Ecology Vocabulary

3. all regions of Earth where life exists
8. organism that gets energy by eating others
9. a simple sequence that links species by their feeding relationships (2 words)
11. organisms that only eat other animals
12. energy ___; models the transfer of energy beginning with producers and working up the food chain to the top-level consumer
15. all water on Earth
16. variety of life in an ecosystem
18. all populations living and interacting in one area
19. solid Earth including rocks and landforms
20. organisms that break down organic matter into simpler compounds
21. community of organisms and their environment interacting
22. organism that makes its own food using sunlight
23. some energy from food is used for metabolic processes while the remaining energy is converted to new body material allowing growth of the organism
27. continuous movement of matter through ecosystems

1. organisms that only eat plants
2. conditions where oxygen is required for energy release
4. organisms that eat both plants and animals
5. movement of energy through an ecosystem (2 words)
6. fossil ___ some of the carbon in organic matter becomes fossilized, eventually forming energy-rich deposits
7. carrying ___; maximum number of organisms an environment can support
10. model of the complex network of feeding relationships between trophic levels within an ecosystem (2 words)
13. conditions where oxygen is not required for energy release
14. process that converts light energy into chemical energy
17. cellular ___; process that releases chemical energy from sugars and other carbon-based molecules to make ATP when oxygen is present
23. living factors of an ecosystem
24. layer of gases surrounding Earth
25. group of the same species living in one area
26. nonliving factors like sunlight, water, and temperature