ECOSYSTEMS
STUDY GUIDE/ CHAPTER 5
NAME: ____________
LESSON 1
An ecosystem is all the living and nonliving things in an area.
Abiotic factor: The nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
Biotic factor: The living parts of an ecosystem.
Populations: All the organisms of a species living in the same area.
Community: All the populations living in an area.
Ecology: The study of how all things in an ecosystem interact.
Ecologist: A person who studies ecosystems.
Habitat: The place where an organism lives.
Niche: The role of an organism in its community.
LESSON 2
Food chain: The path energy takes from producers to consumers to decomposers.
Food web: The relationship between all of the species in a community. It shows how
populations must compete for food. It is a map of overlapping food chains.
Parts in a food web:
1. Producers: Organisms that use the sun’s energy to make their own food.
2. Consumers: Organisms that cannot make their own food.
3. Decomposers: Organisms that break down dead matter into substances that can be used by
producers. Ex: Fungi, bacteria, insects (FBI)
Types of consumers:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Herbivore: Organisms that eat producers.
Carnivores: animals that eat other animals.
Omnivores: Animals that eat both plants or other animals.
Scavengers: Animals that feed on remains of dead animals.
Predator: Living thing that hunt other living things for food.
Prey: Animal hunted.
Symbiosis: A relationship between two kinds of organisms that lasts over period of time.
Types of symbiosis:
1. Mutualism: When a relationship between two kinds of organisms benefits both of them.
Ex: Yucca tree and yucca moth.
2. Parasitism: A relationship in which one kind of organism lives on or in another organism and
may harm that organism.
Ex: A flea on a dog; the mistletoe on a tree.
3. Commensalism: Relationship in which one organism benefits from another organism without
harming it or helping it.
Ex: An orchid on a tree; the Remora fish and the Loggerhead sea turtle.
Energy pyramid: energy decreases from the base to the top of the pyramid.
There is less food at the top of the pyramid than at the base. There are also fewer organisms as
you move from the bottom of the pyramid to the top of the pyramid.
Science – BIOMES Study Guide
Chapter 6 –> Lessons 5
a. Lesson 5 – Biomes
biome
grasslands
taiga
tundra
desert
deciduous forest
tropical rain forest
Large ecosystem.
A biome where grasses, not trees, are
the main plant life. Prairies are one kind
of grassland region.
A cool forest biome of EVERGREENS
(such as conifers) in the upper Northern
Hemisphere.
Large, treeless plain in the arctic
regions, where the ground is frozen all
year (PERMAFROST).
A sandy or rock biome, with little
precipitation and little plant life.
A forest biome with many kinds of trees
that lose their leaves each autumn.
A hot biome near the equator, with much
rainfall and a wide variety of life. The
soil is poor.
i. What are the 6 major biomes?
1. DECIDE To Go TU The Desert
2. Deciduous, Tropical rain forest, Grasslands, Tundra, Taiga,
Desert
ii. Be able to recognize which biome it is based on:
1. Location
2. Climate
3. Soil
4. Plants
5. Animals
Good study!