Organisms and their environment Definitions Flashcards
Food chain
a sequence showing the transfer of energy from one organism to the next, beginning with a producer
Food web
a network of interconnected food chains
Consumer
an organism that gets its energy by feeding on other organisms
Producer
an organism that makes its own organic nutrients
Herbivore
an animal that gets its energy by eating plants
Carnivore
an animal that gets its energy by eating other animals
Decomposer
an organism that gets its energy from dead or waste organic material
Nitrification
the conversion of ammonium ions to nitrate ions by bacteria
Nitrogen fixation
the conversion of atmospheric nitrogen gas into ammonia by lightning and bacteria
Deamination
a process in which the amino group is removed from amino acids to produce ammonia
Denitrification
the conversion of nitrate ions to nitrogen gas by bacteria
Population
a group of organisms of one species, living in the same area, at the same time
Community
all the populations of different species in an ecosystem
Ecosystem
a unit containing the community of organisms and their environment, interacting together
Trophic level
the position of an organism in a food chain, food web or ecological pyramid
