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Ecology Vocabulary
Ms.Munro's 2nd period science: Ecology Unit Vocabulary Words and Definitons
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Abiotic (factor) | An environmental factor that is not associated with the activities of living organisms. |
Biotic (factor) | An environmental factor that is associated with or results from the activities of living organisms. |
Carbon Cycle | The movement of carbon from the nonliving environment into living things and back. |
Commensalism: | A relationship between two organisms in which one organism benefits and the other is unaffected. |
Competition | Ecological relationship in which two or more organisms depend on the same limited resource. |
Consumer | An organism that eats other organisms or organic matter. |
Decomposer | An organism that gets energy by breaking down the remains of dead organisms or animal wastes and consuming or absorbing the nutrients. |
Ecology | The study of interactions of living organisms with one another and with their environment. |
Ecosystem | A community of organisms and their abiotic, or nonliving, environment. |
Energy Pyramid | A triangular diagram that shows an ecosystem’s loss of energy, which results as energy passes through the food chain; each row in the pyramid represents a trophic feeding level in an ecosystem, and the area of a row represents the energy store in that tro |
Food Chain | The pathway of energy transfer through various stages as a result of the feeding patterns of a series of organisms. |
Food Web | A diagram that shows the feeding relationship between organisms in an ecosystem. |
Limiting Factor | An environmental factor that prevents an organism or population from reaching its full potential of size or activity. |
Mutualism | A relationship between two species in which both species benefit. |
Parasitism | A relationship between two species in which one species, the parasite, benefits from the other species, the host, which is harmed. |
Predator | An organism that kills and eats all or part of another organism. |
Prey | An organism that is killed and eaten by another organism. |
Producer | An organism that can make its own food by using energy from its surroundings. |
Symbiosis | A relationship in which two different organisms live in close association with each other. |
Water Cycle | The continuous movement of water between the atmosphere, the land,the ocean, and living things. |