Ecology Vocabulary Flashcards
Ecology
The study of organisms interacting with each other
Biome
A major ecological community such as grassland, tundra, or desert
Producer
An organism that can make its own food; an organism that does not need to consume other organisms for food
Consumer
An organism that eats other things to create energy; an organism that cannot make its own food
Decomposer
An organism that breaks down dead or decaying organisms
Food Chain
A model that shows one set of feeding relationships among living things
Food Web
A model that shows the many different feeding relationships among living things
Cycle
A process that repeats
Water cycle
The continual movement of water through through the land, the ocean, and the air
Carbon Cycle
A cycle in which carbon compounds are incorporated into living tissue and released back into the atmosphere by breathing, decay of dead organisms, and the burning of fossil fuel
Nitrogen Cycle
A process in which nitrogen in the atmosphere enters the soil through and becomes a part of living organisms then eventually returns to the atmosphere
Biotic Factors
The living things in an ecosystem
Abiotic Factors
The things in an ecosystem that are not alive
Predator
An animal that kills and eats other animals
Prey
An animal that is hunted and eaten by other animals
Deciduous
A tree that loses its leaves every year
Energy pyramid
A model that shows the available amount of energy in each trophic layer in an ecosystem
Coniferous
Plants that create reproductive organs called cones
Succession
The sequence of communities that develop in an area
Levels of Organization
Biosphere Biome Ecosystem Community Population Organism
Independent Variable
The one part of an experiment that is changed
Dependent Variable
The measurable part of an experiment; the part of an experiment that is affected by the independent variable
Constant Variables
The parts of an experiment that do not change
Metric system
Kilo Hecto Deca Unit Deci Centi Milli
