Ecosystems Vocabulary
Vocabulary in Ecosystems Population biotic Food Web host Ecosystem Parasite Habitat Community Food Chain Decomposer Predator Energy Pyramid Niche Producer Prey Consumer Abiotic
Words to Know Producer – an organism that makes it’s own food *Plants are producers Consumers – an organism that has to eat to get energy
Types of Consumers herbivore – an organism that only eats plants carnivore - an organism that only eats meat omnivore – an organism that eats meat and plants
What do we call an environment that meets the needs of an organism?
An organism that is infected by a parasite is its
Host
Habitat
The path of energy as it flows from one organism to the next
Food chain
What do we call a diagram showing how much energy is passed on from one organism to the next in a food chain?
Energy Pyramid
What do we call a consumer that eats prey?
Predator
What do we call consumers that are eaten by predators?
Prey
What do we call a living thing that feeds on wastes and on the remains of dead plants and animals?
Scavenger
An organism that breaks down decaying organisms
decomposer
What do we call a group of food chains that overlap?
Food web
What do we call the role of an organism in an ecosystem?
Niche
What do we call the living and nonliving things in an area?
Ecosystem
What do we call a living thing, such as a plant, that can make its own food?
Producer
What do we call a living thing that can’t make its own food and must eat other living things?
Consumer
What do we call a group made up of the same kind of individuals living in the same ecosystem?
Population
What do we call all the different populations that live in the same place?
Community
What do we call all living and nonliving things that surround you?
Environment
Non-living Parts of the environment
Abiotic
Living parts of the enviornment
Biotic
The clearing of forest lands
deforestation
A resource or environmental factor that limits the size of a population
Limiting factor
Carbon cycle Nitrogen cycle