Term | Definition |
Ecology | The study of how living things interact with one another and their enviorment. |
organism | A living thing. |
population | A group of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area. |
fluctuate | To rise and fall. |
Food chain | Diagram showing one particular example of feeding relationships in an ecosystem. |
Food web | Diagram showing all feeding relationships in an ecosystem. |
predator | An animal that hunts and eats other animals. |
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. |
trophic level | Feeding level in a food chain or web. |
energy pyramid | A diagram that shows the availible energy at each feedinglevel in an ecosystem. |
decomposer | An organism that breaks down dead organisms and recycles nutrients back into the enviorment. |
carrying capacity | The largest population an ecosystem can support over timr. |
limiting factor | An enviormental 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 one is unaffected. |
parasitism | A symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits and the other one is harmed. |
parasite | The organism in parasitism that benefits. |
host | The organism in parasitism that is harmed. |