Biology Quiz Review: Abiotic & Biotic Factors, Food Webs, and Interactions

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the key concepts, ecological levels, food web terminology, and biotic interactions from the biology quiz review guide.

Biotic Factors

The living or once-living biological components and organisms that interact within an ecosystem.

Abiotic Factors

The non-living physical and chemical components of an environment that influence an ecosystem.

Levels of Organization

The hierarchical structure of ecological study: individual, population, community, ecosystem, biome, and biosphere.

Individual

A single, distinct living organism representing the most basic ecological level of organization.

Population

A group of individuals belonging to the same species living together in a specific area at a given time.

Community

All the different interacting populations of various species occupying a defined ecological area.

Ecosystem

A biological community of interacting organisms together with the physical, non-living abiotic environment.

Biome

A large-scale geographic region classified into 9 terrestrial biomes or 2 aquatic biomes based on distinctive climate and species adaptations.

Biosphere

The global sum of all ecosystems, encompassing the entire zone of life on Earth.

Estuary

A partially enclosed coastal body of water where freshwater from rivers mixes with saltwater from the ocean, known for high biodiversity.

Food Chain

A simple, linear sequence illustrating how energy passes directly from one organism to another in an ecosystem.

Food Web

A complex network of interconnected food chains mapping the multi-path exchange of energy using arrows from organism consumed to consumer.

Producer

An autotrophic organism that synthesizes its own food and energy, establishing the base of food chains and webs.

Consumer

A heterotrophic organism that obtains its energy by feeding on other living organisms.

Trophic Level

The hierarchical position or feeding level an organism occupies in a food chain, food web, or energy pyramid.

Primary Consumer

An organism that feeds directly on primary producers, typically functioning as a herbivore.

Secondary Consumer

An organism that occupies the trophic level above primary consumers, feeding on herbivores or other consumers.

Tertiary Consumer

A top-level carnivore that feeds on secondary consumers within a food web.

Herbivore

An organism whose diet consists strictly of plants and other primary producers.

Carnivore

An organism that feeds primarily or exclusively on the flesh of other animals.

Omnivore

An organism that routinely feeds on both plant material and animal matter.

Decomposer

An organism that breaks down dead organic material and waste at a microscopic level, recycling nutrients back into the ecosystem.

Scavenger

An animal that searches for and consumes carcasses of dead animals, distinguishable from decomposers by physically feeding on carrion rather than breaking down matter chemically.

Predator

An organism that hunts, captures, and kills other animals for food.

Prey

An animal that is targeted, hunted, and consumed by a predator.

Competition

A biotic interaction between organisms or species contending for the same limited ecological resources such as food, water, or territory.

Mutualism

A symbiotic biotic interaction in which both participating species derive a benefit from the relationship.

Commensalism

A symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits while the other organism remains unaffected or unharmed.

Parasitism

A symbiotic biotic relationship in which one organism lives on or inside a host organism, deriving nutrients at the host's expense.

Energy Pyramid

A graphical model that illustrates the flow and loss of energy between trophic levels in an ecosystem.