Term | Definition |
Ecology | The study of how living things interact with one another and with their environment. |
Biotic | a living part of an ecosystem |
Abiotic | a nonliving part of an ecosystem |
5 levels of environmental organization | Organism, Population, Community, Ecosystem, Biosphere |
Organism | obtains food, water, shelter, and other things it needs to live, grow, and reproduce from it surroundings |
Population | all members of the same species that live in a specific area |
Community | different populations that live together in an area |
Ecosystem | the community and abiotic factors together |
Biosphere | regions of the surface atmosphere and hydrosphere of the Earth occupied by living organisms |
Producer/Autotroph | Organisms that use sunlight directly to make food |
Consumer/Heterotroph | Organisms that eat other organisms |
Herbivore | an animal that only feeds on plants |
Carnivore | an animal that only feeds on other organisms (meat) |
Omnivore | an animal that feeds on both plants and animals |
Scavenger | omnivores that eat dead plants and animals |
Decomposer | organisms that get energy by breaking down dead organisms |
Food Web | a diagram that shows feeding relationships between organisms in an ecosystem |
Food Chain | a diagram that shows how energy in food flows from one organism to another |
Energy Pyramid | a diagram that shows an ecosystem's loss of energy |
Limiting Factor | a resource that is so scarce that it limits the size of a population |
Carrying Capacity | largest population that an environment can support |
Predator | Organism that eats prey |
Prey | Organism that gets eaten |
Predator Adaptions | Speed, color that camouflages them, small senses, claws, teeth, fangs, stingers |
Prey Adaptions | Camouflage, Warning Coloration, retreating |
Symbiosis | a close, long-term association between two or more species |
Mutualism | a symbiotic relationship in which both organisms benefit |
Commensalism | a symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits and the other is unaffected |
Parasitism | a symbiotic association in which one organism benefits while the other is harmed |