| A | B |
|---|
| Ecology | Study of the interactions between organisms and their environment |
| Biotic | Living things in the environment |
| Abiotic | Nonliving things in the environment |
| Population | Individuals of the same species in the same area at the same time |
| Community | All living things in the same area |
| Ecosystem | Living and nonliving things in an area |
| Biosphere | Part of the Earth that holds living things |
| Producers | Organisms that make their own food |
| Consumers | Organisms that get food from an outside source |
| Herbivores | Consumers that eat plants |
| Carnivores | Consumers that eat meat |
| Omnivores | Consumers that eat plants and meat |
| Scavenger | Consumers that eat dead organisms |
| Decomposer | Organisms that break down dead organisms |
| Food Chain | A diagram that shows how the energy flows from one organism to the next |
| Food Web | A complex diagram showing many energy pathways in an ecosystem |
| Energy Pyramid | Triangular diagram showing the loss of energy at each level of the food chain |
| Habitat | Where an organism lives |
| Niche | The way an organism interacts with the biotic and abiotic environment |
| Limiting Factors | Resources that are scarce; causes populations to decrease |
| Carrying Capacity | Largest population an environment can support over a period of time |
| Competition | Two or more organisms trying to use the same limited resources at the same time |
| Predator | Organisms that eat other organisms |
| Prey | Organisms that are eaten by other organisms |
| Symbiosis | A close association between two or more organisms |
| Mutualism | A symbiotic relationship where both organisms benefit |
| Commensalism | A symbiotic relationship where one organism benefits and the other is not helped or harmed |
| Parasitism | A symbiotic relationship where one organism benefits and another is harmed |
| Coevolution | Long term changes that take place because two species are in close association with each other |
