Biome Flashcards
(19 cards)
Food web
a model that shows many different feeding relationships among living things.
Decomposer
organisms which carry out the process of decomposition by breaking down dead or decaying organisms.
Energy pyramid
a model that shows the available amount of energy in each trophic layer in an ecosystem
Food chain
a model that shows one set of feeding relationships among living things
Coniferous
plants that produce reproductive organs called cones
Consumer
an organism that eats other living things to get energy; an organism that does not produce its own food (related word: consume)
Biome
a major ecological community such as grassland, tropical rain forest, or desert
Deciduous
a forest containing trees that lose their leaves each year
Ecology
the branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings.
Cycle
a process that repeats (related word: cyclic)
Nitrogen cycle
an element that makes up most of the air near Earth’s surface: nitrogen is a gas at room temperature
Biotic factors
all of the living parts of an ecosystem
Water cycle
the continual movement of water between the land, ocean, and the air
Abiotic
all of the nonliving parts of an ecosystem
Prey
an animal that is hunted and eaten by another animal
Producer
an organism that makes its own food; an organism that does not consume other plants or animals
Carbon cycle
a natural cycle in which carbon compounds, mainly carbon dioxide, are incorporated into living tissue through photosynthesis and returned to the atmosphere by respiration, decay of dead organisms, and the burning of fossil fuels
Predator
an animal that hunts and eats another animal
Succession
Communities that colonize a pristine area, such as after a volcanic eruption, form a series of communities called a primary succession. Eventually the succession may reach equilibrium with its environment and is called a climax community. If the climax community is disrupted a secondary succession will occur.
