Ecology Vocabulary

2. A simple line that shows how energy is transferred from one organism to another by eating.
4. The study of how living things (like plants and animals) interact with each other and with their non-living environment (like water and sun).
7. An organism (like bacteria or fungus) that breaks down dead organisms and waste, returning nutrients to the soil.
8. The natural home or environment where an organism lives.
10. An organism (like an animal) that gets energy by eating other organisms.
11. A group of the same species living in the same area at the same time.
14. Any single, living thing (plant, animal, or microbe).
15. All the living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) things in a specific area that interact with one another.
16. Relating to living or once-living parts of the environment.

1. The role or job an organism has in its ecosystem, including what it eats and how it interacts with other organisms.
3. Many connected food chains that show the complex feeding relationships in an ecosystem.
5. All the different populations (all the plants, animals, and microbes) that live and interact in a specific area.
6. An organism (usually a plant) that makes its own food, often using sunlight (photosynthesis).
9. An animal that hunts and eats other animals.
12. Relating to non-living physical and chemical parts of the environment.
13. An animal that is hunted and eaten by another animal.