Term | Definition |
ecology | the study of the relation between organisms and their environment |
population | a group of individuals of one species |
organism | a living thing |
fluctuate | to rise and fall |
food chain | a diagram showing one particular example of feeding relationships |
food web | a diagram showing all the food relationships in an ecosystem |
predator | an animal that hunt and eats another animal for food |
prey | an animal that is hunted for food |
producer | an organism that makes its own food through photosynthesis |
consumer | an organism that eats other living things for energy |
energy pyramid | a diagram that shows the available energy at each feeding level |
trophic level | feeding level in a food chain |
decomposer | organisms that eat dead organisms and waste and recycle them back into the environment |
cellular respiration | the process of breaking down sugar in a cell to release energy |
Carrying capacity | the largest population an ecosystem can support |
limiting factor | an environmental factor that prevents a population from increasing |
symbiosis | a close relationship between species where at least one organism benefits |
mutualism | a symbiotic relationship in which both organisms benefit |
commensalism | a symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits and the other remains unaffected |
parasitism | a symbiotic relation ship in which one organism benefits and the other is harmed |
parasite | the organism in parasitism that benefits |
host | the organism in parasitism that is harmed |