1. Adaptation

2. A gradual change in an organism that enables it to survive in a particular environment.

3. Algae

4. Nonvascular plants that are often found in aquatic or marine environments and provides both food and a place for organisms to live.

5. Acid Rain

6. Rain that is contaminated with pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide gases.

7. Adapt

8. Change; to change in order to fit a new situation or use.

9. Abiotic Factors

10. The nonliving parts of the environment.

11. Aquatic

12. Living in water.

13. Benthos

14. Bottom-dwelling organisms.

15. Biome

16. The natural place in a particular climate where many plants and animals live.

17. Biosphere

18. Encompasses all areas of the Earth — land, air and water — that support life.

19. Biotic Factors

20. The living parts of the environment.

21. Camouflage

22. Exploit the natural surroundings to disguise something.

23. Carbon Cycle

24. The cycle in which carbon flows through the environment and living things.

25. Carnivore

26. A consumer that eats only meat from animals or insects.

27. Carry Capacity

28. The largest population that an area can support.

29. Classify

30. To group things together because they share one or more properties.

31. Climate temperature Time/year

32. The average and variations of weather in a region over long periods of time.

33. Co-exist

34. Exist together.

35. Commensalism

36. Relationship in which one species benefits and the other species is neither helped nor harmed.

37. Community

38. All of the populations that live in the same area.

39. Competition

40. The struggle between organisms to survive as they attempt to use the same limited resources.

41. Consumer

42. An organism that feeds on other organisms or organic matter because it cannot make its own food

43. Decay

44. The process where bacteria and other decomposers break down dead things.bacteria decomposers

45. Deciduous

46. Describes a plant whose leaves fall off seasonally, or a leaf which falls off seasonally.

47. Decomposers

48. Members of an ecosystem that break down organic material so it may be used again (or recycled) by the ecosystem.ecosystemorganic

49. Deforestation

50. The clearing of forest lands.

51. Dependent

52. To depend on something else for survival.

53. Desert

54. A sandy or rocky biome, with little precipitation and little plant life.

55. Ecology

56. The study of how living things interact with each other and their environment.

57. Ecologists

58. Scientists who study ecology.

59. Ecosystem

60. A community that includes all the living and nonliving things found in a certain area.

61. Emigration

62. To leave a population.

63. Endangered Species

64. A species that is in danger of becoming extinct.

65. Energy Pyramid

66. Shows the amount of energy that moves from one feeding level to another in a food web.

67. Entomologist

68. A scientist who studies insect life.

69. Environment

70. Everything that surrounds an organism and influences it.

71. Equilibrium

72. State of balance within an ecosystem.

73. Estuaries

74. Bodies of water found in areas where fresh water and salt water mix.

75. Extinct

76. A species that has died out completely.

77. Food Chain

78. The ways in which the organisms in an ecosystem interact with one another according to what they eat.

79. Food Web

80. Consists of the many overlapping food chains in an ecosystem.

81. Fossil Fuel

82. Fuels formed from plant or animal remains, such as coal, gas, and oil.

83. Germination

84. The process by which seeds swell up and begin to sprout and develop roots.

85. Grasslands

86. Land where grass or grasslike vegetation grows and is the dominant form of plant life.

87. Habitat

88. A place that is natural for an organism to live.

89. Herbivore

90. A consumer that eats only plants.

91. Host

92. The organism that a parasite lives in or on.

93. Humus

94. Partially decomposed organic matter; the organic component of soil.

95. Immigration

96. To move into a population.

97. Inorganic

98. Composed of matter other than plant or animal.

99. Interdependence

100. Being mutually responsible to and sharing a common set of principles with others.

101. Lake

102. Bigger than a pond, and is too deep to support plant roots except near the shore.

103. Limiting Factor

104. An environmental factor that causes a population to stop growing.

105. Live-Bearer

106. An animal that gives birth to live, fully formed offspring.

107. Microorganism

108. An extremely small organism that can not be seen without a microscope.

109. Migration

110. To move periodically from one area to another for feeding or breeding.

111. Mutualism

112. Relationship in which both species benefit.

113. Natural Selection

114. A process by which characteristics that make an individual better suited to its environment become more common in species.

