Ecology Quiz Review #1 Flashcards
Consumers
An organism which does not make its own food but must get its energy from eating a plant or animal.
Decomposers
Organisms that break down dead plants or animals into the substances that plants need for growth.
Producers
An organism which produces its own food through photosynthesis.
Primary consumers
They eat primary producers—plants or algae—and nothing else.
Secondary consumers
Secondary consumers are largely carnivores that feed on the primary consumers or herbivores
Tertiary consumers
Tertiary consumers are those that eat the secondary consumers (large predators).
Top predator
An animal at the top of the food chain and has no natural predators.
Biotic factors
Living organisms within an ecosystem.
→ Tiny to gigantic organisms
Abiotic factors
The non-living chemical and physical components of an ecosystem.
→ Sunlight, temperature, water, soil
Trophic levels
The position of a species in a food chain.
Energy pyramids
Graphical representation of the energy found within the trophic levels of an ecosystem.
Food chain
Highlights feeding relationships among organisms.
Food web
The combination of several food chains to highlight the feeding relationships in an ecosystem.
Evaporation
The sun’s rays evaporate large amounts of water on earth and turn into water vapour.
Condensation
The water vapour rises in the atmosphere where it cools and condenses changing gas vapour to liquid.
