click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
science ecosystems
Science
Term | Definition |
---|---|
biotic factors | a living thing, like and animal or plant that influences or affects and ecosystem |
abiotic factors | an non-living condition or thing such as climate or habitat that influences or affects an ecosystem and the organisms in it |
producers | an organism like a plant that is able to produce it's own food from inorganic substances |
consumers | an organism, usually an animal that feeds on plants or other animals |
decomposers | an organism, usually a bacterium or fungus that breaks down the cells of dead plants and animals into simpler substances |
herbivore | animals that get their energy by only eating producers or plants |
carnivore | animals that get their energy by only eating other consumers |
omnivore | animals that get their energy by eating both producers (plants) and consumers (animals) |
predator | any organism that exists by preying on other organisms |
prey | an animal hunted or seized for food, especially by a carnivorous animal |
terrestrial ecosystem | a land based community of organisms |
aquatic ecosystem | an ecosystem in a body of water |
food chains | the path of food energy from one organism to another in an ecosystem |
food webs | overlapping food chains with different pathways for the flow of food energy in an ecosystem |
energy pyramid | a diagram that shows the amount of energy passed on in each level of a food chain |
competition | the struggle of organisms against each other to get the same resource |
natural resources | materials in the environment that are useful to people |
population | all the organisms of the same species that live in the same place at the same time |
community | populations of different kinds of organisms that live in the same place at the same time |
habitat | the environment where and organism lives |
estuary | a place where fresh water from a river empties into the ocean and mixes with it |
brackish | slightly salty like the mixture of freshwater and sea water in estuary |