Term | Definition |
Ecology | the study of the interactions that occur among organisms and their environments |
Biosphere | -part of the Earth that supports life
-includes the top portion of the Earth's crust, waters that cover the Earth's surface and the atmosphere |
Population | made up of all members of the same species that live in the same ecosystem at the same time |
Community | all the populations of all species living in an ecosystem |
Habitat | the place in which an organism lives
ex. trees are a woodpecker's habitat |
Ecosystem | consists of all the organisms (grass, birds, insects) living in an area, as well as the non-living parts (water, temperature, sunlight, soil etc.) |
Biome | large geographic areas with similar climates and ecosystems |
Species | a particular group of animals or plants that are similar and can produce young animals or plants |
Niche | refers to the unique ways an organism survives, obtains food and shelter and avoids danger |
Food Chain | a sequence of who eats whom |
Food Web | model that shows the complex feeding relationships among organisms in a commmunity |
Producer | an organism such as a green plant that uses an outside source of energy such as the Sun to create energy rich food molecules |
Consumer | the need for animals to obtain food to get energy |
Predator | an organism that eats another organism |
Prey | an animal hunted or caught for food |
Herbivore | plant eater |
Carnivore | meat eater |
Omnivore | an animal that eats both plants and other animals |
Decomposer | breaks down dead plants and animals and then turns them back to the soil |
Symbiosis | the relationship between two different kinds of living things that live together and depend on eachother |
Mutualism | a type of symbiotic relationship between two organisms in which both organisms benefit |
Commensalism | a relationship between two types of organisms in which one obtains food or other benefits and the other organism is not affected |
Parasitism | a type of symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits and the other organism is harmed |