Unit 8 Ecology Keystone Vocabulary Review

A term that describes the nonliving factors in an ecosystem

The artificial cultivation of food, fiber, and other goods by the systematic growing and harvesting of various organisms

A term that describes an organism associated with a water environment

The changing of organic matter into other chemical forms such as fuels

The movement of abiotic factors between living and non living components within an ecosystem; also known as the nutrient cycle (i.e. water cycle)

A large area or geographical region with distinct plant and animal groups adapted to that environment

The zone of life on Earth; sum total of all ecosystems on Earth

A term that describes a living or once living organism in an ecosystem

Different populations of organisms interacting in a shared environment

When individuals or groups of organisms compete for similar resources such as territory, mates, food, and water in the same environment

An organism that obtains energy by feeding on other organisms or their remains

An organism that obtains nutrients by consuming dead

The study of the relationships between organisms and their interactions with the environment

A system composed of organisms and nonliving components of an environment

A model that illustrates the biomass productivity at multiple trophic levels in a given ecosystem