Term |
Definition |
Abiotic |
An environmental factor that is not associated with the activities of living organisms. |
biogeochemical cycle
|
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biotic |
An environmental factor that is associated with or results from the activities of living organisms. |
carbon cycle
|
The movement of carbon from the nonliving environment into living things and back. |
commensalism |
A relationship between two organisms in which one organism benefits and the other is unaffected. |
competition |
Ecological relationship in which two or more organisms depend on the same limited resource. |
Consumer |
An organism that eats other organisms or organic matter. |
decomposer |
An organism that gets energy by breaking down the remains of dead organisms or animal wastes and consuming or absorbing the nutrients. |
ecology |
The study of the interactions of living organisms with one another and with their environment. |
ecosystem |
A community of organisms and their abiotic, or nonliving, environment. |
energy pyramid
|
A triangular diagram that shows an ecosystem's loss of energy, which results as energy passes through the ecosystem's food chain; each row in the pyramid represents a trophic feeding level in an ecosystem, and the area of a row represents the energy store |
food chain
|
The pathway of energy transfer through various stages as a result of the feeding patterns of a series of organisms. |
food web
|
A diagram that shows the feeding relationships between organisms in an ecosystem. |
limiting factor
|
An environmental factor that prevents an organism or population from reaching its full potential of size or activity. |
mutualism
|
A relationship between two species in which both species benefit. |
parasite |
|
parasitism
|
A relationship between two species in which one species, the parasite, benefits from the other species, the host, which is harmed. |
predation
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predator
|
An organism that kills and eats all or part of another organism |
prey |
An organism that is killed and eaten by another orginism |
primary consumer
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producer
|
An organism that can make its own food by using energy from its surroundings. |
secondary consumer
|
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symbiosis |
A relationship in which two different organisms live in close association with each other. |
tertiary consumer
|
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trophic level
|
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water cycle
|
The continuous movement of water between the atmosphere, the land, the oceans, and living things. |
Habitat |
A living things environment |
Niche |
The role of a living thing in that certain environment |