
- Plants maintain a balance between their root system and shoot system.
All individuals are part of a population, which is part of a community of organisms.
- Plants are the producers of a community.
- A community and its abiotic factors constitute an ecosystem.
- Plants have evolved with other organisms in their ecosystem.
Natural selection determines which individuals survive and reproduce.
- Artifical selection is controlled mating.
- Ample evidence from nature and the farm contributed to the development of the principles of natural selection.
- Perspective 2.1 Selection for Monsters
- Natural selection is meaningful only in the context of the environment.
- Natural selection is a driving force for evolution.
