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| Ecology ------ the scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment, or surroundings. |
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| combined portions of the planet in which all of life exists, including land, water, and air, or atmosphere |
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| Species ------ group of organisms so similar to one another that they can breed and produce fertile offspring |
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| Population ------ groups of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area |
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| Community ------ assemblages of different populations that live together in a defined area |
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| Ecosystem ------ Collection of all the organisms that live in a particular place, together with their non living, or physic |
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| Biome ------ group of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar dominant communities |
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| Herbivore ------ organisms that eat only plants |
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| Carnivore ------ organisms that eat only animals |
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| Omnivore ------ organisms that eat both plant and animals |
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| Decomposer ------ heterotrophs that breaks down organic matter |
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| Food chain ------ a series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten |
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| Food web ------ a link that connects all the food chains in the ecosystem together |
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| Biomass ------ the total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level |
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| Evaporation ------ process by which water changes from liquid form to an atmospheric gas |
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| Transpiration ------ when water enters the atmosphere by evaporation from the leaves of plants |
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| nutrient ------ chemical substances that an organism needs to sustain life |
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| weather ------ day-to-day condition of Earth's atmosphere at a particular time and place |
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| Climate ------ the average, year-after-year conditions of temperature and precipitation in a particular region |
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| Greenhouse effect ------ when heat is retained by a layer of greenhouse gases |
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| Biotic factor ------ biological influence on organisms within an ecosystem |
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| Abiotic factor ------ physical, nonliving factors that shape ecosystems |
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| Habitat ------ area where an organism lives |
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| niche ------ full range of physical and biological conditions in which an organism lives and the way in which the organism uses those conditions |
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| niche ------ full range of physical and biological conditions in which an organism lives and the way in which the organism uses those conditions |
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| resource ------ any necessity of life |
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| predation ------ one organism captures and feeds on another organism |
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| symbiosis ------ two species living closely together |
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| ecological succession ------ series of periodic changes that occurs in a community over time |
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| detritus ------ tiny pieces of organic material that provide food for organisms at the base of the estuary's food web |
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| Salt marsh ------ temperature-zone estuaries dominated by salt-torent grasses and seagrasses |
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| Benthos ------ ocean floor organisms |
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