Chapter 2 Ecosystems and Biomes Science Vocabulary Flashcards
An organism that obtains energy by feeding on other organisms
Consumer
An organism that can make its own food
Producer
Consumers that eat only plants
Herbivore
Consumers that eat only animals
Carnivore
A consumer that eats both plants and animals
Omnivore
A carnivore that feeds on the bodies of dead organisms
Scavenger
Organisms that break down dead organisms and return the raw materials to the environment
Decomposer
A series of events in which one organism eats another and obtains energy
Food chain
Consists of the many overlapping food chains in an ecosystem
Food web
Shows the amount of energy that moves from one feeding level to another in a food web
Energy pyramid
The continuous process by which water moves from earth’s surface to the atmosphere and back
Water cycle
The process by which molecules of liquid water absorb energy and change to the gas state
Evaporation
The process by which a gas changes to a liquid
Condensation
The heavy drops that fall back to the Earth, rain, snow, sleet, or hail
Precipitation
The process of changing free nitrogen gas into a usable form of nitrogen
Nitrogen fixation
Where bacteria lives on bumps of roots on certain plants
Nodule
The study of where organisms live
Biogeography
The very slow motion of the continents
Continental drift
The movement of organisms from one place to another
Dispersal
Species that have naturally evolved in an area
Native species
When an organism is carried into a new location by people
Exotic species
The typical weather pattern in an area over a long period of time
Climate
A group of ecosystems with similar climates and organisms
Biome
A leafy roof that tall trees form
Canopy
