| A | B |
|---|
| consumer | organisms that eat other organisms |
| decomposer | organisms that break down other organisms |
| herbivore | organisms that eat only plants |
| omnivore | organisms that eat plants and animals |
| producer | organims that make their own energy from the sun and water |
| scavenger | organisms that feed off the remains of dead organisms |
| abiotic | non-living things |
| biotic | living things |
| species | one type of animal or plant that can reproduce |
| population | a group of organisms |
| food chain | a pathway of energy that flows from one living thing to another |
| food web | a link-up of all possible food chians in an ecosytem |
| water cycle | the natural circulation of water from the surface of the Earth tot he atmosphere and back to the surface again |
| bioinvasion | introduction of a new species to an area where it was not found before |
| competition | when one species competes with another for basic needs (for food, water, shelter) |
| predation | when an animal hunts for food |
| pinoeer species | the first species in an ecosystem |
| succession | a predictable patten of changes that an ecosystem goes through |
| primary succession | formation of a new community in an ecosytem |
| secondary succession | formation of a new community in an old or detroyed ecosystem |
| climax community | the most diverse ecosystem |
| evaporation | when water changes form liquid to a gas and goes to the sky |
| condensation | when water cools to form rain or snow |
| transpiration | water that leaves a plant (when the plant "sweats") |
| precipitation | water or mositure that falls from the sky (snow, rain) |
| surface run-off | the water on the surface of the Earth (oceans, lakes) |
| ground water | the water in the ground (wells) |
| eocystem | Any place on Earth where living things interact with other living things and non-living things |
| adaptation | A structure or behavior that increases an organisms chance of survival |
| carnivore | organisms that eat meat |
