| A | B |
|---|
| ecosystem | the living and non-living things in an area interacting with each other |
| climax community | the final stage of succession when a community is stabilized and succession is slow or at a stop |
| community | all the populations that live together in the same place |
| biotic factor | the effects on an ecosystem that are a result of the living parts of that ecosystem |
| abiotic factor | the effects on the ecosystem that are a result of the nonliving parts of that ecosystems |
| symbiosis | a relationship between two kinds of organisms that lasts over time |
| competition | the struggle among organisms for resources in an ecosystem |
| niche | the role a species plays in a food web |
| food chain | a model that shows the path of energy in food within an ecosystem |
| producer | an organism that is able to make its own food |
| consumer | an organism that obtains energy by feeding on other organisms |
| decomposer | any organism that breaks down dead plants and animals into simpler materials that enrich the soil |
| food web | a model of overlapping food chains in an ecosystem |
| predator | a living thing that hunts and kills other living things for food |
| scavenger | a meat-eating animal that feeds on the remains of dead animals that it did not hunt or kill |
| energy pyramid | a model that shows how energy flows through a food chain |
| climate | the average weather pattern of a region over time. (Temperature and Precipitation) |
| biome | a region that has a particular climate and contains certain types of plants and animals |
| estuary | water ecosystems that are located where rivers flow into oceans |
| limiting factor | condition that controls the size or growth of a population |
| threatened | said of a species whose numbers have declined to the point of becoming endangered if steps are not taken to protect it |
| endangered | a species whose numbers have been so reduced that the species in danger of extinction |
| extinct | said of a species that no longer exists in the wild or in captivity |
| biodiversity | the wide variety of life on Earth |
| succession | the gradual replacement of one community by another |
| pioneer community | a new community established in a previously lifeless area |
| population | all the organisms of the same kind that live in a particular area |
