Ecosystems Vocabulary

1. a series of events in which one organism eats another and obtains energy
4. all the members of one species in a particular area
7. an environment that provides the things an organism needs to live, grow, and reproduce
8. the community of organisms that live in a particular area, along with their nonliving surroundings
9. a living part of an organisms habitat
10. an organism that breaks down wastes and dead organisms and returns the nutrients to the environment
11. a diagram that shows the amount of energy that moves from one feeding level to another in a food web
12. an organism that can make its own food from sunlight

1. a pattern of overlapping food chains in an ecosystem
2. a nonliving part of an organisms habitat
3. a change in the structure or function of an organism that results from natural selection so the organism can survive and multiply in its environment
5. an organism that obtains energy by feeding on other organisms
6. organisms that are best suited to their environment survive and pass on their genetic traits and organisms that are less adapted fail to survive