Ecosystems Flashcards
Energy pyramid
a model that shows the available amount of energy in each trophic layer in an ecosystem
Food web
a model that shows many different feeding relationships among living things
Decoposer
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 (related word: consume)
Biome
a major ecological community such as grassland, tropical rain forest, or desert
Deciduous
a forest containing trees that lose their leaves each year
Cycle
a process that repeats (related word: cyclic)
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
Biotic factory
all of the living parts of an ecosystem
Water factors
the continual movement of water between the land, ocean, and the air
Abiotic
all of the nonliving parts of an ecosystem
Producer
an organism that makes its own food; an organism that does not consume other plants or animals
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
