Ecology Flashcards
Environment
Everything that surrounds an animal or plant (for example air, water rocks and soil)
Habitat
The HABITAT is the place where a plant or animal lives
What organisms live in a woodland habitat
Hedgehogs, snails, foxes and primroses and also oak, ash and beech trees
Interdependence
How organisms depend on each other for their survival, for example buttercups need bees and bees depend on buttercups so both depend on each other
What is an ecosystem
All plants and animals in an area interacting with each other and their environment. E.g. Desert, tropical rain forests, grasslands, seashore
Producer
A producer is a plant that makes its own food E.g. Grass, dandelions and nettle
Consumer
Animals that get their food by eating plants or other animals E.g. Herbivore or carnivores
Herbivore
Only eats plants E.g. Rabbits, sheep and snails
Carnivore
An animal that only eats other animals E.g. Ladybugs, foxes, hawks
Omnivore
Eats both plants and animals E.g. humans
Decomposer
Something that feeds of plants and animals when they are dead, E.g. Earthworms, bacteria and fungi (deco posers are very important as they break down dead things and release lots of minerals into the soil)
Food chain
A food chain shows how one organism eats another and so on, must start with green plants
Feeding level
The position of an organism in the food chain
Food web
A food web is two or more interconnected food chains
Competition
Occurs when two or more organisms seek a resource that is limited e.g. Plants compete for light, water, minerals and space and animals compete for food, shelter, territory and mates
