Vocabulary
the nonliving part of an ecosystem
What are abiotic factors?
an organism that uses energy and matter from the environment to make its own food molecules
What is a producer?
a feeding relationship between two animals
What is predator-prey interaction?
organisms that are of the same kind and can successfully reproduce
What is a species?
when the predator population increases, the prey population __________ and when the predator population decreases, the prey population ____________
What is decreases and increases?
something that interrupts an event, activity, or process
What is a disruption?
all the organisms living together in a particular place along with their nonliving environment
What is an ecosystem?
when two or more species require the same limited resources
What is competition?
two different bird populations is an example of interaction on this level
What is community?
the organism on which a parasite lives
What is a host?
an organism that gets energy and matter by eating other organisms
What is a consumer?
the parts of an ecosystem that are living or result form the activities of living things
What are biotic factors?
helps both species involved in this interaction
What is mutualism?
a group of individuals of the same species that live in the same place at the same time
What is a population?
gophers digging tunnels and exposing insects to nearby birds is an example of what type of interaction
What is commensalism?
a model that shows how energy flows between organisms in an ecosystem
What is a food web?
an organism that gets energy and matter by breaking down the remains of other organisms that have died
What is a decomposer?
helps one species while neither helping nor harming the other
What is commensalism?
alligators in the Everglades ecosystem competing for food are an example of organisms on this level of the ecosystem
What is population?
the five main needs of organisms
What are:
1 - Food 2 - Water
3 - Shelter 4 - Space
5 - Air
the close, long-term relationship between two species within an ecosystem
What is symbiosis?
a representation of the energy available at each level of a food web
What is an energy pyramid?
benefits one species which lives in or on the other
What is parasitism?
all the populations of different species that live and interact in an area
What is a community?
to study the interactions of organisms
What is ecology?