1.
autotrophs: organism that can capture energy from sunlight or chemicals and use it to produce its own food from inorganic compounds
2.
biomass: total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level
3.
Calorie: (dietary) - unit of heat defined as the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree centigrade
4.
consumers: organisms that rely on other organisms for their energy and food supply
5.
decomposers: organism that breaks down and obtains energy from dead organic matter
6.
energy pyramid: illustration of the relative amounts of energy or matter contained within each trophic level in a given food chain or food web - it is a part of the ecological pyramid - only about 10% of the energy available at one trophic level is transferred to the organisms at the next trophic level
7.
food chain: series of steps in an ecosystem in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten
8.
food web: network of complex interactions formed by the feeding relationships among the various organisms in an ecosystem
calories (dietary) - term used by scientists to measure the energy stored in foods
Calories (not dietary) - amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celesiues
9.
heterotrophs: organism that obtains food by consuming other organisms
10.
producers: organism that can capture energy from sunlight or chemicals and use it to produce food from inorganic compounds; also called an autotroph
11.
trophic level: each step in a food chain or food web
