Ecology Vocab

Producer

An organism that can make its own food.

Consumer

An organism that eats other organisms

Decomposer

An organism that breaks down wastes and dead organisms

photosynthesis

a process used by plants to make their own food from the sun's energy

Ecosystem

A community of organisms and their abiotic environment

Biotic

living things

Abiotic

Non-living things

carrying capacity

Largest number of individuals of a population that a environment can support

limiting factor

An environmental factor that prevents a population from increasing

trophic level

Each step in a food chain, food web, or an energy pyramid

Herbivore (Primary Consumer)

A consumer that eats plants for energy

Omnivore

Consumers that eat both plants and animals.

Carnivore

A consumer that eats only animals.

food web

A community of organisms where there are several interrelated food chains

Equilibrium

A state of balance

Biodiversity

the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem.

predator-prey relationship

Interaction between two organisms of different species in which one organism captures and feeds on parts or all of another organism

Parasite-host relationship

when one organism feeds on another organism without killing it

apex predator

the predator on the top of the food web