| Term | Definition |
|---|
| energy role | how an organism obtains energy and how it interacts with the other organisms in its ecosystem |
| producer | an organism that can make its own food |
| consumer | an organism that obtains energy by feeding on other organisms |
| herbivore | consumer that eats only plants |
| carnivore | consumer that eats only animals |
| omnivore | consumer that eats both plants and animals |
| insectivore | consumer that eats only insects |
| scavenger | carnivore that feeds on the bodies of dead organisms |
| decomposers | organisms that break down wastes and dead organisms and return the raw materials to the environment |
| food chain | a series of events in which one organism eats another and obtains its energy |
| food web | many overlapping food chains within an ecosystem |
| energy pyramid | a diagram that shows the amount of energy that moves from one feeding level to another |
| evaporation | the process by which molecules of liquid water absorb energy and change to water vapor |
| water cycle | the continuous process by which water moves from Earth's surface to the atmosphere and back |
| condensation | the process by which a gas changes to a liquid |
| precipitation | rain, snow, sleet, hail |
| biogeography | the study of where organisms live |
| dispersal | the movement of organisms from one place to another |
| native species | species that have naturally evolved in an area |
| exotic species | an organism that has been carried into a new location by people |
| climate | the typical weather pattern in an area over a long period of time |
| biome | a group of ecosystems with similar climates and organisms |
| rain forest | receive an enormous amount of rain each year |
| desert | receive very little rain |
| grassland | typically populated by grasses and other non-woody plants |
| deciduous trees | trees that lose their leaves |
| coniferous trees | trees that produce their seeds in cones and have leaves shaped like needles |
| tundra | an extremely cold, dry, land biome |
| permafrost | frozen soil of the tundra |
| estuary | where the fresh water of ariver meets the salt water of the ocean |
| succession | the series of predictable changes that occur in a community over time |
| primary succession | series of changes that occur in an area where no ecosystem previously existed |
| pioneer species | the first species to populate an area |
| secondary succession | series of changes that occur after a disturbance in an existing ecosystem |
| autotroph | organism that makes its own food |
| heterotroph | organism that cannot make its own food |
| biosphere | the total area where organisms on Earth live |
| trophic level | feeding level in an ecosystem |
| primary consumer | consumer that feeds directly on producers |
| secondary consumer | consumer that eats primary consumers |
| tertiary consumer | consumer that eats secondary consumers |
| transpiration | evaporation of water from a plant's leaves |
Combine with other sets
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