Living World Flashcards
Ecosystem
The living and non-living parts of an environment and the interrelationships that exist between them
Biomes
Global-scale ecosystems
Adaptations
The way that plants evolve to cope with certain environmental conditions such as excessive rainfall.
Producers
Organisms that obtain their energy from a primary source such as the sun.
Consumers
Organisms that obtain their energy by eating other organisms.
Food chain
A line of linkages between producers and consumers.
Food web
A diagram that shows all the linkages between producers and consumers in an ecosystem.
Scavengers
Organisms that consume dead animals or plants.
Decomposers
Organisms such as bacteria that break down plant and animal matter.
Nutrient cycling
The recycling of nutrients between living organisms and the environment.
Temperature deciduous forest
Forests made up of broad-leaved trees such as oak that drop their leaves in the autumn.
Stratification
Layering of forests, seen particularly in temperate deciduous forests and tropical rainforests.
Tropical Rainforests
The natural vegetation found in the tropics, well suited to the high temperatures and heavy rainfall of these latitudes.
Leaching
The dissolving and removal of nutrients from the soil, often in tropical rainforests because of the heavy rainfall.
Arid
Dry conditions typically associated with deserts.
