| Term | Definition |
|---|
| energy | the ability to do work |
| photosynthesis | chemical process that turns carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates |
| producers | organisms that make their own food using photosynthesis in the presence of sunlight and chlorophyll |
| biomass | total organic matter in an ecosystem |
| autotroph | self-feeder (organism that makes its own food) |
| consumers | organisms that eat other organisms |
| heterotrophs | organisms that eat other organisms |
| herbivore | animals that eat only plants (ex. mice, deer, caterpillars) |
| primary consumers | organisms that eat only producers (also known as herbivores) |
| secondary consumers | organisms that eat primary consumers (ex. wolves, snakes, hawks) |
| carnivores | meat eaters (also called secondary consumers) |
| tertiary consumers | animals that eat secondary consumers (ex. sharks, polar bears) |
| omnivores | organisms that eat both producers and consumers (ex. humans, brown bears) |
| decomposer | organism that eats the remains of dead organisms (ex. fungi, bacteria, mushrooms) |
| detritivores | organisms that eat dead material |
| trophic levels | feeding levels |
| food web | a diagram representing energy flow through an ecosystem because it shows all the feeding relationships |
Combine with other sets
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