Pride Team 62 Ecosystems Vocabulary

Front 1

natural resource

Back 1

something that is found in nature that is useful to humans

Front 2

hydrosphere

Back 2

all of the Earth's water, including surface water, groundwater, and water vapor

Front 3

pollution

Back 3

the contamination of air, water, or soil by substances that are harmful to living organisms, especially environmental contamination with man-made waste; also the harmful substances themselves

Front 4

conservation

Back 4

the wise use of natural resources such that their use is sustainable long term; includes protection, preservation, management, restoration, and harvest of natural resources; prevents exploitation, pollution, destruction, neglect, and waste of natural resources

Front 5

atmosphere

Back 5

the gaseous envelope surrounding the earth; the air

Front 6

water cycle

Back 6

the natural process of evaporation and condensation, driven by solar energy and gravity, that distributes the Earth's water as it evaporates from bodies of water, condenses, precipitates, and returns to those bodies of water

Front 7

evaporation

Back 7

to change from a liquid state into a vapor

Front 8

transpiration

Back 8

the passage of water through a plant to the atmosphere

Front 9

precipitation

Back 9

a form of water such as rain, snow, or sleet that condenses from the atmosphere and falls to Earth's surface

Front 10

surface water

Back 10

precipitation that runs off the land surface

Front 11

groundwater

Back 11

water that flows or collects beneath the Earth's surface in saturated soil or aquifers

Front 12

wetlands

Back 12

low-lying areas where the soil is saturated with water

Front 13

adaptation

Back 13

a behavior or trait that increases a species' chance of survival in a specific environment; the process of adapting

Front 14

predator

Back 14

an animal that lives by capturing and eating other animals

Front 15

prey

Back 15

an animal that is eaten by a predator

Front 16

habitat

Back 16

the natural environment in which an organism normally lives, including the surroundings and other physical conditions needed to sustain it

Front 17

carrying capacity

Back 17

an ecosystem's resource limit; the maximum number of individuals in a population that the ecosystem can support

Front 18

producer

Back 18

an organism that is able to produce its own food from non-living materials, and which serves as a food source for other organisms in a food chain; green plants

Front 19

consumer

Back 19

an organism that feeds on other organisms in a food chain

Front 20

decomposer

Back 20

an organism such as a bacterium of fungus that feeds on and breaks down dead plant or animal matter, making essential components available to plants and other organisms in the ecosystem

Front 21

food chain

Back 21

a series of plants and animals linked by their feeding relationships and showing the transfer of food energy from one organism to another

Front 22

food web

Back 22

many interconnected food chains within an ecological community

Front 23

energy pyramid

Back 23

a graphical representation designed to show the relationship between energy and trophic levels of a given ecosystem

Front 24

natural selection

Back 24

the natural process in which those organisms best adapted to the conditions under which they live survive and poorly adapted forms are eliminated