Ecology Vocab

3. They decompose organic materials in an ecosystem and return nutrients to the soil, air, and water.
5. A heterotroph that consumes both plants and animals.
8. A Food _______ is a model that shows all the possible feeding relationships in an ecosystem.
10. Each step in a food web or chain is referred to as the _______ Level.
11. The portion of Earth that supports life.
13. The living factors in an organism’s environment.
15. An organism that captures energy from sunlight or inorganic substances to produce food.
16. A Food _______ is a simple model that shows how energy flows through an ecosystem.
17. Total mass of living matter at each trophic level.
19. The study of the interactions between organisms and their environment.
20. The act of one organism consuming another organism for food.
21. A large group of ecosystems that share the same climate and have similar types of biological communities.
23. The role an organism has in its environment.
25. A relationship in which two organisms live together in close association. (there are 3 types)
26. A relationship between two species that live together and benefit from each other.

1. A heterotroph that consumes only plants.
2. A relationship between two organisms in which one benefits and the other derives neither benefit nor harm.
4. An organism that obtains energy by consuming other organisms, also called a consumer.
6. A chemical substance that an organism needs to perform life processes.
7. Individual organisms of the same species living in the same geographic location at the same time.
9. A group of populations that interact in the same geographic area at the same time.
12. A biological community and all the abiotic factors that affect it.
14. Anything that takes up space and has mass.
15. The nonliving factors in an organism’s environment.
18. A heterotroph that preys on other heterotrophs.
22. A relationship in which one organism benefits and the other organism is harmed.
24. An area where an organism lives.