Question | Answer |
Abiotic | none living |
Biotic | living |
Decomposer | simple organism, such as bacteria or fungus, that breaks down dead organisms and waste, returning important nutrients to the environment |
Energy Pyramid | a model of the flow of energy in a food chain; less energy is available at each level of the pyramid as you move towards the top. |
Food Chain | a pathway of energy and materials through a community |
Food Web | all the interconnecting food chains within a community |
Predator | consumers that hunt and kill other consumers |
Scavenger | consumers that eat other consumers that have already died |
Biome | a large region of land with a distinct climate and certain types of plant and animal life |
Biosphere | the part of the Earth that is able to support life |
Carnivore | an animal that feeds on other animals, such as a wolf |
Carrying Capacity | largest number of individuals of a particular species that an ecosystem can support over time |
Community | all of the populations sharing a specific area or region; for example, all the organisms in a lake |
Consumer | organisms that cannot make their own energy |
Ecology | study of interactions of organisms with each other and their environment |
Ecosystem | all the living populations in an area along with the nonliving parts of that environment |
Habitat | the place in an ecosystem where an organism lives |
Herbivore | an animal that feeds only on plants, such as a deer |
Niche | role that a species plays in a living community or ecosystem |
Omnivore | an animal that feeds on both plants and animals; for example, a raccoon |
Photosynthesis | chemical process by which plants use light energy to make sugar from water and carbon dioxide |
Population | all the members of a species living in a particular area at a particular time |
Producer | organism that makes its own food, such as a plant or a photosynthetic alga |