Ecology Flashcards
Energy Pyramid
A model that shows the available amount of energy in each tropic layer in an ecosystem
Food Web
A model that shows many different feeding relationships among living things in a given area
Decomposer
Organisms which carry out the process of decomposition by breaking down dead or decaying organisms
Food Chain
A model that shows one set of feeding relationships among living things
Coniferous
Plants that produce reproductive organs called cones
Consumer
An organism that eats other living things to get energy; an organism that does not produce its own food
Deciduous Forest
A forest containing trees that lose their leaves each year
Cycle
The movement of a substance through different reservoirs or stages
Nitrogen Cycle
A process in which nitrogen in the atmosphere enters the soil and becomes part of living organisms then eventually returns to the atmosphere
Water Cycle
The continual of water between the land, ocean, and the air predictable physical processes
Abiotic
All of the non-living parts of an ecosystem
Biotic
All of the living parts of an ecosystem
Producer
An organism that makes its own food; an organism that does not consume other plants or animals
Biome
A major ecological community such as grassland, tropical rainforests, or desert
Carbon cycle
a natural cycle in which carbon compounds, mainly carbon dioxide, are incorporated into living tissue through photosynthesis and returned to the atmosphere by respiration, decay of dead organisms, and the burning of fossil fuels
