1. BIOSPHERE Chapter 3 VOCAB ONLY

2. Symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits by living on or inside another which is harmed
parasitism

3. mutualism Symbiotic relationship in which
both organisms benefit from their close
association
mutualism
An “organism’s job” that includes what it eats,
what eats it, where in the habitat it lives, how it
acts, and when & how it reproduces?
niche

4. The scientific study of interactions between organisms and between
Symbiotic relationship in which one
organism benefits but the other is
neither harmed nor helped
commensalism
The scientific study of interactions
between organisms and between
organisms and their environment
ecology

5. The portion of the Earth in which all life exists
biosphere
Organism that captures and eats
another
predator

6. An organism that is captured and eaten by another
Group of organisms so similar that they can breed and produce fertile offspring
species
An organism that is captured and
eaten by another
prey

7. Another name for heterotrophs
A group of individuals that belong to the
same species that live together in an area
population
Another name for heterotrophs
consumers

8. Group of different populations that live together in an area
community
All the living things an ecosystem
that an organism might interact with
Biotic factors

9. Another name for autotrophs
All the organisms that live in a place
PLUS their non-living environment
ecosystem
Another name for autotrophs
producers

10. autotrophs or producers
Organisms that can make their own food
using energy from sunlight or chemical
bonds in inorganic compounds
autotrophs or producers
All the non-living things such as
climate, temperature, weather,
soil type, or sunlight in an
ecosystem that impact an organism
Abiotic factors

11. heterotrophs or consumers
Organism that can’t make its own food and get energy from consuming other organisms
heterotrophs or consumers
Any relationship in which two species
live closely together
symbiosis

12. Rate at which organic matter is created by producers
Primary productivity
Chemical substance organisms need to sustain life
nutrient

13. photosynthesis A living thing Process in which green plants use
energy from sunlight to produce
carbohydrates
photosynthesis
A living thing
organism

14. Series of steps in which organisms
transfer energy through an ecosystem
by eating and being eaten
Food chain

15. Interaction in which one organism captures and feeds on another.
predation
Network of complex interactions
linking all the food chains in an ecosystem
food web

16. Organism that eats only plants
herbivore
Process in which elements, chemical
compounds, and other forms of matter
are passed from part of the biosphere to another
Biogeochemical cycle

17. Organism that eats only meat
carnivore
Process in which liquid water
changes into a gas
evaporation

18. Organism that eats both plants and meat omnivore
Process in which water from plant
leaves evaporates into the atmosphere
transpiration

19. Process in which bacteria in soil convert nitrogen gas into ammonia
Nitrogen fixation

20. Organism such as bacteria or fungi that break down organic matter
decomposers
Each step in a food chain or web
trophic level

21. denitrification Limiting factor
Process in which bacteria covert nitrates into
nitrogen gas and released into atmosphere
denitrification
Something that there’s not enough of
that keeps the population from growing too big
Limiting factor

22. Anything needed for life such as water, food, light, or space
resource
Relationship in which organisms attempt to use the same resource at the same time and place
competition