| A | B |
|---|
| Ecology | The study of how living things interact with one another and with their environment |
| Heterotroph | Organism that cannot make its own food; a consumer |
| Autotroph | An organism that produces its own food; the source of energy for all other living things on Earch |
| Carnivore | An organism that survives by eating animals |
| Omnivore | An animal or person that eats food of both plant and animal origin |
| Producer | An organism that makes its own food from light energy and inorganic materials |
| Consumer | An organism that obtains its energy from producer |
| Herbivore | An organism that eats only plants |
| Predation | The act of killing and eating other animals |
| Predator | An animal that hunts and kills other animals for food |
| Prey | An animal that is hunted and killed by predators |
| Mutualism | A symbiotic relationship in which both organisms benefit from their association |
| Parasitism | A symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits from the association and the other is harmed |
| Host | The organism in a parasitic relationship that provides a home and/or food for the parasite |
| Parasite | An organism that survives by living and feeding on other organisms |
| Commensalism | A type of symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits from the association and the other is not affected |
| Decomposer | An organism, generally a bacterium or fungus, that consumes dead organisms and organic waste |
| Scavenger | A carnivore that feeds on the bodies of dead organisms |
| Photosynthesis | The process by which some organisms are able to capture light energy and use it to make food from carbon dioxide and water |
| Cellular Respiration | the process in which nutrients are broken apart, releasing the chemical energy stored in them |
| Competition | the struggle between organisms for the same limited resources in a particular area |
| Pioneer Species | the first organism to colonize a barren area; example is lichen on a rock |
