Term | Definition |
Biotic | The living parts of the environment |
Abiotic | The nonliving parts of the environment |
Producer/Autotroph | An organism that makes their own food through the process of photosynthesis |
Consumer/Heterotroph | An organism that consumes other organisms for energy |
Decomposer | An organism that breaks down dead, decaying organisms and returns the nutrients back to the soil. |
Herbivore | An organism that only eats plants |
Carnivore | An organism that only eats meat |
Omnivore | An organism that eats plants and meat |
Scavenger | An organism that eats dead organisms |
Food chain | A series of steps showing which organism transfer energy by eating and being eaten and showing how matter and energy move through an ecosystem |
Food web | A system of many food chains |
Sun's role in food chain/web | Ultimate source of energy for all living things |
Energy pyramid | A diagram that compares energy used by producers, primary consumers, and other trophic levels |
Symbiosis | A close relationship between two species that benefits at least one of the species |
Mutualism | A type of symbiosis in which both organisms get a benefit from the relationship |
Commensalism | A type of symbiosis in which one organism gets a benefit and the other is not affected |
Parasitism | A type of symbiosis in which one organism gets a benefit and the other is harmed |
Predator | An animal that preys on other animals |
Prey | An animal that is hunted and killed by another for food |
Competition | The interaction between organisms, populations, or species, in which birth, growth and death depend on gaining a share of a limited environmental resource |
Adaptation | A change an organism makes in order to help it survive in it's environment better |