115. Nekton

116. Organisms that swim through the water.

117. Niche

118. The role of an organism in the community; how it makes its living.

119. Nitrogen Cycle

120. The cycle in which nitrogen moves through the environment and living things.

121. Nitrogen Fixation

122. Process of changing free nitrogen gas into a usable form.

123. Nutrients phosphorous potassium nitrogen

124. Food for plants.

125. Organic

126. Composed of plant or animal matter.

127. Organisms

128. Living things.

129. Omnivore

130. A consumer that eats plants and animals.

131. Oxygen

132. An element that is normally colorless, odorless and tasteless and which is the most abundant element and is essential to life.

133. Parasite

134. An organism that lives on, or inside, another organism and harms it.

135. Permafrost

136. Ground that is permanently frozen.

137. pH

138. A term that refers to the relative concentration of hydrogen ions (H+) in a solution, and therefore whether the solution is acid or base. solutionacidbase

139. Pioneer Species

140. The first species to populate an area.

141. Photosynthesis

142. The process by which green plants and blue-green algae, in the presence of light, make food out of carbon dioxide and water.

143. Plankton

144. Organisms that float on the water.

145. Pollutant

146. Anything that spreads harmful or unpleasant substances into the air, water, or ground.

147. Pollution

148. An unwanted change in the environment.

149. Pond

150. A still body of water smaller than a lake, often shallow enough for rooted plants to grow throughout.

151. Population

152. A group of organisms of the same species living in the same place.

153. Predator

154. An animal that hunts and eats other animals.

155. Prey

156. An animal that is hunted and eaten by other animals.

157. Primary Consumer

158. An animal that eats green plants.

159. Primary Succession

160. The series of changes that occur to an area where no soil or organisms exist.

161. Producer

162. An organism that can make its own food through the process of photosynthesis.

163. Protection

164. Anything that helps ward off some threat.

165. Recycle

166. To take something that would otherwise be thrown away and make it into something that can be used again.

167. Reproduction

168. Process by which plants and animals give rise to offspring.

169. Respiration Oxygen Carbon Dioxide

170. The processes by which an organism takes in and processes oxygen and releases carbon dioxide.

171. Savannas

172. Grasslands that stay warm all year round.

173. Scavenger (D etrivore)

174. An organism, also known as a decomposer, that eats dead or decaying organic matter.

175. Secondary Consumer

176. An animal that eats animals who eat plants.

177. Secondary Succession

178. The series of changes that occur in an area where the ecosystem has been disturbed, but where soil and organisms still exist.

179. Soil

180. The top layer of earth, composed of organic materials (humus), inorganic materials (sand, silt, and clay), water, and air.

181. Stable

182. Steady and balanced.

183. Symbiosis

184. A close relationship between two species that benefits at least one of the species.

185. Taiga

186. A cool forest biome of conifers in the upper Northern Hemisphere.

187. Temperate

188. A region with moderate or mild conditions.

189. Temperate Forest

190. Contain trees that lose their leaves each fall and found in areas with moderate temperatures.

191. Temperature

192. A measurement of the amount of heat a substance contains.

193. Terrarium

194. A closed glass or plastic container where organisms can live and be observed.

195. Terrestrial

196. Of or related to the land.

197. Tertiary Consumer

198. An animal that eats secondary consumers.

199. Thermometer

200. A device for measuring temperature.

201. Threatened Species

202. A species that is in danger of becoming endangered.

203. Topsoil

204. The layer of soil on the surface which supports vegetation.

205. Toxins

206. A poisonous substance.poisonous

207. Tropical Rain Forest

208. A hot biome near the equator, with much rainfall and a wide variety of life.

209. Tundra

210. A type of ecosystem dominated by lichens, mosses, grasses, and woody plants and is located near the north and south poles.

211. Water Cycle

212. The ongoing process in nature that recycles fresh water.

213. Water Pollution

214. Condition that exists when harmful materials have entered the water and made it harmful to organisms.