Ecosystem Vocabulary
A living part of an ecosystem is called this.
What is a biotic factor?
Organisms that make their own food are called these.
What are producers?
These cycles move important nutrients and materials through living and nonliving parts of Earth.
What are biogeochemical cycles?
A relationship in which both organisms benefit is called this.
What is mutualism?
The variety of different organisms in an ecosystem is called this.
What is biodiversity?
A nonliving part of an ecosystem, such as water, sunlight, or temperature, is called this.
What is an abiotic factor?
Organisms that get energy by eating other organisms are called these.
What are consumers?
Name one biogeochemical cycle.
Water, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, or sulfur.
A relationship in which one organism benefits and the other is generally unaffected is called this.
What is commensalism?
When organisms depend on one another and on their environment for resources and survival, this is called ______.
What is interdependence?
The role or "job" of an organism in its environment is called its ______.
What is a niche?
What is the main source of energy for most ecosystems?
What is the Sun?
In the water cycle, liquid water changes into water vapor during this process.
What is evaporation?
A relationship in which one organism benefits while the other is harmed is called this.
What is parasitism?
Give one example of an abiotic resource that an organism might depend on.
Water, sunlight, oxygen, temperature, soil, etc.
This term describes all the living and nonliving parts of an environment and their interactions.
What is an ecosystem?
Consider this food chain:
Grass → Grasshopper → Frog → Snake
If the grass population decreases, what will most likely happen to the grasshopper population?
It will decrease because there is less food available.
In the water cycle, water vapor cools and changes back into liquid water during this process.
What is condensation?
Two deer are trying to eat the same limited food source. What type of relationship is this?
What is competition?
A drought causes a pond to lose most of its water. Give one possible effect this could have on organisms living in the pond.
Organisms may lose their habitat, have less water available, or experience a decrease in population.
This term describes the variety of living organisms in an area.
What is biodiversity?
Consider this food chain:
Grass → Grasshopper → Frog → Snake
If the frog population suddenly decreases, predict two possible effects on the ecosystem.
Grasshoppers may increase because fewer frogs are eating them; snakes may decrease because they have fewer frogs to eat.
Why is it important for ecosystems that materials such as water and carbon are continuously recycled?
Organisms need these materials to survive, and recycling allows them to be reused rather than permanently removed from the ecosystem.
A bee gets nectar from a flower, while the flower benefits because the bee helps transfer pollen. What relationship is this, and how does each organism benefit?
Mutualism. The bee gets food, and the flower benefits from pollination.
A disease kills most of the plants in an ecosystem. Explain why this could affect many other organisms, even if the disease does not directly infect them.
Plants are producers and provide food/energy and often habitat for other organisms. If plants decrease, herbivores may have less food, which can then affect predators and other parts of the food web.