Yellow Stone Vocab Reference sheet

Flashcards for key vocabulary related to ecosystems and feeding relationships.

Carnivore

An animal that eats other animals.

Consume

An animal that eats (consumes) other living things for food.

Decompose

To break down dead and waste matter.

Decomposers

Organisms that break down dead and waste matter.

Ecologist

A scientist who studies ecology, which is the science of how living and non-living things interact in an ecosystem.

Ecosystem

An environment with certain living and non-living things, and the way these things interact.

Food Chain

A series of feeding relationships between producers (plants) and consumers (animals).

Food Web

A set of feeding relationships among organisms in a community.

Nutrient

A chemical that is needed by an organism in order to survive and grow.

Omnivore

An animal that eats both animals and plants.

Scavenger

An animal that eats dead organisms that it has not killed itself.

Energy

The capacity to do work.

Detritivore

A creature that feeds on dead matter and waste.

Herbivore

An animal that only eats plants.