ECOLOGICAL TERMS AND DEFINTIONS

 TERMS USED IN ECOLOGY

abiotic	nonliving parts of the environment
autotroph	an organism that produces its own food; the source of energy for all other living things on earth
biodiversity	the variety of species in an area
biosphere	all of Earth's ecosystems, collectively; the biologically inhabited portions of Earth, including all of the water, land, and air in which organisms survive
biotic	the living parts of the environment
carnivore	an organism that survives by eating animals
carrying capacity	the largest population of any single species that an area can support
community	a combination of all the different populations that live and interact in the same environment
competition	the struggle between organisms for the same limited resources in a particular area
consumer	an organism that obtains its energy from producers
decomposer	an organism, generally a bacterium or fungus, that consumes (eats) dead organisms and organic waste
ecology	the study of how living things interact with one another and with their environment
ecological niche	the specific role played by an organism or a population of organisms in the ecosystem
ecological succession	the process by which an existing community is replaced by another community
ecosystem	all the living and nonliving things that interact in a specific area; a subdivision of the environment
energy pyramid	a diagram showing how food energy moves through the ecosystem
environment	every living and nonliving thing that surrounds an organism
food chain	a representation that identifies the specific feeding relationships among organisms
food web	a representation of many interconnected food chains that shows the feeding relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers
habitat	the place where an animal or plant lives
herbivore	an organism that eats only plants
heterotroph	an organism that cannot make its own food; consumers
host	the organism in a parasitic relationship that provides a home and/or food for the parasite
limiting factors	any factor in the environment that limits the size of a population
parasite	an organism that survives by living and feeding on other organisms
population	all the individuals of a single species that live in a specific area
predator	an animal that hunts and kills other animals for food
prey	an animal that is hunted and killed by predators
producer	an organism that makes its own food from light energy and inorganic materials
scavenger	a carnivore that feeds on the bodies of dead organisms
biome	a climax community of plants and animals that covers a large geographic region
saprophytes	organisms that feed on dead and decaying organisms, includes heterotrophic plants, bacteria, and fungi
omnivores	animals that feed on both plants and animals
climax community	final stable stage in an ecological succession
energy flow	the movement of energy through an ecosystem