Final answer:
A population is a collective of interbreeding organisms from the same species living in a specific area. They interact with each other and the environment, a study known as population ecology. This concept is fundamental in understanding how species coexist and the dynamics of biological communities.
Step-by-step explanation:
What is a Population?
A population is a group of organisms belonging to the same species that live in the same area and interact with one another. It includes individuals that are capable of interbreeding and producing viable, fertile offspring. For instance, all of the angelfish living in the same region of the ocean would form an angelfish population. Population ecology is the study of these organisms and how their numbers and interactions bridge with their environment.
Species, on the other hand, refers to a group of individual organisms with significant genetic similarities that share external and internal characteristics and are capable of producing fertile offspring with one another. When organisms of the same species live together and interact in a shared habitat, their collective is referenced as a population.
A community encompasses all the different populations of species living and interacting in the same environment, whereas an ecosystem includes all living (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic) parts of that environment. If we go further, a biome is a group of similar ecosystems sharing the same type of physical environment, and the biosphere is the part of Earth where all life exists.