1. Ecology & the Environment
Life Science
Ecology & the Environment

2. Ecology
Study of the interactions that take place among organisms and their environment.

3. Biotic
Living parts of the environment; plants animals & microorganisms

4. Abiotic
Non-living parts of the environment; water, air, light, rocks

5. Consumer
 Organism that cannot create energy-rich molecules (glucose) but obtains its food by eating other organisms

6. Producer
An organism, such as a plant or alga, which produces glucose from carbon dioxide by photosynthesis and is a source of food for other organisms

7. Carnivore
Animals who hunt and eat other animals; meat eater

8. Omnivore
An organism that eats both plants and animals

9. Herbivore
An animal that eats plants

10. Food Chain
The relationship between plants and animals that shows who eats what. Energy is transferred from one organism to another through the food chain

11. Food Web
A model of feeding relationships, describing the connections among all food chains within an ecosystem

12. Energy Pyramid
A representation of the loss of useful energy at each step in a food chain

13. Pyramid of Numbers
Based on the number of organisms needed to make a simple food chain. Shows how large populations of certain organisms are needed to support very small populations of other organisms.

14. Symbiosis
An interactive association between two or more species living together; may be parasitic, commensal, or mutualistic. The relationship between two organisms

15. Commensalism
A symbiotic relationship in which one species benefits and the other is not affected

16. Parasitism
A form of symbiosis in which the population of one species benefits at the expense of the population of another species

17. Mutualism
A symbiotic interaction between two species in which both derive some benefit

18. Competition
One of the biological interactions that can limit population growth; occurs when two species vie with each other for the same resource

19. Population
All the organisms that belong to the same species living in a community

20. Community
All the populations of different species that live in an ecosystem

21. Habitat
Place where an organism lives and that provides the types of food, shelter, moisture, and temperature needed for survival

22. Niche
An organism’s place in the ecosystem: where it lives, what it consumes, what consumes it, and how it interacts with all biotic and abiotic factors. A unique ecological role of an organism in a community.

23. Organism
Any living thing

24. Biosphere
Part of Earth that supports life, including the top portion of Earth's crust, the atmosphere, and all the water on Earth's surface

25. Ecosystem
All the living organisms that live in an area and the nonliving features of their environment

26. Limiting Factor
Anything that can restrict the size of a population, including living and nonliving features of an ecosystem, such as predators or drought

27. Carrying Capacity
Largest number of individuals of a particular species that an ecosystem can support over time

28. Biotic Potential
The maximum reproductive rate of an organism, given unlimited resources and ideal environmental conditions

29. Exponential Growth
Growth of a population without any constraints; therefore, the population will grow at an ever-increasing rate

30. Photosynthesis
The chemical reaction in which green plants combine water and carbon dioxide in the presence of sunlight to form glucose and oxygen

31. Predator
An animal that kills and eats other animals

32. Prey
An animal that is killed and eaten by another animal