Term | Definition |
Autotroph | any organism capable of self-nourishment by using inorganic materials as a source of nutrients and using photosynthesis or chemosynthesis as a source of energy, as most plants and certain bacteria and protists. |
primary producer | any green plant or any of various microorganisms that can convert light energy or chemical energy into organic matter. |
photosynthisis | the complex process by which carbon dioxide, water, and certain inorganic salts are converted into carbohydrates by green plants, algae, and certain bacteria, using energy from the sun and chlorophyll. |
chemosythisis | the synthesis of organic compounds within an organism, with chemical reactions providing the energy source. |
heterotroph | Biology. an organism requiring organic compounds for its principal source of food. |
consumer | a person or thing that consumes. |
carnivore | an animal that eats flesh. |
herbivore | a herbivorous animal. |
scavenger | an animal or other organism that feeds on dead organic matter. |
omnivore | someone or something that is omnivorous. |
decomposer | an organism, usually a bacterium or fungus, that breaks down the cells of dead plants and animals into simpler substance |
detritivore | an organism that uses organic waste as a food source, as certain insects. |
Food chain | a series of organisms interrelated in their feeding habits, the smallest being fed upon by a larger one, which in turn feeds a still larger one, etc. |
phytoplankton | the aggregate of plants and plantlike organisms in plankton. |
food web | a series of organisms related by predator-prey and consumer-resource interactions; the entirety of interrelated food chains in an ecological community. |
zooplankton | the aggregate of animal or animallike organisms in plankton, as protozoans. |
trophic level | any class of organisms that occupy the same position in a food chain, as primary consumers, secondary consumers, and tertiary consumers. |
ecological pyramid | |
biomass | the amount of living matter in a given habitat, expressed either as the weight of organisms per unit area or as the volume of organisms per unit volume of habitat. |
biochemical cycle | Any of the natural pathways by which essential elements of living matter are circulated. |
nutrient | providing nourishment or nutriment. |
nitrogen fixation | any process of combining atmospheric nitrogen with other elements, either by chemical means or by bacterial action: used chiefly in the preparation of fertilizers, industrial products. |
denitrification | to remove nitrogen or nitrogen compounds from |
limiting nutrition | The nutrient in short supply relative to the others will be exhausted first and will thus limit cellular growth. |