Ecology Vocab

3. an organism that only eats plants
5. A model representing the many interconnected food chains and pathways in which energy flows through a group of organism.
6. An energy pyramid is a graphical representation, showing the flow of energy at each trophic level in an ecosystem
7. An organism that gets its energy requirements by consuming other organisms
9. an organism that eats fragments of dead matter in an ecosystem and returns the nutrients to the soil, air, and water
10. an organism that breaks down dead organisms by releasing digestive enzymes.
12. a simple model that shows how energy flows through an ecosystem
13. a person or thing that eats or uses something
14. each of several hierarchical levels in an ecosystem, comprising organisms that share the same function in the food chain and the same nutritional relationship to the primary sources of energy.
15. an organism that is able to form nutritional organic substances from simple inorganic substances such as carbon dioxide.
18. a organism that eats both plants and other organisms
19. an organism that eats on other animals

1. energy cannot be converted from one form to another without losing energy
2. the study of the flow and transformation of energy in the universe
4. the relative number of organisms at each trophic level
8. an ecological pyramid representationdesigned to show the biomass or bioproductivity at each trophic level in a given ecosystem
11. ability to do work
16. A primary producer converts an abiotic source of energy into energy stored in organic compounds, which can be used by other organisms.
17. an animal that feeds on carrion, dead plant material, or refuse