Across
- 3. The scientific study of the relationships between organisms and their environment, including interactions between biotic and abiotic surroundings
- 4. One of the ways energy is lost along a food chain — energy egested in ___ is not passed to the next trophic level
- 5. The mass of an organism after all water has been removed by heating in an oven; used to measure biomass
- 7. The main form in which energy is lost at each trophic level; energy lost as ___ cannot be recycled
- 10. A pyramid of ____ is a diagram that shows the number of individuals present at each trophic level of a food chain at a particular time
- 11. Organisms (bacteria and fungi) that break down dead and decaying organic material, releasing nutrients back into the environment
- 14. An animal that gets its energy by eating other animals
- 17. Describes the flow of energy through an ecosystem — it is one-way and linear, not returned to the sun
- 18. A pyramid of ____ is a diagram that shows the dry mass of organisms present at each trophic level at a particular time; usually has a more traditional upright shape
- 19. A pyramid of ____ is a diagram showing the total energy available at each trophic level over a certain period of time; always has a standard pyramid shape; the most reliable of the three pyramids
- 21. The amount of energy _____ is only about 10% of chemical energy passes from one trophic level to the next; the rest (~90%) is lost mainly as heat during metabolic processes
- 22. Organisms that are eaten by predators
- 24. The metabolic process through which organisms release energy; occurs at every trophic level and is a major cause of energy loss as heat
- 26. An animal that eats both plants and animals
- 28. The position of an organism in a food chain, food web, or ecological pyramid
Down
- 1. A unit containing the community of organisms and their environment, interacting together
- 2. The way in which living organisms depend on each other in order to remain alive, grow and reproduce (e.g. bees and flowers)
- 6. A carnivore that eats the dead remains of animals killed by predators
- 8. The process by which green plants use light energy to make organic nutrients; only 1% of sunlight entering the ecosystem is trapped this way
- 9. An animal that gets its energy by eating plants; also called a primary consumer
- 12. A microorganism that feeds on dead organic materials; secretes extracellular enzymes and reabsorbs the liquid products of digestion
- 13. Shows the transfer of energy from one organism to the next, beginning with a producer; each arrow means "is eaten by"
- 14. An organism that gets its energy by feeding on other organisms
- 15. An organism that makes its own organic nutrients, usually using energy from sunlight through photosynthesis; forms the first trophic level
- 16. The non-living component of an organism's surroundings (e.g. light, temperature, soil pH, water)
- 20. An organism that hunts and feeds on other organisms; the organisms it eats are called the prey
- 23. A network of interconnected food chains that shows the complex feeding relationships in an ecosystem
- 25. The living component of an organism's surroundings (e.g. predators, competitors, food organisms)
- 27. The form of energy stored in organic molecules; converted from light energy during photosynthesis and passed along food chains through feeding