| A | B |
|---|
| ecology | study of interactions between organisms and their environment |
| biotic | describes living factors in the environment |
| abiotic | describes nonliving factors in the environment |
| population | group of individuals of the same species that live in the same environment at the same time |
| community | all of the populations of different species the live and interact in an area |
| ecosystem | a community of organisms and its abiotic environment |
| biosphere | the part of the Earth where life exists |
| herbivore | a consumer that eats plants |
| carnivore | a consumer that eats animals |
| omnivore | a consumer that eats a variety of organisms |
| scavenger | an animal that feeds on the bodies of dead animals |
| food chain | a diagram that represents how energy flows from one organism to the next |
| food web | a complex diagram representing the many energy pathways in a real ecosystem |
| energy pyramid | a diagram shaped like a triangle that shows the loss of energy at each level of the food chain |
| habitat | the environment where an organism lives |
| niche | an organism's way of life and its relationship with its abiotic and biotic environments |
| carrying capacity | the largest population that a given environment can support over a long period of time |
| prey | an organism that is eaten by another organism |
| predator | an organism that eats other organisms |
| symbiosis | a close, long-term association between two or more species |
| mutualism | a symbiotic relationship in which both organisms benefit |
| commensalism | a symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits and the other is unaffected |
| parasitism | a symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits and the other is harmed |
| coevolution | the long term changes that take place in two species because of their close interactions with one another |
| precipitation | water falls from sky |
| evaporation | liquid water changes to gas (water vapor) |
| condensation | water vapor (gas) changes to liquid |
| transpiration | evaporation from the leaves of trees |
| infiltration | water seeping into ground |
| runoff | water flowing over the surface of land to lowest points |
| photosynthesis | a form of carbon in the air enters living things |
| respiration | living things "burn" sugar and release carbon dioxide into the air |
| combustion | carbon dioxide is released when fossil fuels are burned |
| decomposition | living things break down and release chemicals into the soil and the air |
| fixation | nitrogen gas fromt he air changes into a form that plants can use |
| uptake | plants take in nitrogen compounds from the soil |
| ingestion | the process by which consumers get the carbon and the nitrogen they need |
| primary succession | the recovery of an ecosystem in which new soil must be formed before plants and animals can return |
| secondary succession | the recovery of an ecosystem in which soil remains in tact, but plants and animals must return |
| tundra | coldest biome |
| tropical rainforest | warmest biome |
| deciduous forest | biome with trees that lose thir leaves in the autumn |
| biodiversity | variety of life |
| endangered species | an organism whose population has decreased dramatically and may become extinct |
