| A | B |
|---|
| First Law of Thermodynamics | energy cannot be created or destroyed |
| population | group including all the same species |
| community | all the different species of living things in a defined area |
| ecosystem | includes both living and nonliving things in a defined area |
| Second Law of Thermodynamics | energy transfers and transformations are never 100% efficient |
| producer (autotroph) | makes its own food |
| consumer (heterotroph) | gets food from other organisms |
| photosynthesis | using light energy to make food |
| herbivore | eats only plants |
| carnivore | eats only animals |
| omnivore | eats plants and animals |
| scavenger | feed on animal remains and dead matter |
| decomposer | breaks down organic matter |
| food chain | a single set of steps showing transfer of energy by eating and being eaten |
| food web | all the interconnected food chains in an ecosystem |
| trophic level | each individual feeding level or step in a food chain or web |
| energy pyramid | shows the total energy available at different trophic levels |
| biomass pyramid | shows the total amount of living tissue at each trophic level |
| numbers pyramid | shows the total number of individuals in each trophic level |
| Law of 10% | the total amount of energy transfered from one trophic level to the next in an ecosystem |
| carbon dioxide and water | the raw materials plants use to make sugar by photosynthesis |
| sunlight | the ultimate source of energy for every organism in an ecosystem |
| sugar and oxygen | the end product of photosynthesis |
| primary producers | plants, algae and phytoplankton |
| primary consumer | herbivore - eats producers |
| secondary consumer | carnivore or omnivore - eats mostly primary consumers (herbivores) |
| tertiary consumer | carnivore or omnivore - eats mostly secondary consumers |
| quaternary consumer | carnivore - eats a variety of other consumers - ususlly a "top" carnivore with no natural enemies or predators as an adult |
| bacteria and fungus (mushrooms, molds and mildews) | examples of decomposers |
| biotic factors | all the living organism found in an ecosystem |
| abiotic factors | non-living parts of an ecosystem such as air, water, soil and sunlight |
| closed system | materials in an ecosystem cycling and recycling between producers, consumers, and decomposers |
| open system | energy flowing into an ecosystem as sunlight and out of an ecosystem as heat |
| carrying capacity | maximum number of individuals an ecosystem can support with the available space and resources |
