Unit 8 Crossword

2. feeds on and breaks down dead plant or animal matter, making organic nutrients available to the ecosystem
4. a non-living part of an ecosystem that shapes its environment
9. is the mass of living biological organisms in a given area or ecosystem at a given time
10. a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather and landscapes, work together to form a bubble of life
16. a graphical representation of the energy found within the trophic levels of an ecosystem
17. the region of the earth that encompasses all living organisms: plants, animals and bacteria
18. a type of heterotroph, or organisms that consume dead and decaying organic matter known as detritus to obtain energy and nutrition
20. an organism that mostly eats meat, or the flesh of animals

1. two species cannot coexist in the same ecological niche for very long without one becoming extinct or being driven out because of competition for limited resources
3. an interacting group of various species in a common location
5. a relationship between individuals of two species in which one species obtains food or other benefits from the other without either harming or benefiting the latter
6. are organisms that can produce their food using light, water, carbon dioxide, or other chemicals
7. an organism that mostly feeds on plants
8. all of the food chains in an ecosystem
11. the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans
12. the natural home or environment of a plant, animal, or other organism
13. the living components (organisms) that shape up the environment
14. an organism that eats other plants or animals for energy and nutrients
15. a large environment generally characterized by various abiotic factors
19. a linear sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy pass as one organism eats another