9. Ecosystems Interactions

Front 1

ecosystem

Back 1

all the living and nonliving things in an area and their interactions

Front 2

biotic element

Back 2

something that grows changes, and makes other living things;

Includes both, organisms that are currently alive, as well as organisms that were once alive (dead organisms);

Front 3

abiotic element

Back 3

an object/thing that is not alive;

Examples: air, water, soil, sunlight;

Front 4

organism

Back 4

any living thing;

(examples include: a plant, an animal, a bacteria, a virus)

Front 5

habitat

Back 5

a place that provides all the things an organism needs to live

Front 6

adaptation

Back 6

a structure or behavior that helps an organism survive in its environment

Front 7

producer

Back 7

organism that makes its own food for energy

Front 8

consumer

Back 8

organism that cannot make its own food

Front 9

carnivore

Back 9

an animal that eats other animals for food

Front 10

herbivore

Back 10

a consumer that eats only plants

Front 11

omnivore

Back 11

an organism that eats both plants and animals

Front 12

decomposer

Back 12

organism that gets its energy by breaking down wastes and dead organisms

Front 13

excrete

Back 13

to separate and eliminate from an organic body

Front 14

nitrogen cycle

Back 14

repeated movement of nitrogen through the environment in different forms

Front 15

niche

Back 15

a special role that a species fills in its habitat

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individual

Back 16

a single member of a population of organisms

Front 17

population

Back 17

a group of organisms of one species that live in an area at the same time

Front 18

community

Back 18

the group of all populations in an area

Front 19

food chain

Back 19

a series of steps by which energy moves from one type of living thing to another

Front 20

food web

Back 20

a diagram that combines many food chains into one picture

Front 21

predator

Back 21

a consumer that hunts and eats other animals

Front 22

prey

Back 22

an animal that is hunted by others for food

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nocturnal

Back 23

active at night

Front 24

competition

Back 24

the struggle among organisms for the same limited resources

Front 25

grazing animal (graze)

Back 25

herbivores that usually feed on grass

Front 26

symbiosis

Back 26

a long-term relationship between two different organisms where one organism is always helped. The other organism might be harmed, helped, or not affected.

Front 27

parasite

Back 27

an organism that lives in or on another organism (its host) and benefits by deriving nutrients at the host's expense.

Front 28

thrive

Back 28

to grow or develop well

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perish

Back 29

to die or be destroyed

Front 30

environment

Back 30

all of the conditions surrounding an organism

Front 31

impact

Back 31

direct effect or change on

Front 32

carrying capacity

Back 32

the population size an environment can feed and support

Front 33

oxygen (O2)

Back 33

a gas produced by plants during photosynthesis that animals use for respiration

Front 34

carbon dioxide (CO2)

Back 34

a gas produced by animals during respiration that plants use to make food, water and oxygen

Front 35

carbon cycle

Back 35

The movement of carbon on Earth by the processes of respiration and photosynthesis. (Oxygen is often involved in the processes in which carbon dioxide moves. This give-and-take of oxygen and carbon dioxide has many paths through an ecosystem.)

Front 36

respiration

Back 36

(breathing in and out) The process by which animals use oxygen and food to make energy and carbon dioxide

Front 37

photosynthesis

Back 37

The process where plants use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to produce food (sugar) and therefore release oxygen.

Front 38

Plants and Animals roles in the carbon and oxygen cycles

Back 38

Plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen. Animals take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide.