Producers and Consumers
Scavenger
A carnivore that feeds on the bodies of dead organisms.
Herbivore
A consumer that eats only plants.
Commensalism
A relationship between two different kinds of organisms in which one benefits and the other is unaffected (whales and barnacles)
Parasitism
A relationship between two different kinds of organisms in which one organism lives on or off the other. One is harmed (dog and tick)
Symbiosis
A relationship in which two different organisms live in close association with each other.
Adaptations
A trait that helps an organism to survive in its environment
Food Chain
A way of showing how the energy flow from one population of organisms to another in a community
Camouflage
An adaptation that protects an organism from predators (cheetah match surrounding grass lands)
Omnivore
An animal that eats both plants and animals
Carnivore
An animal that eats other animals
Autotroph
An organism that can make its own food.
Producer
An organism that can make its own food.
Consumer
An organism that eats other organisms
Heterotroph
An organism that eats other organisms
Predator
An organism that feeds directly on other organisms in order to survive; live-feeders such as herbivores and carnivores
Decomposer
An organism that gets energy by breaking down the remains of dead organisms or animal wastes and consuming or absorbing the nutrients.
Prey
Animal hunted or caught for food
Limiting Factor
Biotic and abiotic factors that limit the size of a population
Terrestrial
Land
Freshwater
No Salt; ponds, lakes, rivers; less dense
Marine Ecosystem
Ocean; Salt; more dense
Parasite
Organism that gets its energy feeding off of other organism flesh or blood.
Predation
Relationship in which an organism kills and feeds upon another
Energy Pyramid
Shows the energy movement through the food chain
Carry Capacity
The amount of organisms an environment can hold comfortable
Trophic level
The different levels/layers on the Energy Pyramid
Primary Consumer
The first organism that consumes another organism in food web (usually are herbivores)
Host
The organism a parasite feeds on
Secondary Consumer
The second organism that consumes another in a food web (usually are carnivores/omnivores)
Competition
The struggle among organisms for resources in an ecosystem
Carrying Capacity
The total number of organisms that an ecosystem/habitat can hold/sustain
Food Web
a diagram that shows the feeding relationships between organisms in an ecosystem
Artificial Reef
a man-made, underwater structure that promotes the growth of reef-dwelling aquatic organisms; it provides a habitat (home) for fish/marine life.
Short-term environmental change
an environmental change that happens fast EX: tornado
Long-term environmental change
an environmental change that happens slowly and over time affecting organisms EX: oil spill in ocean
Species
an organism
Compete
fighting for food source or space
Biotic
living factors
Abiotic
nonliving factors
Habitat
organisms home/shelter
Mutualism
relationship between two different kinds of organisms that benefits both of them (fungus and alga)
Niche
role of an organism
Relationship
the connection to organism have towards each other EX: producer-consumer, prey-predator, parasite-host
Tropic level
the levels on the energy pyramid
Extinct
the permanent disappearance of a species from the Earth
