Final answer:
Fecundity is the potential reproductive capacity of an organism, and its rate influences the ability to colonize habitats. Parental care and mode of reproduction are factors that affect fecundity.
Step-by-step explanation:
The ability of an organism to colonize available habitats is influenced by its rate of fecundity, which is affected by parental care and mode of reproduction. Fecundity refers to the potential reproductive capacity of an individual within a population, while parental care describes the amount of care given to individual offspring. Organisms with high fecundity typically provide little to no parental care, allowing them to produce many offspring but relying on the offspring's ability to move and find resources to survive.