the act of an animal hunting, killing, tearing flesh, and eating another animal

a carnivore that feeds on the bodies of dead organisms / carcasses

Sole source of energy;

 Producers’direct source of energy

breaks down complex chemicals in dead organisms;

links the end of the food chain back to the beginning (producers);

helps recycle matter in the environment;

returns important nutrients to the soil and water;

without decomposers the earth would be piled high with dead stuff;

bacteria and fungi are the 2 most important decomposers in the world

physical or behavioral characteristics that allow organisms (eaten by predators) to survive or reproduce

Examples: camoflouge, speed, good sense of hearing, etc. 

physical or behavioral characteristics that allow organisms 

(predators) to survive or reproduce

Examples: Sharp claws, sharp teeth, strong jaws, ambush techniques, speed, camoflouge, etc. 

A diagram that shows the complex feeding relationships between organisms in an ecosystem;

shows overlapping food chains

a triangular diagram that shows how much energy is transferred between feeding levels in a food web;

shows an ecosystem's loss of energy, which results as energy passes through the ecosystem's food web

an organism that kills and eats all or part of another organism

a physical or behavioral trait that allows an organism to survive or reproduce

all the groups of populations/species that interact in a specific area

all the living and non-living things that interact in a particular area;

the community and its abiotic factors that interact in a particular area

a group of closely related organisms that can mate and produce FERTILE offspring

the place where an organism lives and that provides the things the organism needs

Producer/ Autotroph

an organism that can make its own food by using the sun's energy

the study of the interactions of living organisms with one another and with their enviroment

a scientist that studies how living things interact with each other and with their environment

All living things need water to survive ----- No exceptions!

(Water is even needed for producers to undergo photosynthesis!)

ALL organisms need space in their habitat, even unicellular organisms.

Plants especially need space underground for their roots.

occurs when a population exceeds its carrying capacity for that ecosystem, meaning that its resources are too limited

an organism’s particular role in an ecosystem, or how it makes its living, or its job

(food, space, weather, disease, predators, physical barriers)

-things that limit a population from growing

the largest amount of a population that an environment can support at that time

(wk. bk. Pg. 302, or see textbook)

the struggle between organisms to survive with limited resources

all biotic and abiotic factors that an organism depends on for survival

needed by producers in order to power photosynthesis; energy source for the world;

direct energy source for producers

the producer of water, providing oxygen and food for water-dwelling consumers