Vocabulary
What term describes organisms that make their own food through photosynthesis?
Producers (plants)
What is the relationship called when two species live closely together and one benefits while the other is not affected?
What is commensalism?
What type of symbiosis involves a bee pollinating a flower?
What is mutualism?
What is the term for all the living and non-living things in a given area?
What is an ecosystem?
What is the study of interactions among organisms and their environment called?
What is ecology?
Primary consumer (herbivore)
In which relationship do both species benefit?
What is mutualism?
In which type of symbiosis does one organism benefit while the other is harmed?
What is parasitism?
Define a population in ecological terms.
What is a group of the same species living in a specific area?
Name an example of a biotic factor in an ecosystem.
What is a plant or animal?
What do we can an organism that breaks down dead material and returns nutrients to the soil?
Decomposers
What is the term for a relationship where one organism benefits at the expense of another?
What is parasitism?
What is the relationship called when barnacles attach to a whale?
What is commensalism?
What do we call a collection of different populations living in a specific area?
What is a community?
How do decomposers contribute to ecosystem health?
They recycle nutrients back into the soil.
Identify the term for living components of an ecosystem.
Biotic
What type of relationship exists between organisms in a food chain?
What is a predator-prey relationship?
What is the term for interactions that happen between organisms of different species?
What is symbiosis?
What is the non-living part of the environment called?
What is abiotic?
What role do keystone species play in their ecosystems?
They help maintain the structure of the ecosystem.
What term describes the role of a species that has a disproportionately large impact on its environment compared to its abundance?
What is a keystone species?
What is an example of a secondary consumer?
What is a carnivore that eats primary consumers?
Provide an example of an organism that is both a mutualist and a parasite.
What is a wasp that lays eggs in a host?
In an ecosystem, what term describes the maximum number of individuals that an environment can support?
What is carrying capacity? (This is determined based on the amount of food, water, shelter, and space for the organisms.)
Why are food webs more complex than food chains?
Food webs show the interconnected feeding relationships among many species.