Ecology & Trophic Levels

Energy

The ability to do work or function.

Trophic Level

The position an organism holds in a food chain.

Food Chain

Illustrates a single energy pathway in an ecosystem.

Food Web

Displays interconnected food chains in an environment.

Equilibrium

Stable state where biotic and abiotic factors are balanced.

Producer

Organism that produces its own food/energy (autotroph).

Photosynthesis

Process where plants use sunlight to create food and oxygen.

Consumer

Organism that feeds on other organisms (heterotroph).

Herbivore

Consumer that exclusively eats plants.

Carnivore

Consumer that solely consumes other animals.

Omnivore

Consumer that eats both plants and animals.

Decomposer

Organism that breaks down dead organisms and recycles nutrients.

Detritivore

Consumer that feeds on decaying plant and animal matter.

Scavenger

Carnivore that consumes dead animal remains.

Ecology

The scientific study of how living things interact with each other and the environment.

Biotic Factors

The living parts of an environment.

Abiotic Factors

The nonliving parts of an environment.

Organism

An individual animal, plant, or single-celled life form.

Species

A group of organisms that are physically and genetically similar and can reproduce with each other.

Population

All the members of a species living in a particular area.

Community

All the different populations that live together in a particular geographic area.

Ecosystem

A biological community of interacting populations of organisms and including the physical environment they share.