Ecosystem Relationships
A relationship where both species benefit
Mutualism
Makes their own energy
Producer
A nonliving factor of an ecosystem
Abiotic Factor
Makes usable energy available to the ecosystem
Producers
A living factor of an ecosystem
Biotic Factor
A relationship where one species benefits and the other is harmed
Parasitism
Has to eat to gain energy
Consumers
Eats only plants
Herbivore
Organisms that are at the top of the food chain
Apex Predators
Eats only meat
Carnivores
A relationship where one species benefits and the other is neither harmed, nor benefitted
Commensalism
Breaks down dead organic material to recycle nutrients back into the ecosystem
Decomposers
Eats both plants and animals
Eats producers
Primary Consumers
A living, self-contained individual. Can be a plant or an animal
Organism
A relationship where two different organisms fight, outsmart, or kill eachother over a resource
competition
Another word for consumer
Heterotroph
A type of species that is not native to an area, and upsets the ecosystem
Invasive Species
Eats primary consumers
Secondary Consumers
Any biotic or abiotic factor that restricts the existence, numbers, reproduction, or distribution of organisms.
Limiting Factor
A close interaction between two different species within an ecosystem
Symbiotic Relationship
Another worth for Producer
Autotroph
The term for a wide range of organisms in an ecosystem
Biodiversity
Eats Secondary Consumers
Tertiary Consumers
Changes in population sizes that affect other populations up and down the ecological pyramid
Trophic Cascade