Ecology Terms and Definitions

Ecology is: The study of interactions between living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) components in ecosystems

The vocabulary is presented in the following colours in this slide show: Word Definition Examples RED BLACK GREEN

Biotic Biotic Biotic Abiotic Abiotic Abiotic Living Together Biotic Biotic There are many things on Earth. BIOTIC are living things ABIOTIC means non-living Sort the following parts: Biotic Abiotic Abiotic Abiotic

Ecology – The study of the relationships between living things and their environment Ex: people & global warming salmon & bears Organism – A single member of a species Ex: a tree, a horse, a bee, a dog…

Every organism needs energy to live A food chain shows the flow of energy in an ecosystem A network of food chains is called a food web

Producers Make their own food The base of food webs Capture energy from sunlight Convert it to food energy (photosynthesis) Ex: plants

Consumers Consumers CANNOT make food for themselves Several types of consumers Herbivore Omnivore Carnivore Scavenger

Herbivores Eat only plants Ex: panda, rabbit, deer, grasshopper

Omnivores Eat BOTH plants and animals Ex: pig, raccoon, human, bear

Carnivores Eat other animals Ex: bull shark, crocodile, gila monster, piranha

Decomposers Consume (eat) dead plants and animals and decompose them Reduce them to simpler forms of matter Ex: fungi and bacteria

Nutrient A material that an organism needs to grow and reproduce. Ex: vitamins, minerals

Habitat The area in which an organism lives, including the space, water and food available, vegetation and soil types Ex: forest, pond, tree, jungle

HABITAT abiotic carnivore biotic omnivore producer herbivore abiotic Use the definitions from your worksheet to label the following ecosystem: abiotic carnivore biotic omnivore producer HABITAT herbivore abiotic producer consumer

Biodiversity – a wide variety of living things Ex: rainforest, oceans Ecosystem – the system of interactions between living things and their environments Ex: pond, forest, deserts, wetlands

Benefit – something that promotes survival Ex: rain – allows food to grow; sunlight, wind… Challenge – makes survival difficult Ex: drought – not enough rain/water; predators

Homework Quiz at end of note (hand in note when finished!)