Ecology
Ecology is competitive strategy with a 3.5-billion-year dataset. Every term in this category—carrying capacity, niche partitioning, competitive exclusion—answers a resource allocation question that MBAs pay $200K to learn repackaged. The difference: ecology has billions of years of experimental data, while business strategy has maybe 100 years of anecdotes. When ecologists say 'two species cannot occupy the same niche,' they're stating a law verified across millions of species. When strategists say 'differentiate or die,' they're discovering that the law exists. Blue Ocean Strategy is niche construction. Porter's Five Forces is ecosystem analysis. The vocabulary in this category gives you the original frameworks, not the simplified versions. Ecology's core insight is that everything is connected through resource flows. A predator affects prey, which affects plants, which affects soil, which affects decomposers. Business works the same way: your competitor's hiring affects your talent pool, which affects your product, which affects your customers, which affects your revenue. Ecological thinking reveals these chains. The terms in this section will change how you see competitive dynamics. 'Carrying capacity' explains why markets saturate. 'Trophic cascade' explains why small changes create large effects. 'Keystone species' explains why some players matter more than their size suggests. Learn ecology, and you'll never see a market the same way. After exploring this category, you'll understand why some strategies that look smart in isolation are suicidal in context, and why some that look boring are actually optimal.
Abiotic Non-living physical and chemical factors in an environment. Abiotic factors include temperature, light, water, nutrients... Alternative Stable States Multiple stable configurations an ecosystem can occupy under the same environmental conditions. The current state depend... Ammonification The decomposition of organic nitrogen compounds into ammonia. How nitrogen in dead organisms becomes available for recyc... Autotroph An organism that produces its own food from inorganic substances, typically through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis. Th... Biogeography The study of the distribution of species and ecosystems across geographic space and geological time. Explains why certai... Biomass The total mass of living organisms in a given area or ecosystem, typically expressed as dry weight per unit area. A meas... Biotic The living components of an environment—every organism that competes, cooperates, parasitizes, or ignores you. Biotic fa... Carnivore An animal that feeds primarily on other animals. Carnivores have adaptations for hunting, killing, and digesting meat, i... Climax Community A stable, self-perpetuating ecological community that represents the endpoint of succession for a given environment. The... Cline A gradual change in a characteristic across a geographic area, typically corresponding to environmental gradients. A con... Commensalism A relationship between two species where one benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed. The benefiting species... Competitive Exclusion The principle that two species competing for exactly the same resources cannot coexist indefinitely. One will outcompete... Decomposer Organisms, primarily bacteria and fungi, that break down dead organic matter into simpler substances, releasing nutrient... Denitrification The microbial conversion of nitrate back to nitrogen gas, returning nitrogen to the atmosphere. Completes the nitrogen c... Detritivore Animals that feed on dead organic matter (detritus), fragmenting it and accelerating decomposition. Includes earthworms,... Dispersal The movement of organisms away from their place of birth to new locations where they may establish. Enables gene flow, c... Disturbance (Ecological) A discrete event that disrupts ecosystem structure, changing resources, substrate availability, or the physical environm... Disturbance Adaptation Traits that enable organisms to survive, tolerate, or exploit periodic environmental disruptions like fire, floods, stor... Diversity The variety of different types within a system. Biodiversity includes genetic diversity (within species), species divers... Ecological Release The expansion of an organism's niche when competitors, predators, or other limiting factors are removed. Species may exp... Ecological Succession The predictable, directional change in community composition over time following a disturbance. Pioneer species colonize... Ecosystem Engineer An organism that physically modifies its environment, creating or maintaining habitats for other species. Engineers affe... Ecosystem Engineering Physical modification of the environment by organisms that affects resource availability for other species. Engineers cr... Ecotone A transition area between two adjacent ecological communities, containing species from both communities plus species uni... Edge Effect Changes in population or community structures that occur at the boundary of two or more habitats. Edges often have highe... Endemic Native and restricted to a particular geographic area or ecosystem. In epidemiology, describes a disease constantly pres... Eutrophication Excessive nutrient enrichment that kills ecosystems by fueling unsustainable growth. Too much of a good thing—fertilizer... Facilitation A positive interaction where one species improves conditions for another, often by modifying the environment. A key mech... Frugivore An animal that primarily eats fruit. Frugivores play crucial roles in seed dispersal, carrying seeds in their gut and de... Habitat The natural environment or physical location where an organism lives. The 'address' of a species, as opposed to its nich... Herbivore An animal that feeds primarily on