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8.11A Food Webs
8th Grade - Food Webs
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Food Chain | A path of food energy from the Sun to the producer then transferred to a series of consumers |
| Food Web | The elaborate interconnected feeding relationship in an ecosystem |
| Trophic Level | The position an organism occupies on the food web |
| Producer | An organism that is capable of performing photosynthesis to use the Sun's energy directly |
| Consumer | An organism that must consume other organisms for nutrients |
| Herbivore | An organism that consumes only plants |
| Carnivore | An organism that consumes other animals |
| Omnivore | An organism that consumes both animals and plants |
| Parasite | An organism that survives on a host of organism and causes harm to the host |
| Host | An organism that is used by another organism for nutrients, shelter or transport. It is harmed by the relationship. |
| Predator | An organism that hunts for its food |
| Prey | An organism that is hunted by other organisms for food |
| Aquatic Ecosystem | An ecosystem that is located in water |
| Terrestrial Ecosystem | An ecosystem that is found on land |
| Marine Ecosystem | An ecosystem that is found in oceans and other salt water |
| Freshwater Ecosystem | An ecosystem found in streams, lakes and rivers where there is less than 1% salt content. |
| Autotroph | An organism that produces its own food such as a plant |
| Heterotroph | An organism that must use other organisms for food, such as animals. |
| Energy Pyramid | A diagram that shows the trophic levels of organisms in a food web. |
| Commensalism | A relationship where one is benefitted and the other is neither benefitted or harmed |
| Mutualism | The relationship between organisms where both benefit. |
| Decomposer | Organism such as bacteria and fungi that break down the remains of dead plants and animals. |