| A | B |
|---|
| community | a group of various species that live in the same habitat and interact with each other |
| ecosystem | a community of organisms and their abiotic ( nonliving) environment |
| biotic factors | relationships between organisms; living factors in an ecosystem; once living things such as dead animals; waste of organisms |
| abiotic factors | phisical or nonliving factors of an environment such as oxygen, water, rocks, sand, sunlight, temperature, climate |
| habitat | the place where on organism lives |
| biodiversity | the variety of organisms or species in a given area |
| succession | the replacement of one community (group of various species) by another at a single place over a period of time |
| pioneer species | the first organisms to appear in a newly made habitat |
| equilibrium | a state of balance in an ecosystem |
| biome | a large region characterized by a specific kind af climate and certain kinds of plant and animal communities |
| terrestrial biome | a biome on land (tropical, temperate, high latitude) |
| temperate biome | a terrestrial biome located at mid latitude characterized by temperatures that vary over the year (grasslands, forests, deserts) |
| high latitude biome | a terrestrial biome located at high latitudes characterized by cold temperatures (taiga and tundra) |
| aquatic ecosystem | the regions of the earth whichare underwater (freshwater, wetlands, estuaries, marine) |
| producers | photosynthetic or chemosynthetic organisms that make their own food. They are the basic food source for an ecosystem. |
| comsumers | organisms that eat other organisms instead or making their own food. |
| decomposers | organisms, such as bacteria and fungi, that feed by breaking down dead organisms |
| food chain | transfer of energy through a series of animals feeding on the organisms or animals below them on the chain |
| food web | an interconnected group of food chains |
| trophic level | one of the steps in a food chain or food pyramid |
| energy pyramid | a triangular diagram that shows an ecosystem's food chain |
