ecosystem
What is a community in an ecosystem?
What is the role of a consumer in a food chain?
Consumers eat other organisms to gain energy
What is one negative effect of pollution on ecosystems?
It can poison wildlife and disrupt food chains.
What are primary producers?
Organisms like plants and algae that make their own food using sunlight.
What is a biotic factor?
A living component of an ecosystem, like animals, plants, or bacteria.
What is a secondary consumer?
An organism that eats primary consumers (herbivores).
What is one benefit of protecting wetlands?
Wetlands filter water, reduce flooding, and provide habitats for wildlife.
Why is less energy available to top predators?
Energy is lost as heat at each step of the food chain.
What is an organism’s role called in an ecosystem?
A niche.
What do decomposers do in a food web?
Break down dead organisms and recycle nutrients into the ecosystem.
What is habitat fragmentation?
The breaking up of ecosystems into smaller pieces, harming species survival.
What is a food web?
A network of interconnected food chains showing how energy moves in an ecosystem
What is an example of an abiotic factor?
Temperature, water, sunlight, or soil
What do all arrows in a food web or chain represent?
The flow of energy from one organism to another.
How do invasive species harm ecosystems?
They outcompete native species and disrupt the balance of the ecosystem.
How is energy passed in an ecosystem?
Through feeding relationships between producers and consumers
What makes an ecosystem stable?
What is the difference between a scavenger and a decomposer?
Scavengers eat dead animals; decomposers break down dead matter on a microscopic level.
What is conservation?
The protection and preservation of natural environments and wildlife.