Ecology
The study of the relationships among organisms and between organisms and their environment
Organism
A living thing
Environment
Sum of all the conditions surrounding an organism. All the living and nonliving factors that affect an organism
Abiotic factors
Nonliving factors that may affect an organism
Biotic factors
Living factors that may affect organisms, predators, and competition
Habitat
Where an organism lives. It includes everything the organism needs to survive
Ecosystem
All that is living and nonliving in a given area. The combination of all living things and nonliving things that exchange energy and matter
Species
A group of organisms that interact and interbreed to produce fertile offspring in a particular ecosystem
Population
A group of individuals of a single species that interact and interbreed in a particular ecosystem
Community
An assemblage of all the species inhabiting a given ecosystem
Adaptation
An aspect of an organism's structure, physiology, or behavior that enables that organism to successfully survive in a particular environment
Niche
The role an organism plays in an ecosystem. It is more than just where lives and what it needs to survive. The niche of an organism also includes all interactions with other organisms
Producers
Organisms that are the source of all energy in an ecosystem (plants)
Consumer
An organism that cannot make its own food and therefore must rely on producers for food either directly or indirectly
Autotroph
Organisms that make their own food
Heterotroph
Organisms that rely on producers for food either directly or indirectly
Herbivore
A consumer that eats only plants or producers
Carnivore
An organism that eats only other animals after killing them
Omnivore
An organism that eats both animals and plants (producers)
Scavenger
A consumer that feeds on the bodies of dead animals and plants
Decomposer
An organism that breaks down dead organisms into simpler substances which are then returned to the soil or water to be used by producers
Predator
An animal that hunts and kills other organisms for food
Prey
An organism that is killed and eaten by an animal
Food chain
A diagram illustrating a single pathway of energy transfer between producers and consumers in an ecosystem
Food web
All of the overlapping an interconnected food chains in an ecosystem