| A | B |
|---|
| ecosystem | Area in which living things interact with each other and th environment |
| community | Two or more groups of different organisms that live & interact in the same area |
| population | A group of individuals of the same type living in the same area |
| niche | The specific job/role of an organism in its habitat |
| food chain | A sequence of organisms through which food energy passes |
| producer | Plants make their own food |
| consumer | An organism that feeds on producers |
| food web | A network of relationhips in which the flow of energy branches out in many directions |
| energy pyramid | A diagram showing the amount of energy available at each level of a food chain |
| evaporation | The process by which heat energy changes a liquid to a gas |
| condensation | The process in which a gas changes to a liquid |
| precipitation | Moisture in the atmosphere that condenses & falls to the earth as sleet, snow, hail or rain |
| nitrogen fixation | Bacterial conversion of atmospheric nitrogen to usable compounds |
| succession | Replacement of one community by another over a period of time |
| ecology | The study of relationships & interactions of living things with one another & with their environment |
| herbivore | An organism that eats only plants |
| carnivore | Flesh-eating or meat-eating organism |
| omnivore | An organism that eats both plants & animals |
| scavenger | An organism that feeds on dead animals |
| denitrifying bacteria | Bacteria that breaks down ammonia & other nitrogen compounds & convert them into a nitrogen gas |
| biosphere | A life supporting zone on or near the earth's surface that includes the earth's waters, air & a portion of the land surface |
| autotroph | Organisms that can make their own food |
| heterotroph | Organisms that are unable to make its own food |
| ecologist | A person that studies ecology |
| habitat | The area/place where an organism naturally lives |
| decomposer | Organisms that feed on dead organic matter |
| parasite | Organisms that feed on other living organisms |
| biotic factor | The living part of an ecosystem |
| abiotic factor | The nonliving part of an ecosystem, such as air, soil, water, & temp. |
