Unit 4 - Ecosystems Flashcards
(18 cards)
What is an ecosystem?
An ecosystem is a place where living things (like animals and plants) and non-living things (like air, water, and soil) interact.
What are biotic factors?
Biotic factors are the living things in an ecosystem, like plants, animals, and bacteria.
What are abiotic factors?
Abiotic factors are the non-living things in an ecosystem, like water, sunlight, and temperature.
What is an adaptation?
An adaptation is a change that helps an organism survive in its environment, like thick fur for cold weather.
What is biodiversity?
Biodiversity is the variety of different living things in an ecosystem.
What is a habitat?
A habitat is the place where an organism lives, like a forest or a pond.
What is a producer?
A producer is a plant that makes its own food using sunlight.
What is a consumer?
A consumer is an animal that eats other living things for food.
What is a decomposer?
A decomposer is an organism, like bacteria or fungi, that breaks down dead plants and animals.
What is a food chain?
A food chain shows how energy moves from one living thing to another (e.g. plant → rabbit → fox).
What is a food web?
A food web is a group of many food chains connected together.
What is an invasive species?
An invasive species is a non-native plant or animal that harms the ecosystem it enters.
What is competition in an ecosystem?
Competition happens when living things fight for the same resources, like food or space.
What is a native species?
A native species is a plant or animal that naturally belongs to an ecosystem.
What is bioaccumulation?
Bioaccumulation is when harmful substances build up in an organism’s body over time.
What is a toxin?
A toxin is a poisonous substance that can harm living things.
What is a top predator?
A top predator is an animal at the top of the food chain that has no natural predators.
What is biomagnification?
Biomagnification is when toxins get more concentrated as they move up the food chain (e.g. from plants to animals to predators).
