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Ecology vocabulary

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Term
Definition
abiotic factor   A physical factor of the environment such as water, light, temperature, soil, air.  
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aquatic   Of or pertaining to water.  
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autotroph   An organism that can use the energy from the Sun or chemical reactions to make organic nutrients from inorganic materials.  
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biodiversity   Differences and variety in the organisms and their roles in an ecosystem.  
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biomass pyramid   A diagram in the shape of a pyramid, showing the relative mass of organisms. The mass is greatest at the producer level and lessens as it goes to the higher consumer levels.  
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carnivore   An organism that eats other animals.  
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carrying capacity   The maximum number of organisms that an ecosystem can support without deteriorating  
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community   All the plant and animal populations in a given area.  
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conifer   A plant that bears cones and has needle-like leaves.  
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consumer   A heterotroph; an organism that cannot make its own food and must ingest (eat) organic nutrients.  
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deciduous trees   Trees that loose their leaves.  
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decomposers   Organisms of decay which convert organic compounds into inorganic compounds  
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dynamic equilibrium   A balanced state of the body or a system; for example, homeostasis or a predator-prey relationship.  
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ecosystem   The interaction of living things and their nonliving environment.  
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energy pyramid, pyramid of energy   A diagram in the shape of a pyramid that shows the relative amount of available energy at each feeding level as you move from producers to decomposers in an ecosystem.  
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evolution   The process of change in living things through time.  
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feedback   A mechanism that responds to change by causing a response  
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food chain   A series of organisms, starting with a producer, through which food energy is passed in an ecosystem.  
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food web   A series of interconnecting food chains in an ecosystem. Arrows show the direction that energy is moving in.  
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herbivore   A heterotroph that only feeds on plants  
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heterotroph   An organism that cannot make its own food and therefore must ingest (eat) organic nutrients.  
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hibernation   A state of lowered metabolic rate experienced by some animals, usually during cold weather. The animal survives on stored body fat  
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inorganic   A compound that does not contain both carbon and hydrogen  
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lichen    
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limiting factor   A nonliving, physical factor that limits the type of organisms that can exist in a particular ecosystem  
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organic compound   A compound that contains the elements carbon and hydrogen.  
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population   All the members of the same species living together in a given region and capable of interbreeding  
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producers   Organisms that can use the energy from the Sun or chemical reactions to make organic nutrients from inorganic materials  
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recycling   The process of reusing materials rather than throwing them away.  
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scavenger   A carnivore that feeds on dead animals it finds.  
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secondary consumers   In a food chain, carnivores that eat primary consumers or herbivores  
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speciation   The process by which one species can evolve into two or more species because of geographic isolation  
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species   A group of organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring  
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succession   The replacement of one type of community by another until the stable climax community is reached, which remains in place until it is destroyed by some catastrophe.  
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