ecolkigy Flashcards
food web
consists of all the food chains in a single ecosystem.
food chain
Food webs connect many different food chains, and many different trophic levels. Food webs can support food chains that are long and complicated, or very short.
trophic lvl
categories called trophic levels.
produces
make their own food and do not depend on any other organism for nutrition.
autotrophs
make their own food and do not depend on any other organism for nutrition. Most autotrophs use a process called
consumer
eat organisms
carnivores
Consumers can be carnivores (animals that eat other animals)
omnivore
eat plants and algea
primary consumer
eat plants and algea
seconday consumer
eat herbavores or primary con sumer
herbivours
eat plants algea and other producers
tertiary consumers
eat the secondary consumer
apex predator
has no predator other than human
Enviroment
The environment is all around us. It includes all the things an organism needs to survive. Humans change the environment in many ways.
Biosphere
The biosphere includes all places on Earth where life exists. We find living things in cold regions, in tropical rain forests, deserts, oceans, and in cities.
habitat
The place in which an organism lives is known as its habitat. The habitat provides the organism with food, water, and shelter. The Everglades are the habitat of the bog frog. Here, it gets lots of insects to eat and water to drink.
species
Organisms that share the same characteristics and features belong to the same species. Animals that belong to the same species can reproduce and create offspring. Pets like cats, dogs, and goldfish are each a different species.
population
A population is made up of the same kind of organisms. They live together in the same habitat.
community
Maple and oak trees are producers in a forest ecosystem. Animals like birds and deer are consumers. Small bugs live on rotten and decayed vegetation. They are decomposers.
niche
A snake’s niche includes what it eats and what environment it needs to survive. Snakes depend on warm temperatures. Snakes eat mice, lizards, birds, and eggs. They are food for eagles, owls, and hawks.
comptition
In the tropical rain forest biome, there is competition for sunlight. Trees need to grow tall to absorb maximum sunlight. These trees branch out at the top, forming a canopy that prevents sunlight from reaching the forest floor, making it difficult for smaller trees to compete with them.
biotic
Biotic components are the living things that shape an ecosystem.
abiotic
Abiotic components are the non-living factors in an environment.
predator
A predator is an animal that hunts other animals for food. Lions are the most feared and ferocious predators of the grassland biomes. They hunt animals like zebras, wildebeest, impalas, and buffalo.
prey
A prey is an animal that is hunted by other animals. In a grassland ecosystem, a mouse is the prey of a snake and the snake in turn, is preyed on by hawks.
parasite
Mosquitoes do not cause disease themselves. They transmit infection by passing on parasites from one host to another. The female Anopheles mosquito carries the parasite Plasmodium, which causes malaria.
host
A relationship in which one organism benefits at the host’s expense is called parasitism.
symbiosis
relationship between two species that interact in ways that influence each other’s evolution
parasitism
A relationship in which one organism benefits at the host’s expense is called parasitism.
mutualism
Mutualism is a relationship between two species in which both benefit from the relationship.
commenlism
Commensalism is a relationship between two organisms in which one is benefited and the other is neither benefited nor harmed. Barnacles and whales share a commensalistic relationship that benefits the barnacles.