plants. Herbivores have specialized digestive systems to break down cellulose and extr... Herbivory The consumption of plants or plant parts by animals. A major ecological interaction that transfers energy from primary p... Herbivory Defense Adaptations that reduce herbivore damage to plants, including physical structures (thorns, tough leaves) and chemical de... Heterotroph An organism that cannot produce its own food and must consume other organisms for energy and nutrients. Includes all ani... Hypoxia Abnormally low oxygen levels in water or tissues. In aquatic ecosystems, hypoxic conditions stress or kill organisms tha... Invasive Species Non-native organisms that spread aggressively in new environments, often outcompeting native species and disrupting ecos... K-Strategist A species adapted for stable environments near carrying capacity. Characterized by few large offspring, extensive parent... Keystone Species A species that has a disproportionately large effect on its ecosystem relative to its abundance. Removing a keystone spe... Lichen A composite organism formed by a symbiotic partnership between a fungus and a photosynthetic partner (usually algae or c... Mast Seeding Synchronized, highly variable seed production across tree populations, with years of massive production (mast years) int... Migration The seasonal movement of animals from one region to another, typically for feeding or breeding. Migration can cover thou... Mutualism A symbiotic relationship where both species benefit from the interaction. Both partners gain resources, protection, or o... Mycorrhizal Network Underground fungal networks that connect the roots of multiple plants, enabling transfer of nutrients, water, and chemic... Mycorrhizal Networks Underground fungal networks connecting plant roots, enabling resource and information transfer between plants, including... Niche The ecological role of a species in its environment—what it eats, where it lives, when it's active, and how it interacts... Niche Partitioning The process by which competing species evolve to use resources differently, dividing the available niche space and reduc... Nitrification The microbial conversion of ammonia to nitrite and then nitrate. A key step in the nitrogen cycle that makes nitrogen av... Nitrogen Fixation The conversion of atmospheric nitrogen (N2) into biologically usable forms like ammonia. A critical process enabling lif... Nutrient Cycling The continuous movement of nutrients through ecosystems as they pass from the environment into organisms and back throug... Omnivore An animal that feeds on both plants and animals. Omnivores have flexible diets and generalized digestive systems capable... Parasite An organism that lives in or on a host organism, deriving nutrients at the host's expense. Parasites typically harm but... Parasitism A relationship where one organism (the parasite) benefits at the expense of another (the host), typically living on or i... Phytoplankton Microscopic photosynthetic organisms that drift in water bodies. The foundation of most aquatic food webs and responsibl... Pioneer Species The first species to colonize a disturbed or newly created habitat, initiating ecological succession. Typically hardy, f... Pollinator An animal that transfers pollen between flowers, enabling plant reproduction. Major pollinators include bees, butterflie... Population A group of individuals of the same species living in the same area at the same time, capable of interbreeding. Populatio... Predation An interaction where one organism (the predator) kills and consumes another (the prey). A fundamental ecological interac... Predator An organism that hunts and kills other organisms (prey) for food. Predators occupy higher trophic levels and typically e... Predator-Prey Dynamics The cyclical population interactions between predators and their prey. Predator populations lag behind prey populations,... Prey An organism that is hunted and consumed by predators. Prey species have evolved numerous defensive adaptations including... Primary Producer Organisms that produce organic compounds from inorganic substances, forming the base of food webs. Mostly photosynthetic... Primary Succession Ecological succession that begins on bare substrate where no soil exists—newly exposed rock, volcanic islands, or retrea... r-Strategist A species adapted for rapid reproduction and population growth in unstable or unpredictable environments. Characterized... Riparian Relating to the banks and adjacent areas of rivers, streams, and other waterways. Riparian zones are transition areas be... Secondary Succession Ecological succession that occurs after a disturbance that removes existing vegetation but leaves soil intact—after fire... Succession (Ecological) The predictable sequence of species replacement in an ecosystem over time following disturbance or on new surfaces. Comm... Symbiont An organism living in close physical association with another organism (the host) in a symbiotic relationship. May be mu... Symbiosis Close, long-term biological interaction between two different species. Can be mutualistic (both benefit), commensal (one... Temporal Buffering Mechanisms that smooth out short-term environmental fluctuations, allowing organisms or ecosystems to persist through te... Trophic Relating to feeding and nutrition. Describes the position of organisms in a food chain based on what they eat and what e... Trophic Cascade A chain of effects through a food web caused by adding or removing top predators. Changes at the top cascade down throug... Trophic Cascades Indirect effects that propagate down the food chain when top predator populations change. Removing predators can trigger... Zooplankton Small animals and animal-like organisms that drift in water bodies. Primary consumers that link phytoplankton to larger...