Key Terms Flashcards
Ecosystem
A community of plants and animals that interact with each other and their physical environment
Small-scale ecosystem
A pond or a hedgerow
Global-scale esosystem (biome)
A tropical rainforest
Biotic components
Living components - plants and animals
Abiotic components
Non-living components - water and light
Producer
An organism or plant that is able to absorb energy from sun through photosynthesis
Consumer
An organism that eats other organisms (animals /plants) for energy.
Decomposed
an organism such as (bacteria, fungus, worms, some insects) that breaks down dead tissue, which effectively recycles their nutreipnts back to the environment
Nutrient cycling
A set of processes where by organisms (living things) extract minerals necessary for growth from soil or water before passing them on through the food chain and ultimately back to the soil and water.
Food chain
The flow of energy through an ecosystem. A food chain shows a simple series of link in a line
Biomass
word used for all of the living matter in an ecosystem
Food web
Often several consumers eat the same type of food. So, for example, mayflies and worms both feed on algae. Individual food chains then link up to form a food web.
Litter
is the word used for the fallen leaves on the floor that have not been broken down yet
Soil
is where the decomposers will break down dead matter and return nutrients ready for plants to take them up.
Eutrophication
When too many
nutrients enter a body of water and cause unnatural growth of algae or other plants
