| A | B |
|---|
| niche | the role of a certain population in a shared habitat |
| ways a phyical environment can vary | water, soil conditions, and temperature |
| Interdependant | populations which depend on each other for survival in a healthy ecosystem |
| ecosystem | made up of a community and its physical environment |
| 3 limited resources all animals compete for | water, shelter, and food |
| the physical environment | includes all non-living things - soil, weather, landforms, air, and water |
| decomposers | consumers (mushrooms and bacteria) that break down tissues of dead organisms |
| omnivores | consumers that eat meat and plants |
| food chain | shows how consumers are connected according to what they eat |
| All animals depend on producers because... | they use the energy of the sun to create food that is passed on to other organisms |
| consumers | organisms that must eat to get the energy they need |
| producers | plants which use sunlight to make the food they need from carbon dioxide and water |
| the sun | provides energy for almost every ecosystem on earth |
| The less the energy available to organisms... | the fewer the organisms on the higher levels of the food chain |
| 10% | the percent of energy on any level of the food chain which is passed to the next |
| 90% | the amount of food energy that is taken in by an organism and used for its OWN life processes |
| Loss of habitat | the biggest cause of extinction today |
| Extinct | no longer in existence |
| Endangered | a population of organisms that is likely to become extinct if left unprotected |
| Threatened | a population that is likely to become endangered if left unprotected |
| Exotic | an important or non-native organism |
| 4 main caused of a population's decline | loss of habitat, hunting, disease, natural disaster |
| Learned behavior | an animal is taught this by its parents |
| Examples of instinctive behavior | building shelter, finding mates, hunting prey |
| Instinct | a behavior that an organism inherits |
| Instinctive behavior is ... | shared by the whole population |
| Two types of behavior | learned and instict (inherited) |
| Mutualistic Relationship | organisms which help each other to survive (cleaner fish picks out food from sharks' teeth) |
| Symbiosis | a long-term relationship between different kinds of organisms |
| In communities animals live together and _____ resources | share(resources) |
| Camouflage | An animals use of patterns of body color to sneak up on another animal or to hide itself from a predator |
| Plants compete for... | water, sunlight and composition |
| An individual = | a single organism in an environment |
| Habitat = | a population's place in an ecosystem |
| Community = | all the populations of organisms living together in an environment |
| Population = | individuals of the same kind living in the same environment |
