{{Short description|Anything required by an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce}}
In biology and ecology, a '''resource''' is a substance or object in the environment required by an organism for normal growth, maintenance, and reproduction. Resources can be consumed by one organism and, as a result, become unavailable to another organism.<ref>{{cite book| last1 = Miller| first1 = G.| last2 = Spoolman| first2 = Scott| title = Living in the Environment Principles, Connections, and Solutions| year = 2012| publisher = Brooks/Cole| isbn = 978-0-538-73534-6 }}</ref><ref>Ricklefs, R.E. 2005. ''The Economy of Nature, 6th edition''. WH Freeman, USA.</ref><ref>Chapin, F.S. III, H.A. Mooney, M.C. Chapin, and P. Matson. 2011. Principles of terrestrial ecosystem ecology. Springer, New York.</ref> For plants key resources are light, nutrients, water, and space to grow. For animals key resources are food, water, and territory.
==Key resources for plants==
Terrestrial plants require particular resources for photosynthesis and to complete their life cycle of germination, growth, reproduction, and dispersal:<ref>Barbour, M.G. J.H. Burk, W.D. Pitts and F.S. Gilliam. 1998. Terrestrial Plant Ecology, 3rd ed. Benjamin Cummings, San Francisco, CA.</ref><ref>Craine, J.M. 2009. Resource strategies in wild plants. Princeton University Press, Princeton.</ref> * Carbon dioxide * Microsite (ecology) * Nutrients * Pollination * Seed dispersal * Soil * Water
==Key resources for animals==
Animals require particular resources for metabolism and to complete their life cycle of gestation, birth, growth, and reproduction:<ref>Smith, T.M., and R.L. Smith. 2008. Elements of ecology, 7th ed. Benjamin Cummings, San Francisco, CA.</ref>
* Foraging * Territory * Water
==Resources and ecological processes==
Resource availability plays a central role in ecological processes:
* Carrying capacity * Biological competition * Liebig's law of the minimum * Niche differentiation
==See also==
* Abiotic component * Biotic component * Community ecology * Ecology * Population ecology * Plant ecology * size-asymmetric competition
==References== {{Reflist}}
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Category:Biological concepts Category:Biological interactions Category:Ecology terminology Category:Resources