A large region characterized by a specific type of climate and certain types of plant and animal communities.

Individual living thing.

A group of organisms that are closely related who can mate to produce fertile offspring. All of the cats are feline, but each cat is a different species.

The number and variety of living organisms in a given area during a specific period of time.

A system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their physical environment.

Place where an organism lives.

An organism's particular role in an ecosystem, or how it makes its living.

All of the non-living parts of an ecosystem.

All of the living parts of an ecosystem.

Total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level.

A consumer that eats only plants.

An animal that eats other animals

A consumer that eats both plants and animals.

An organism that can make its own food.

An organism that obtains energy by feeding on other organisms.

An organism that makes its own food.

An organism that cannot make its own food; it gets food by consuming other living things or their by-products.

An organism that is hunted, killed, and eaten by another organism.

An animal that hunts and kills other animals for food.

A group of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area.

A group of interdependent organisms inhabiting the same region and interacting with each other.

A diagram that shows the feeding relationships between organisms in an ecosystem; it contains multiple overlapping food chains.

A diagram that represents how energy in food flows from one organism to the next in an ecosystem.

A diagram that shows the amount of energy that moves from one trophic level to another in an ecosystem.

A biotic or abiotic factor that restricts the number, distribution, or reproduction of a population within a community.

Largest number of individuals of a population that an environment can support.

An interaction in which one organism captures and feeds on another organism to gain energy.

Ecological relationship in which organisms compete for available resources. There are 2 types: between organisms within a population, and between different populations.

A close relationship between two species that benefits at least one of the species.

A relationship between two species in which both species benefit.

A relationship between two organisms of different species where one benefits and the other is harmed.

A relationship between two organisms in which one organism benefits and the other is unaffected.

The breaking down of matter into simpler molecules. Typically performed by bacteria.

The movement of carbon from the nonliving environment into living things and back.

The movement of water from Earth's surface to the atmosphere and back.

Process used by plants to capture and convert the sun's energy, water, and carbon dioxide into glucose (sugar).

The evaporation of water from the leaves of a plant into the atmosphere.

The sequence of biotic changes that regenerate a damaged community or create a community in a previously uninhabited area.

Biotic growth on newly exposed areas (bare,rocky) that were not previously occupied by soil and vegetation.

A type of ecological succession that occurs where a disturbance has destroyed an existing biological community but left the soil intact.

Creates soil in primary succession (lichen/moss) first species to appear on bare or rocky area.

A physical change from a liquid to a gas at a temperature that is lower than the boiling point.

A physical change from a gas to a liquid at cooler temperatures (the opposite of evaporation).

Any form of water that falls from clouds and reaches Earth's surface.

The exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between living cells and their environment; this includes breathing and cellular respiration.

An unwanted change in the environment caused by the introduction of harmful materials, or the production of harmful conditions (chemical, biological, heat, cold, sound).

A natural resource that can be replaced at the same rate at which the resource is consumed.

A resource that cannot be reused or replaced as quickly as it is used (ex. gems, iron, copper, fossil fuels).

Term used when the number of people in an area exceeds the capacity of the environment to support life at a decent standard of living.

The preservation, wise use, and protection of natural resources.

The process of recovering valuable or useful materials from waste or scrap; the process of reusing, or remanufacturing some items.

Part of the water cycle where an excess of water runs down and does not sink into the soil and eventually makes it to the rivers, lakes, and oceans.

Capable of being broken down by bacteria and other decomposers.

To cut down / back on the consumption of; or to use less of a resource.

Involves using a resource over and over in the same form.

Contains the most biodiversity

An adaptation that allows an organism to blend in with its envoronment

Ability of an animal to look like another more harmful animal

Covering its body with something for protection.

A stable, mature community that undergoes little or no change in species over time

Movement of individuals into a population

movement of individuals out of a population

Largest number of individuals of a population that an environment can support

An environmental factor that prevents a population from increasing

factor that limits a population more as population density increases, such as food, shelter, or diseases

limiting factors whose influence is not affected by population density, such as floods, droughts, tornados

growth whose rate becomes ever more rapid in proportion to the growing total number or size.

a species that has an unusually large effect on its ecosystem

species that enter new ecosystems and multiply, harming native species and their habitats

A process by which nutrients, particularly phosphorus and nitrogen, become highly concentrated in a body of water, leading to increased growth of organisms such as algae or cyanobacteria.