Abiotic factors: nonliving parts of an ecosystem
Biotic factors: The living parts of an ecosystem. Usually include: producer, consumers, decomposers, and human influence.
Biosphere: part of Earth in which life exists including land, water, and air or atmosphere
Carbon-Oxygen Cycle: The interconnected processes where carbon and oxygen move through the Earth's atmosphere, land, oceans, and living organisms, with photosynthesis and respiration playing key roles.
Carnivore: Organism that obtains energy by eating other organisms.
Carrion: the decaying flesh or dead animals.
Commensalism: A relationship between two organisms in which one organism benefits and the other is unaffected
Community: All the different interacting populations that live together in an area
Competition: the struggle between two or more living things that depend on the same limited resource
Consumer/Heterotroph: An organism that acquires energy by feeding on other organisms.
Decomposer: Organisms that break down and absorb nutrients from dead organisms.
Ecology: The study of how living things interact with each other and their environment
Ecosystem: the interaction of a community of populations with their physical environment
Food Chain: The pathway of energy transfer through various stages as a result of the feeding patterns of a series of organisms. Shows a linear sequence of the transfer of matter and energy from organism to organism. It is one piece of a food web.
Energy Pyramid: A diagram that shows the relative sizes of different components at the various trophic levels of a food chain. There are three types of ecological pyramid we use: numbers, biomass and energy.
Food web: the natural interconnection of food chains & graphical representation of how energy is passed from organism to organism in an ecological community.
Habitat: Place where an organism lives
Herbivore: An organism that obtains energy by eating ONLY plants.
Host: An organism on which a parasite lives.
Mutualism: A relationship between two species in which both species benefit
Niche: An organism's particular role in an ecosystem, or how it makes its living.
Omnivore: Organism that obtains energy from eating both plants and animals.
Organism: An individual living thing
Parasite: An organism that feeds on a living host
Parasitism: A relationship between two organisms of different species where one benefits (parasite) and the other (host) is harmed
Population: A group of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area
Predation: An interaction in which one organism kills another for food.
Predator: An animal that hunts other animals for food
Prey: An organism that is killed and eaten by another organism
Primary Consumer: An organism that feeds on primary producers. Organisms of this type make up the second trophic level. These are typically your herbivores.
Producer/Autotroph: An organism that can make its own food.
Scavenger: An organism that feeds on carrion, dead plant material, or refuse.
Secondary Consumer: An organism that feeds on the Primary Consumer for nutrients and energy. These are typically your carnivores or omnivores.
Symbiosis: A close relationship between two species that benefits at least one of the species.
Tertiary Consumer: A organism that obtains energy by eating primary & secondary consumers. Usually tertiary consumers are carnivorous predators, although they may also be omnivores.
Trophic level: the number of steps it is from the start of the chain. The trophic level of an organism is the position it occupies in the food web.
Abiotic factors: nonliving parts of an ecosystem
Biotic factors: The living parts of an ecosystem. Usually include: producer, consumers, decomposers, and human influence.
Biosphere: part of Earth in which life exists including land, water, and air or atmosphere
Carbon-Oxygen Cycle: The interconnected processes where carbon and oxygen move through the Earth's atmosphere, land, oceans, and living organisms, with photosynthesis and respiration playing key roles.
Carnivore: Organism that obtains energy by eating other organisms.
Carrion: the decaying flesh or dead animals.
Commensalism: A relationship between two organisms in which one organism benefits and the other is unaffected
Community: All the different interacting populations that live together in an area
Competition: the struggle between two or more living things that depend on the same limited resource
Consumer/Heterotroph: An organism that acquires energy by feeding on other organisms.
Decomposer: Organisms that break down and absorb nutrients from dead organisms.
Ecology: The study of how living things interact with each other and their environment
Ecosystem: the interaction of a community of populations with their physical environment
Food Chain: The pathway of energy transfer through various stages as a result of the feeding patterns of a series of organisms. Shows a linear sequence of the transfer of matter and energy from organism to organism. It is one piece of a food web.
Food Pyramid: A diagram that shows the relative sizes of different components at the various trophic levels of a food chain. There are three types of ecological pyramid we use: numbers, biomass and energy.
Food web: the natural interconnection of food chains & graphical representation of how energy is passed from organism to organism in an ecological community.
Habitat: Place where an organism lives
Herbivore: An organism that obtains energy by eating ONLY plants.
Host: An organism on which a parasite lives.
Mutualism: A relationship between two species in which both species benefit
Niche: An organism's particular role in an ecosystem, or how it makes its living.
Omnivore: Organism that obtains energy from eating both plants and animals.
Organism: An individual living thing
Parasite: An organism that feeds on a living host
Parasitism: A relationship between two organisms of different species where one benefits and the other is harmed
Population: A group of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area
Predation: An interaction in which one organism kills another for food.
Predator: An animal that hunts other animals for food
Prey: An organism that is killed and eaten by another organism
Primary Consumer: An organism that feeds on primary producers. Organisms of this type make up the second trophic level. These are typically your herbivores.
Producer/Autotroph: An organism that can make its own food.
Scavenger: An organism that feeds on carrion, dead plant material, or refuse.
Secondary Consumer: An organism that feeds on the Primary Consumer for nutrients and energy. These are typically your carnivores or omnivores.
Symbiosis: A close relationship between two species that benefits at least one of the species.
Tertiary Consumer: A organism that obtains energy by eating primary & secondary consumers. Usually tertiary consumers are carnivorous predators, although they may also be omnivores.
Trophic level: the number of steps it is from the start of the chain. The trophic level of an organism is the position it occupies in the food web.