How Organisms Interact Topic 4 Interactions and Ecosystems Science 7

Biotic – living Abiotic – non-living The biotic and abiotic factors of an ecosystem interact with each other

The Roles of Organisms in an Ecosystem Niche – the role an organism plays in its ecosystem

Producers – organisms that produce food energy for themselves Consumers – all other organisms, they need to get their food from a producer or other consumer There are 3 types of consumers:

Herbivores Animals that eat producers

Carnivores Animals that eat other consumers Predator – the animal that does the hunting Prey – the animal that is hunted

Omnivores Animals that eat both producers and consumers

Food Chains A model that shows how energy stored in food passes from organism to organism

Energy flow is the movement of energy, stating from the Sun, and passing from one organism to the next.

Food Web A series of interconnected food chains

Pyramid of Numbers Includes the same organisms as in a food chain, but the size of each level changes to show the number of organisms involved

Biomass The total mass of all the organisms in an ecosystem

Scavengers Organisms that feed on dead or decaying plant or animal matter

Decomposers Organisms that grow on or in the dead or waste material, absorbing some of the nutrients into their own cells