producer

organism that makes

 its own food

consumer

organism that obtains food by eating other organisms

herbivore

consumer that eats

only plants

carnivore

consumer that eats

only animals

omnivore

consumer that eats both

plants and animals

scavenger

animal that only eats

dead organisms

decomposer

organism that breaks down the wastes or remains of other organisms

food chain

way of showing how the energy from food moves through populations of organisms in a community

food web

way of showing how food chains are related

energy pyramid

way of showing how energy moves through a

food chain

competition

struggle among organisms for resources in an ecosystem

predation

relationship in which an organism kills and eats another organism

predator

organism that kills and eats another organism

prey

organism that is killed and eaten by another organism

symbiosis

relationship between different species living in close association with one another

mutualism

relationship between two different kinds of organisms that benefits BOTH of them

commensalism

relationship between two different kinds of organisms in which ONE benefits and the other is UNAFFECTED

parasitism

relationship between two different kinds of organisms in which one lives on or in another organism and causes it harm

host

organism a parasite feeds on

adaptation

trait that helps an organism survive in its environment

water cycle

repeated movement of water between Earth's surface and the atmosphere

evaporation

changing of a liquid to a gas

transpiration

process by which plants lose water through the stomata in their leaves

condensation

changing of a gas to a liquid

precipitation

water that falls to Earth from the atmosphere

carbon cycle

repeated movement of carbon between Earth's atmosphere and organisms

fossil fuel

nonrenewable energy source formed from the remains of plants and animals that lived and died long ago

deforestation

excessive cutting of forests

nitrogen fixation

process of combining nitrogen with other elements to make usable compounds

nitrogen cycle

repeated movement of nitrogen compounds between the atmosphere, the soil, and living organisms

endangered species

species of living organisms in danger of becoming extinct