| A | B |
|---|
| Abiotic Factor | A non-living factor that has an effect on an organism or its environment |
| Producer | An organism that produces its own food from sunlight |
| Biodegradable | A material that can be decomposed by natural means within a reasonable period of time |
| Biodiversity | The number of species living in a certain area |
| Biomagnification | The magnification of a chemical up trophic levels in the food chain |
| Biotic Factor | A living factor that affects an organism or its environment |
| Carnivore | An animal that consumes other animals for food |
| Carrying capacity | The largest possible number of organisms a community can support without collapsing |
| Community | Different populations that interact in an area |
| Climate | The long-term weather of an area, including temperature, humidity, and precipitation. |
| Decomposer | An organism that breaks down organic matter |
| Desert | An area that receives less than 6 inches of precipitation |
| Eco-system | Biological communities and abiotic factors in an environment |
| Emigration | The movement of individuals away from a population |
| Energy | The ability to do work |
| Exotic Species | A species that is not native to an area |
| Global Warming | A phenomenon in which the temperature of earth is raised due to the retention of heat in the atmosphere by greenhouse gases |
| Habitat | The are where an organism lives |
| Herbivore | An organism that consumes plants |
| Heterotroph | An organism that cannot produce its own food |
| Immigration | The movement of individuals into a population |
| Limiting factor | A factor that limits the population in an environment |
| Niche | The role an organism plays in its environment |
| Organism | Anything that chracterizes life (Reproduction, response to stimuli, etc. |
| Photosynthesis | The process in which autotrophs synthesize chemical energy from sunlight |
| Population | A group of the same species in the same geographic region |
| Symbiosis | A type of community interaction between organisms |
| Species | A groiup of organisms capable of interbreeding |
| Transpiration | The evaporation of water from plants |
| Trophic Level | THe feeding position of an animal on the food chain |
| Tropical rain forest | A forest that has great diversity of species, and is characterized by very high levels of annual precipitation |
| Food Chain | A model showing the interconnected paths for energy to flow in an ecosystem |
| Environment | The complex of physical, chemical, and biotic factors that act upon an organism to determine its survival |
| Biome | A large geographic area characterized by distinctive plants and animals that have adapted to their environment |
| Biosphere | THe region of earth that supports life |
| Desertification | The process by which fertile land is turned into a desert through overgrazing and global warming |
| Keystone species | Species that play roles affecting many other organisms in an ecosystem |
| Natural Selection | THe process by which sick, weak, and generally unfit individuals are removed from an environment |
| Fossil Fuel | A fuel created from the decomposition of ancient organisms. Fossil fuels are used to create energy for human consumption. The burning of fossil fuels creates carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that causes global warming. |
| Natural resources | Resources in an environment that can be used |
