Ecosystem Foundations
Moss growing on a tree trunk is an example of this category of factors in an ecosystem, which refers to any living component.
Biotic Factor
A coyote hunting, catching, and eating a rabbit for food is an example of this relationship
Predation
Almost all energy in a food chain originally starts from this main source.
The Sun
Mushrooms, worms, and bacteria break down dead plants and animals, making them known as these.
Decomposers
Water, soil chemistry, and ambient temperature are all examples of this category of nonliving environmental factors.
Abiotic Factor
Barnacles attach to a whale to catch extra food floating by, while the whale isn't helped or hurt at all. This relationship is called this.
Commensalism
Plants make their own food using sunlight, making them this type of organism in a food chain.
A Producer
Decomposers do an important job by returning nutrients to the soil and putting this element back into the air.
Carbon
While a single individual living thing is an organism, a group of the same species living together in one spot is called this.
A Population
A flea hitches a ride on a dog and drinks its blood, getting a meal while hurting the dog. This is an example of this term.
Parasitism
When an animal eats another organism, about this percentage of energy actually gets passed on to the consumer.
10%
If a plant disease wipes out all the berry bushes in a forest, these plant-eating animals in the food web will get hit hardest first.
Primary Consumers (Herbivores)
This level of organization includes all the living organisms and the nonliving surroundings interacting together in an area.
Ecosystem
Small birds eat bug pests off a rhinoceros, getting a free meal while keeping the rhino clean—a relationship where both benefit, known as this
Mutualism
Because energy is lost at each level of the energy pyramid, you will always find fewer of these organisms at the very top.
Apex (or top) Predators
An animal at the very top of the food chain that doesn't have any natural predators hunting it is called this
Apex (or top) Predator
When two red foxes both try to catch the same small group of mice for dinner, they are showing this type of interaction
Competition
If sea otters (the main predator) are completely removed from an ocean area, the sea urchins they used to eat will experience this change in their population size.
An increase
In the food chain Grass → Grasshopper → Frog → Snake, the frog is playing this specific consumer role.
Secondary Consumer
If a long drought hits a forest and kills off most of the plants, the rabbit population will react in this way.
Decrease