An association of living organisms and their physical enviroment

The study of the interactions between living and nonliving things.

An organism that eats producers (plants)

An organism that eats primary consumers

An organism that eats secondary consumers

A diagram that shows the biomass of organisms at each trophic level

A measure of the total dry mass of organisms within a particular region

An ecosystem where all water runoff drains into a single body of water.

Evaporation of water from the leaves of a plant

The trapping of heat by a planet's atmosphere. This vital process is required for life to exist on Earth.

The process by which plants convert light energy from the sun into chemical energy.

An enhancement of the greenhouse effect that causes the earth to get too warm. There is no evidence that this is taking place today.

The continuous movement of water between the atmosphere, the land, and the oceans

Any relationship in which two species live closely together

A relationship between two species in which both species benefit

An animal that hunts other animals for food

Animal hunted or caught for food

A relationship between two organisms of different species where one benefits and the other is harmed (+/-)

Interaction between species that benefits one but neither helps or harms the other. (+/0)

The struggle between organisms to survive in a habitat with limited resources

Group of ecosystems that have the same climate and dominant communities

Collection of all the organisms that live in a particular place, together with their nonliving environment

Organism that can capture energy from sunlight or chemicals and use it to produce its own food from inorganic compounds

Process by which some organisms, such as certain bacteria, use chemical energy to produce carbohydrates

Organism that obtains energy by eating animals

Organism that feeds off plant and animal remains and other dead matter

Organism that breaks down and obtains energy from dead organic matter

Diagram that shows the relative ammounts of energy or matter within each trophic level in a food change or food web

Total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level

Series of steps in an ecosystem in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten

Network of complex interactions formed by the feeding relationships among the various organisms in an ecosystem

Organism that obtains energy by eating only plants

Organism that obtains energy by eating both plants and animals

Process by which plants and some other organisms use light energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and high-energy carbohydrates, such as sugars and starches

Organism that can capture energy from sunlight or chemicals and use it to produce food from inorganic compounds

Step in a food chain or food web

Ground that is permanently frozen

Lacking sufficient water or rainfall

Areas characterized by less 25 cm of precipitation annually, and where evaporation exceeds precipitation

Biome found in tropical areas receiving large amounts of precipitation, characterized by high levels of biodiversity, rapid nutrient cycling and nutrient-poor soil

Biome found on western edge of North and South America, with heavy precipitation and seasonal variation; dominated by tall coniferous trees

Biome characterized by hot dry summers and cool moist winters, dominated by a dense growth of mostly small-leaved evergreen shrubs, as that found in the foothills of California or the Mediterranean region; prone to frequent wildfires; coastal temperate grassland

Plain characterized by coarse grasses and scattered tree growth, especially on the margins of the tropics where the rainfall is seasonal, as in eastern Africa

Biome found in temperate regions with a semiarid climate, dominated by grass species

Biome found in temperate regions with defined seasons and regular precipitation, characterized by the presence of broad-leaf deciduous leaved trees

Biome just south of the tundra; characterized by a northern coniferous forest composed of pine, fir, hemlock, and spruce tree and acidic, mineral-poor topsoil; boreal forest; evergreen coniferous forest

Vast treeless plain in the arctic regions between the ice cap and the tree line; polar grassland

part of Earth in which life exists including land, water, and air or atmosphere