Producers
A community in which multiple organisms interact and depend on one another for balance is called _______.
An Ecosystem
What 2 things do all ecosystems contain?
Energy (which mostly originates from the sun) and Matter (food, water, air - recycle through the environment)
What do food chains follow?
The path of energy
When a plant uses energy from the sun to make glucose, this is known as _____________.
Photosynthesis
What type of energy do you need to fuel photosynthesis?
sunlight
The process that converts food into fuel or energy that an organism can use for growth is called ___________.
metabolism
Fires, flood and droughts are examples of ________-caused disruptions to an ecosystem.
nature
What are the 4 limiting factors that limit a population?
Food, Water, Living space and Light
The two ingredients needed in photosynthesis.
carbon dioxide and water
If you want to study the linear relationship between organisms that depend on each other for food, you would look at a ____________.
food chain
Overfishing is an example of ___________-caused disruption to an ecosystem.
human
These help break down organic matter to return it to the earth for new organisms to grow.
Decomposers
What are always the final link of a food chain?
Decomposers.
If you would like to study the flow of energy between multiple organisms and how they depend on each other for food, you would look at a ___________.
food web
The symbiotic relationship between two species in which both benefit.
Mutualism
This is the study of interactions of organisms with each other and their environment.
Ecology
Non-living (abiotic) elements of an ecosystem:
water, sunlight, soil and shelter
What are some decomposers?
Fungi and Bacteria
The symbiotic relationship between two species in which one benefits and the other is unaffected
commensalism
Occurs when one organism (the parasite) feeds on the cell, tissue or fluids of another organism (the host). The parasite benefits by getting food while the host is weakened or killed.
parasitism
A close relationship between two species.
Symbiosis
A specific role an organism plays within its community or ecosystem.
Niche (neesh)
A relationship between organisms where more than one population tried to make use of the same limited resource
competition
Organisms of the same species that live in the same place at the same time
Population
Type of feeding relationship in which one animal (predator) captures and eat the other (prey)
Predation
Another word for "living"
Biotic
a place where an organism lives
habitat
Another word for "nonliving"
abiotic
a group of organisms that can mate and produce offspring which then can mate and reproduce more offspring
species
All the populations sharing a specific area or region
community