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| ecology | the scientific study of interactions among organisms and their environment |
| biosphere | the combined portions of the planet , including living things and air,land, water. |
| species | group of organisms ,similar with each other that can breed and produce fertile offspring |
| population | group of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area |
| communities | different populations that live together in a specific area |
| ecosystem | collection of all the organisms that live in a specific area together with their nonliving environment |
| biome | group of ecosystem tht have teh same climate and similar communities |
| autotroph | organisms that use energy from sun to make own food,such as plants, algae and some bacteria |
| producer | another name for autotrophs |
| photosynthesis | the process of using the sun's energy to make food |
| chemosynthsis | organisms use chemical energy to make carbohydrates. |
| heterotrophs | organisms that need other organisms get energy and food supply |
| consumer | another name for heterotrophs |
| herbivore | organisms that get their energy by eating plants. |
| carnivore | organisms that get their energy by eating other animals. |
| omnivore | organisms that get their energy by eating both plants and animals |
| decomposer | type of heterotroph that break down organis matter, includes bacteria and fungi |
| food chain | series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten |
| food web | links all the food chains in the ecosystem |
| trophic level | steps in a food chain or food web |
| ecological pyramid | a diagram that shows the amounts of energy . |
| biomass | the total amount of living tissue in a specific trophic level |
| biogeochemical cycles | the transfer elements,chemical compounds and matter from one organism to another. |
| evaporation | water changes from the liquid to gas |
| transpiration | when water evaporates from leaves |
| nutrients | the chemical substances needed to keep organism alive |
| nitrogen fixation | changing nitrogen gas into ammonia. |
| denitrification | soil bacteria converts nitrates into nitrogen gas and nitrogen is released in the atomosphere |
| primary productivity | the rate at which organic matter id made by producers |
| limiting nutrient | a single nutrient that is scarce |
| algal bloom | increase of algae due to too much limiting nutrients |
