Chapter 4 vocab

1. describes the nonliving part of the environment, including water, rocks, light, and temperature
6. a community of organisms and their abiotic environment
8. the cycle of nitrogen between organisms, soil, water, and the atmosphere
9. the average weather conditions in an area over a long period of time
10. the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between living cells and their environment
12. the cycle movement of phosphorus in different chemicals forms from the environment to organisms and then back to the environment
15. the movement of carbon from the nonliving environment into living things and back
16. an organism that gets it energy from the sun

2. the variety of organisms in a given area, the genetic variation within a population, the variety of species in a community, or the variety of communities in an ecosystem
3. a large region characterized by a specific type of climate and certain types of plant and animal community
4. the replacement of one type of community by another at a single location over a period of time
5. an organism that feeds by breaking down organic matter from dead organisms
7. a triangular diagram that shows an ecosystem's loss of energy
11. one of the steps in a food chain or food pyramid
13. the place where an organism usually lives
14. a group of various species that live in the same habitat and interact with each other
15. an organism that eats other organism or organic matter instead of producing its own nutrients or obtaining nutrients from inorganic sources