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Ecosystems
Science
Term | Definition |
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Biotic Factors | a living thing, as an animal or plant, that influences or affects an ecosystem |
Abiotic Factors | a nonliving condition or thing, such as climate, or habitat, that influences or affects an ecosystem and the organisms in it |
Producers | an organism, as a plant, that is able to produce its own food from inorganic substances |
Consumers | an organism, usually an animal, that feeds on plants or other animals |
Decomposers | an organism, usually a bacterium or fungus, that breaks down the cells of dead plants and animals into smaller simpler substances |
Herbivore | animals that get there energy from eating only producers or plants |
Carnivore | an animal that gets its energy from eating only other consumers |
Omnivore | an animal that gets its energy from eating both consumers and producers |
Predator | an animal that naturally preys on others. |
Prey | an animal that is hunted or killed by another animal for food. The lion stalked its prey. The bird circled above looking for prey. |
Terrestrial Ecosystem | a land-based community of organisms |
Aquatic Ecosystem | an ecosystem in a body of water. |
Food Chain | the path of food energy from one organism to another in an ecosystem |
Food Web | overlapping food chains with different pathways for the flow of food energy in an ecosystem |
Energy Pyramid | a diagram that shows the amount of energy passed on at each level of a food chain |
Competition | the struggle of organisms against each other to get the same resource |
Natural Resources | materials in the environment that useful to people |
Population | all the organisms of the same species that love in the same place at the same time |
Community | populations of different kinds of organisms that live in the same place at the same time. |
Habitat | the environment where an organisms lives |
Estuary | a place where fresh water from a river empties into the ocean and mixes with it |
Brackish | slightly salty, as is the mixture of river water and seawater in estuaries. |