non-living parts of the environment
Abiotic
organisms that use energy from the sun or stored sources to manufacture their nutrients
autotroph
variety of life
biodiversity
amount of living matter in an environment
biomass
all of Earth's ecosystems including all the water, land and air in which organisms live
biosphere
living part of the environment
biotic
flesh eating organism
carnivore
number of organisms of one species that the environment can support indefinitely
carrying capacity
symbiotic relationship in which one species benefits and the other is neither harmed nor benefited
commensalism
living part of an ecosystem
community
struggle among living things to get proper amounts of food, water & energy
competition
organism that feeds directly or indirectly on producers
consumer
organism such as fungi or bacteria that break down and absorb nutrients from dead organisms
decomposer
role or position and species has its environment
ecological niche
The study of interactions between organisms and their environment
ecology
process of gradual change within a community
ecological succession
interactions among populations in a community. the community physical surrondings or abiotic factors
ecosystem
a diagram showing how food energy moves through the ecosystem
energy pyramid
all the living and non-living things with which an organism interacts
environment
food and energy links between the different plants and animals in an ecosystem
food chain
all the food chains in an ecosystem that are connected
food web
place where an organism lives
habitat
organism that eats only plants
herbivore
organisms that cannot make their own food and must feed on other organisms for energy and nutrients
heterotroph
organism in which another organism lives
host
any factor in the environment that limits the size of a population
limiting factors
a symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit
mutalism
symbiotic relationships in which one organism benefits at the expense of another
parasitism
group of organisms, all of the same species which interbreed and live in the same place at the same time
population
animal that kills and eats another
predator
organism that is killed and eaten by a predator
prey
organism that makes its own food
producer
organism that feeds on dead animals
scavenger
relationship in which one organism lives in, on or near another organism
symbiosis