Title: Describe the relationship between living organisms and the environment.
Course: Forestry Management (18502-I) > Section: Understanding Forest Ecology

Description should include

- forest influences on ecosystem cycles
  - water
  - nutrients/soil
- biological influences on tree growth
  - intrinsic characteristics of the tree (e.g., genotype, age, meristems)
  - the trees environment (e.g., light, temperature, water, nutrients, soil, wind, climate)
  - competition
  - pests and diseases
  - soil microbiomes
- growth processes
  - photosynthesis
  - respiration
  - transpiration
- relationships between trees and living organisms
  - feeding relationships (food chains and webs)
  - energy transfer among organisms
  - habitat type
  - symbiotic relationships
    - commensalism
    - mutualism
    - parasitism.

Process/Skill Questions:

- What would be the effects of removing trees from ecosystems?
- Why are interactions among living organisms necessary to healthy environments?
- Why are trees essential to food and energy flow within forest communities?
- What are examples of mutualism?