Ecology

2. The process by which plants, algae, and some bacteria use sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water to produce glucose (food) and oxygen.
4. A linear sequence showing how energy passes from one organism to another as each organism eats another.
5. An organism that is hunted and eaten by a predator.
13. An organism that eats producers; typically herbivores.
14. A network of interconnected food chains showing multiple feeding relationships in an ecosystem.
18. When the number of individuals in a population exceeds the environment’s carrying capacity.
19. Anything that releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere (ex: burning fossil fuels, respiration).
21. The large-scale removal of forests, usually for agriculture, development, or logging.
22. Catching fish faster than populations can reproduce, causing fish populations to decline.
23. The variety of different species living in an ecosystem or on Earth.
24. A natural system that absorbs and stores more carbon than it releases (ex: forests, oceans).
26. The maximum number of individuals of a species that an environment can sustainably support.
27. An organism that eats primary consumers; usually carnivores or omnivores.
28. The different feeding positions in a food chain or web (producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, etc.).

1. The struggle between organisms for limited resources such as food, water, space, or mates.
3. An organism that can produce its own food using energy from sunlight or chemicals (ex: plants, algae).
6. A diagram showing how energy decreases as it moves up trophic levels in an ecosystem.
7. All the populations of different species living and interacting in the same area.
8. The process by which cells break down glucose using oxygen to release energy in the form of ATP, producing carbon dioxide and water as waste products.
9. The introduction of harmful substances into the environment.
10. An organism that hunts and eats another organism.
11. A non-native species that spreads rapidly and harms native species or ecosystems.
12. Changes humans cause to ecosystems and the environment, which can be positive or negative.
13. An organism that makes its own food through photosynthesis (ex: plants, algae).
15. An organism that cannot make its own food and must obtain energy by consuming other organisms.
16. A group of individuals of the same species living in the same area at the same time.
17. The process by which certain bacteria convert nitrogen gas (N₂) from the atmosphere into a form that plants can use.
20. Environmental factors that restrict the growth or size of a population (ex: food availability, predators, disease).
25. An organism (such as bacteria or fungi) that breaks down dead organisms and waste, recycling nutrients back into the ecosystem.