12-1 What are producers and consumers?
scavenger
animal that only eats dead organisms
condensation
changing of a gas to a liquid
evaporation
changing of a liquid to a gas
omnivore
consumer that eats both plants and animals
carnivore
consumer that only eats animals
herbivore
consumer that only eats plants
deforestation
excessive cutting of forests
fossil fuel
nonrenewable energy source formed from the remains of plants and animals that lived and died long ago
host
organism a parasite feeds on
decomposer
organism that breaks down the wastes or remains of other organisms
prey
organism that is killed and eaten by another organism
predator
organism that kills and eats another organism
producer
organism that makes its own food
consumer
organism that obtains food by eating other organisms
transpiration
process by which plants lose water through the stomata in their leaves
nitrogen fixation
process of combining nitrogen with other elements to make usable compounds
symbiosis
relationship between different species living in close association with one another
commensalism
relationship between two different kinds of organisms in which one benefits and the other is unaffected
parasitism
relationship between two different kinds of organisms in which one organism lives on or in another organism and causes it harm
mutualism
relationship between two different kinds of organisms that benefits both of them
predation
relationship in which an organism kills and eats another organism
carbon cycle
repeated movement of carbon between Earth's atmosphere and organisms
nitrogen cycle
repeated movement of nitrogen compounds between the atmosphere, the soil, and living organisms
water cycle
repeated movement of water between Earth's surface and the atmosphere
endangered species
species of living organisms in danger of becoming extinct
competition
struggle among organisms for resources in an ecosystem
adaptation
trait that helps an organism survive in its environment
precipitation
water that falls to Earth from the atmoshere
energy pyramid
way of showing how energy moves through a food chain
food web
way of showing how food chains are related
food chain
way of showing how the energy from food moves through populations of organisms in a community