Ecosystems Vocabulary

3. level Hierarchy levels in an ecosystem, of organisms that share the same function and nutritional relationships in the food chain and the same nutritional relationship to the primary sources of energy
6. An organism that eats other plants or animals for energy and nutrients
8. A symbiosis that is beneficial to both organisms involved
11. A living organism that obtains its energy by eating other organisms
15. Not associated with living organisms, includes items such as light, temperature, wind patterns, and precipitation
16. consumer An organism that eats exclusively plant-based foods and is on the second level of a food chain
18. consumer An organism that gets its energy by eating primary consumers, which are herbivores that eat producers
20. A relationship between organisms that strive for the same resources in the same place
21. An animal that feeds on plants
22. A hierarchy of organisms dependent on the next as a source of food
24. The regions of the surface, atmosphere, and hydrosphere of the Earth occupied by living organisms
25. Relating to living things in ecological relations
27. A system of interlocking and interdependent food chains
28. A group of organisms of the same species that live in a specific geographic area and can interbreed
29. An ecological process where one organism hunts, captures, and kills another organism for food

1. An animal that eats food of both plant and animal origins
2. consumer An animal that obtains its nutrition by eating primary and secondary consumers
4. A biological interaction where one species benefits from another species without harming or benefiting it
5. A group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals capable of breeding
7. A species on which other species in an ecosystem largely depend on, if it were removed the ecosystem would change drastically
9. A close, prolonged association between two or more different biological species
10. An organism that is able to form nutrition from simple inorganic substances such as carbon dioxide
12. A relationship between two organisms where one organism benefits at the expense of the other
13. A group of species that are commonly found together
14. An animal that feeds on dead organic material
17. A community of living organisms interacting with their nonliving physical environment within a specific area
19. An organism that breaks down dead organisms and releases the nutrients from the dead matter into the environment around them
20. An animal that feeds on flesh
23. A large naturally occurring community of plants and animals occupying a major habitat
26. Organisms that can make their own energy through biochemical processes