Ecosystem Vocab

ecosystem

a community or habitat that is made up of living and nonliving things

producer

a living organism that makes its own food from the energy of the Sun

consumer

a living organism that eats other organisms to survive

decomposer

a living organism that breaks down dead plants and animals and return the nutrients to the soil

habitat

the environment where a group of different species live

food web

a series of overlapping food chains in an ecosystem

food chain

an organized way to show the flow of energy in an ecosystem

predator

an animal that hunts to obtain energy

prey

an organism that gets hunted for energy

herbivore

an animal that eats only plants to obtain energy

omnivore

An organism that eats both plants and animals to obtain energy

carnivore

an animal that eats only meat obtain energy

photosynthesis

the process that plants use to obtain energy

Symbiosis

A close relationship between two species that benefits at least one of the species.

Commensalism

one organism benefits and the other is unaffected

Parasitism

One organism benefits and the other is harmed

Mutualism

both organisms benefit

Organism

Any living thing

Living thing

An organism that requires basic needs to survive

Non-living thing

Factors in an environment that have no basic needs and simply exist. Have never been alive

Once living thing

An organism that no longer has a basic need because it is dead

Energy Pyramid

Used to show the amount of energy moving from feeding level to another

Carbon Dioxide

An ingredient in photosynthesis that is exhaled by animals and inhaled by plants

Consume

to eat something