Question | Answer |
Producer | An organism that can make its own food |
Consumer | An organism that obtains energy by feeding on other organisms |
Herbivore | A consumer that obtains energy by eating only plants |
Carnivore | A consumer that obtains energy by eating only animals |
Omnivore | A consumer that obtains energy by eating both plants and animals |
Scavenger | A carnivore that feeds on the bodies of dead or decaying or dead organisms |
Decomposer | An organism that gets energy by breaking down biotic wastes and dead organisms, and returns raw materials to the soil and water |
Food chain | A series of events in an ecosystem in which organisms transfer energy by eating and by being eating. |
Food web | The pattern of overlapping feeding relationships of food chains among the various organisms in an ecosystem |
Energy pyramid | A diagram that shows the amount of energy that moves from one feeding level to another on a food web |
Biome | A group of ecosystems with similar climates and organisms |
Climate | The average annual conditions of temperature, precipitation, winds, and clouds in an area |
Desert | A dry region that on average receives less than 25 centimeters of precipitation per year |
Rain forest | A forest that receives at least 2 meters of rain per year, mostly occuring in the tropical wet climate zone |
Emergent layer | The tallest layer of the rain forest that receives the most sunlight |
Canopy | A leafy roof formed by tall trees in a rain forest |
Understory | A layer of shorter trees and vines that grows in the shade of a forest canopy |
Grassland | An area populated mostly by grasses and other nonwoody plants that gets 25 to 75 centimeters of rain each year |
Savanna | A grassland located close to the equator that may include shrubs and small trees and receives as much as 120 centimeters of rain per year |
Deciduous tree | A tree that sheds its leaves during a particular season and grows new ones each year |
Boreal forest | Dense forest of evergreens located in the upper regions on the Northern Hemisphere |
Coniferous tree | A tree that produces its seeds in cones and that has needle-shaped leaves coated in a waxy substance to reduce water loss |
Tundra | An extremely cold, dry biome climate region characterized by short, cool summers and bitterly cold winters |
Permafrost | Permanently frozen soil found in the tundra biome climate region |