| A | B |
|---|
| ecosystems | groups of living things and the nonliving enviroment in which they live |
| biotic | the living parts of an ecosystem or environment |
| abiotic | nonliving parts of an environment |
| grasslands | found in warm and temperature areas that receive some rainfall |
| estatuaries | bodies of water found in areas where freshwater from rivers and streams and salt water from the ocean meet. |
| producers | organisms that use energy from the sun to make their own food |
| photosynthesis | process that converts carbon diaxide into organic compounds, specially sugars, using the energy from sunlight |
| consumers | organisms that get energy by eating other organisms |
| herbivores | consumers that eat only plants |
| carnivores | consumers that eat only other animals |
| omnivores | consumers that eath both plants and animals |
| decomposers | get energy by breaking down nutrients in dead organisms |
| population | group of organisms of the same species living in the same place |
| community | made up of all the populations that live in the same area |
| habitat | physical space used by a population |
| niche | describes an organism's lifestyle |
| light | the amount of sunlight an ecosystem receives affects the types of organisms that live in it |
| temperature | affects an ecosystem's capacity to support life |
| limiting factors | the amount of light, the temperature, and the soil composition determine the number of organisms that an ecosystem can support |
| predators | an organism that eats other organisms in order to survive |
| prey | organism that is eaten |
| parasites | organisms that live on or inside another organism |
| hosts | organism infected by parasites |
| food web | diagram of several connected food chains |
| food chain | shows the path of energy as it flows from one organism to the next |
