Life Science Flashcards

Ecosystem

A community of living organisms and their interactions with their environment.

Producers

Organisms that can make their own food, typically through photosynthesis, and serve as a primary energy source in an ecosystem.

Consumers

Organisms that obtain energy by eating other organisms, including both producers and other consumers.

Decomposers

Organisms that break down dead or decaying organisms, returning nutrients to the soil.

Food Web

A complex network of feeding relationships among organisms in an ecosystem, showing how energy and nutrients flow.

Symbiotic Relationships

Interactions between two different species that can be mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasitic.

Mutualism

A type of symbiotic relationship where both species benefit from the interaction.

Commensalism

A symbiotic relationship where one species benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed.

Parasitism

A symbiotic relationship where one organism benefits at the expense of another.

Invasive Species

Non-native plants or animals that, when introduced to a new area, can cause harm to the ecosystem.

Photosynthesis

The process by which producers convert sunlight into energy, allowing them to create their own food.

Energy Pyramid

A graphical representation that shows the flow of energy at different trophic levels in an ecosystem.

Sunlight

The primary source of energy for ecosystems, driving the process of photosynthesis in producers.

Energy Transfer

The movement of energy from one organism to another in an ecosystem, fundamental for survival.

Organism

a living thing

Native Species

a species that started and evolved in a specific habitat or ecosystem, not introduced to the location by humans.

Biotic Factor

any living part of an ecosystem, such as plants, animals, and microorganisms.

Abiotic Factor

any non-living part of an ecosystem, such as sunlight, temperature, and water.

Food Chain

the path of organisms through which energy passes as one organism eats another.

Carnivore

an animal that eats other animals.

Herbivore

an animal that feeds on plants.

Omnivore

an animal that eats both plants and animals.

Photosynthesis

the process by which green plants use sunlight to make food/energy; it also requires water and carbon dioxide.