Term
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Definition
| all the living things and nonliving things that interact in an area |
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Term
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Definition
| a living part of an ecosystem |
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Term
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Definition
| a nonliving part of an ecosystem |
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Term
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Definition
| the place where an organism lives that provides the things the organism needs |
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Term
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Definition
| a group of similar organisms whose members can mate with one another and produce fertile offspring |
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Term
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Definition
| an organism's particular role in an ecosystem, or how it makes its living |
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Term
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Definition
| an organism that can make its own food |
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Term
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Definition
| an organism that obtains energy by feeding on other organisms |
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Term
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Definition
| an animal that eats only plants |
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Term
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Definition
| an animal that eats only other animals |
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Term
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Definition
| an animal that eats both plants and animals |
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Term
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Definition
| a carnivore that feeds on the bodies of dead organisms |
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Term
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Definition
| an organism that breaks down large molecules from dead organisms into small molecules and returns important materials to the environment |
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Term
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Definition
| a series of events where one organism eats another and obtains energy |
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Term
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Definition
| the pattern of overlapping food chains in an ecosystem |
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Term
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Definition
| a diagram that shows the amount of energy that moves from one feeding level to another in a food web |
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Term
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Definition
| the study of where organisms live |
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Term
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Definition
| the hypothesis that the continents slowly move across Earth's surface |
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Term
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Definition
| the movement of organisms from one place to another |
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Term
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Definition
| a species that naturally evolved in an area |
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Term
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Definition
| a species that is carried to a new location by people |
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Term
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Definition
| the average conditions of temperature, precipitation, wind and clouds in an area over time |
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Term
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Definition
| a group of ecosystems with similar climates and organisms |
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Term
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Definition
| a leafy roof formed by tall trees |
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Term
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Definition
| a layer of shorter plants that grow in the shade of a forest canopy |
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Term
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Definition
| a region that receives less than 25 centimeters of rain per year |
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Term
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Definition
| a characteristic that helps an organism survive in its environment and reproduce |
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Term
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Definition
| an area populated by grasses that gets 25 to 75 centimeters of rain each year |
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Term
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Definition
| a tropical grassland with scattered clumps of trees; found in the tropical wet-and-dry climate zone close to the equator |
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Term
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Definition
| a tree that sheds its leaves and grows new ones each year |
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Term
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Definition
| a tree that produces its seeds in cones and has needle-shaped leaves |
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Term
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Definition
| an extremely cold, dry biome |
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Term
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Definition
| permanently frozen soil that is found in the tundra climate region |
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Term
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Definition
| a habitat in which the fresh water of a river meets the salt water of the ocean |
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Term
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Definition
| the area between the highest high-tide line and the lowest low-tide line |
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Term
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Definition
| the region onf shallow ocean water over the continental shelf |
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Term
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Definition
| all the different organisms that live together in an area |
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Term
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Definition
| a state in which opposing forces in a system are equally balanced or stable |
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Term
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Definition
| the series of predictable changes that occur in a community over time |
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Term
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Definition
| the changes that occur in an area where no ecosystem had existed |
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Term
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Definition
| the first species to populate an area |
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Term
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Definition
| the changes that occur after a disturbance in an ecosystem |
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