1. Unit 6 Vocabulary Ecology

2. Ecology
The study of organisms and their interactions with the environment.

3. producer Organism that uses photosynthesis to make energy.
(plants, algae, phytoplankton)

4. consumer
Organism that gets its energy by eating other organisms.

5. decomposer
Organism that gets its energy by eating dead and decaying organisms. Recycles nutrients. (fungi and bacteria)

6. biotic living factors in the environment
(bacteria, protists, fungi, plants & animals)

7. nonliving factors in the environment
abiotic
nonliving factors in the environment
(dirt, sunlight, water)

8. consumers that eat plants
herbivore
consumers that eat plants

9. consumers that eat animals
carnivore
consumers that eat animals

10. consumers that eat plants & animals
omnivore
consumers that eat plants & animals

11. an animal that feeds on the bodies of dead animals
scavenger
an animal that feeds on the bodies of dead animals

12. food chain
a diagram that shows how the energy flows from one organism to the next

13. food web
a model of the feeding relationships between many different consumers and producers in an ecosystem

14. The moray eel gets a clean mouth and the cleaner fish gets a meal
mutualism
a relationship between two organisms in which both organisms benefit
(Good – Good)
The moray eel gets a clean mouth and the cleaner fish gets a meal

15. Commensalism
a relationship between two organisms in which one organism benefits and the other is unaffected
(Good – neutral)

16. parasitism
a relationship between two organisms in which one organism benefits and the other is harmed
(Good – Bad)

17. Predator-an animal that eats another animal
Prey-
an animal that
is eaten by a predator

18. biome
a large region characterized by a specific type of climate and certain types of plant and animal communities