Ecosystem

Ecosystem

A community of living organisms interacting with the non-living physical elements of their environment.

Terrestrial

Land-based systems like forests, grasslands, deserts, and tundras.

Aquatic

Water-based systems are split into freshwater and marine.

Biotic

Living things like plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria.

Biotic Factor

Are the living components of an ecosystem and their activities.

Abiotic

Non-living elements like water, sun, soil, rocks, and sunlight.

Abiotic Factor

A nonliving physical and chemical attribute of a system.

Trophic

Organisms act as producers, consumers, or decomposers.

Producers

Are organisms that produce their own food.

Autotrophs

Another term for a producer organism.

Photoautotrophs

Uses energy from sunlight to make food by photosynthesis.

Chemoautotrophs

Uses energy from chemical compounds to make food by chemosynthesis.

Archaea

Are microorganisms that resembles a bacteria.

Consumers

Are organisms that depend on other organisms for food, they depend on producers directly or indirectly.

Decomposers

Organisms that break down the remains and other wastes which contain complex organic matter and release simple inorganic molecules back to the environment.

Scavengers

Consumes the soft tissues of dead animals and plants.

Detritivores

Consumes detritus that collects on the soil or at the bottom at the body of water.

Detritus

Term to generalize dead leaves, animal feces, and other organic debris.

Saprotrophs

Performs the final step in decomposition. Feeds in any remaining organic matter that is left.

Ecologist

A scientist who studies how living organisms interact with each other.

Predator-Prey

When one organism eats another organism.

Mutualism

When both organisms benefit from a relationship, such as bees getting nectar from flowers.

Competition

When organisms compete from limited resources like water and food.

Parasitism

When one organism benefits and another organism is harmed.

Herbivores

Consumes producers such as plants or algae.

Carnivors

Consumes animals, they can feed on herbivores or other carnivores.

Omnivores

Consumes both plants and animals.

Food Chain

A linear sequence where energy moves in one direction from plants to animals.

Food Web

A complex map made of many intersecting and overlapping food chains in a ecosystem.