Ecosystems Vocabulary

Ecosystem

The biotic & abiotic resources provided to support specific populations in a community.

Abiotic

The nonliving components of an ecosystem.

Biotic

The living components of an ecosystem

Energy

A measurable quantity that describes how much change can occur within a system.

Energy Pyramid

A model that shows the flow of energy from one trophic level to the next in an ecosystem.

Trophic Level

One of the hierarchical strata of a food web characterized by organisms that are the same number of steps removed form the primary producers.

Producer

An organism that uses sunlight to make its own food for energy.

Photosynthesis

The process by which green plants use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to create oxygen and energy in the form of sugar.

Consumer

An organism that gets energy by eating other organisms.

Decomposer

A decomposer is an organism that consumes dead or nonliving biomass without the need for internal digestion.

Food Chain

The order in which organisms, or living things, depend on each other for food.

Food Web

An interconnected set of food chains.

Biosphere

the system on Earth that contains all the Living things below, on the surface, above the ground, in the water and the biotic and abiotic factors required for life.

Decomposition

The breaking down of dead organisms and organic waste. When animals and plants die, they are broken down by a special type of consumer called a decomposer.

Nutrients

Molecules in food that all organisms need to make energy, grow, develop, and reproduce.

Matter

Scientists define matter as anything that occupies space and has mass.

Herbivores

Consumers that eat only plants

Carnivores

Consumers that eat only animals

Omnivores

Consumers that eat both plants and animals

Evaporation

The process that changes liquid water to gaseous water.

Transpiration

The process by which water is pulled from the roots of the plant through the stems and leaves and released through microscopic holes in the leaves.

Condensation

The process of water vapor turning back into liquid water.

Precipitation

Water released from clouds in the form of rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow, or hail.

Nitrogen Fixation

The process that changes atmospheric nitrogen into nitrogen compounds that are usable by living things is nitrogen fixation.