Science Flashcards
(25 cards)
A system of living and nonliving things interacting in an environment.
Ecosystem
Living parts of an ecosystem (plants,
animals, bacteria).
Biotic
Nonliving parts of an ecosystem (sunlight, water, soil, air).
Abiotic
The natural environment where an organism lives, grows, and survives. It provides the food, water, shelter, and space than an organism need to thrive.
Habitat
An organism that makes it own food (plants).
Producer
An organism that eats other organisms for
energy. This can be animals, insects, etc.
Consumer
An organism that breaks down dead matter.
Decomposer
A diagram that shows how energy flows through different trophic levels in an ecosystem. It illustrates how energy decreases as it moves up the food chain.
Energy Pyramid
The amount of energy that is transferred from one trophic level is passed to the next level in a food chain or food web.
10% Rule
The struggle between two or more organisms to obtain the same limited
resource in an ecosystem. These resources could be food, water, shelter, space, or mates.
Competition
An interaction where one organism (the predator) hunts, kills, and eats another organism (the prey) for food. This is a key relationship that helps maintain balance in an ecosystem.
Predation
The maximum number of organisms an environment can support.
Carrying Capacity
A trait that helps an organism survive.
Adaptation
The organism a parasite lives on or in.
Host
An organism that lives on or inside another organism, called the host, and benefits by deriving nutrients at the host’s expense. This organism often harms their hosts but usually does not kill them outright, as they rely on the host for survival.
Parasite
A group of organisms that can reproduce and produce fertile offspring.
Species
Any living thing, such as a plant, animal, fungus, bacterium, or protist.
Organism
A species that has a major impact on an ecosystem
Keystone Species
A group of the same species living in an area.
Population
Anything that limits the growth of a population.
Limiting Factor
A species that enters a new ecosystem and disrupts balance.
Invasive Species
The variety of life in an ecosystem.
Biodiversity
A symbiotic relationship in which both organisms benefit from the interaction.
Mutualism
A symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits while the other is neither helped nor harmed.
Commensalism
