Unit 5 Flashcards
Niche
What the organism does with its environment
Habitat
Where an organism lives
Biodiversity
The variety of different types of life found on earth. It is a measure of the variety of organisms present in different ecosystems. This can refer to genetic variation, ecosystem variation, or species variation (number of species) within an area, biome, or planet.
Producers
Organisms that make everything
Energy Pyramid
the graphical representation of the trophic levels (nutritional) by which the incoming solar energy is transferred into an ecosystem. The source of energy for living beings on Earth is the Sun.
Ecology
the branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings.
Consumer
a thing that eats or uses something.
Abiotic
physical rather than biological; not derived from living organisms.
Ecosystem
a community of living organisms in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment (things like air, water and mineral soil), interacting as a system.
Biotic
of, relating to, or resulting from living things, especially in their ecological relations.
Food chain
a hierarchical series of organisms each dependent on the next as a source of food.
Food web
a system of interlocking and interdependent food chains.
Organism
an individual animal, plant, or single-celled life form.
synonyms:
Decomposer
organisms that break down dead or decaying organisms, and in doing so, carry out the natural process of decomposition. Like herbivores and predators, decomposers are heterotrophic, meaning that they use organic substrates to get their energy, carbon and nutrients for growth and development.
Herbivore
Plant eater
