Question | Answer |
biosphere | part of Earth that supports life, including the top portion of Earth's crust, the atmosphere, and all the water on Earth's surface. |
carrying capacity | largest number of individuals of a particular species that an ecosystem can support over time. |
commensalism | a type of symbiotic relationship in which one organisn benefits and the other organism is not affected. |
community | all the populations of different species that live in an ecosystem. |
consumer | organism that cannot create energy-rich molecules but obtains its food by eating other organisms. |
ecology | study of the interactions that take place among organisms and their environment. |
ecosystem | all the living organisms that live in a area and the nonliving features of their environment. |
habitat | place where an organism lives and that provides the types of food, shelter, moisture, and temperature needed for survival. |
limiting factor | anything that can restrict the size of a population, including living and nonliving features of an ecosystem, such as predators or drought. |
mutualism | a type of symbiotic relationship in which both organisms benefit. |
niche | in an ecosystem, refers to the unique ways an organism survives, obtains food and shelter, and avoids danger. |
parasitism | a type of symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits and the other organism is harmed. |
population | all the organisms that belong to the same species living in a community. |
producer | organism, such as a green plant or alga, that uses an outside source of energy like the Sun to create energy-rich food molecules. |
symbiosis | any close relationship between species, including mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism. |
predator | consumers that capture and eat other consumers. |
prey | the organism that is captured by the predator |
competition | when two species compete for the same resource at the same time. |
chemosynthesis | the production of energy-rich nutrient molecules from chemicals. |
food web | a model that shows all the possible feeding relationships among the organisms in a community. |
energy pyramid | a model that shows the amount of energy available at each feeding level in an ecosystem. |
food chain | a way of showing how matter and energy pass from one organism to another. |