Abiotic
Nonliving, factor in an ecosystem, such as moisture, temperature, wind, sunlight, soil, and minerals.
Autotrophic
Organism that obtains its energy from abiotic sources such as sunlight or inorganic chemicals
Biogeochemical Cycle
Movement of a chemical through the biologicial and geological, living, or living or nonliving
Biomass
Total dry mass of all organisms in a given area
Biotic
Living things such as plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria
Biodiversity
Variety of life within an area
Biome
Regional or global community of organisms characteristics by the climate conditions and plant communities that thrive there
Carnivore
Organism that obtains energy by eating strictly animals.
Community
Collection of all the different populations that live in an one area
Competition
Ecological relationship in which two organisms attempt to obtain the same resource.
Competitive exclusion
Theory that states that no two species can occupy the same niche at the same time.
Consumer
Organisms that obtains its energy and nutrients by eating other organisms
Decomposer
Deteriorate that breaks down organic matter into simpler compounds, returning nutrients back into the ecosystem
Detritivore
Organism that eats dead organic matter
Ecology
Study of interactions among living things and their surroundings
Ecological niche
All the physical, chemical, and biological factors that a species needs to survive, stay healthy, and reproduce in an ecosystem
Ecosystem
Collection of organisms and nonliving things, such as climate, soil, water, and rocks, in an area.
Generalist
Species that does not rely on a single source of prey
Habatat
Combined biotic and abiotic factors found in the area where an organisms live.
Herbivore
Organism that eats only plants
Heterotroph
Organism that obtains its energy and nutrients by consuming other organisms
Pioneer Species
Organism that is the first to live in a previously unhabated area
Predation
Process by which one organism hunts and kills another organism for food.
Producer
Organism that obtains its energy from abiotic sources such as sunlight or inorganic chemicals
Specialist
Consumer that eats only one type of organism
Succession
Sequence of biotic changes that regenerate a damaged community or start a community in a previously uninhabited area
Symbiosis
Ecological relationship between members of at least 2 different species that live in direct contact with one another