Ecology Vocabulary
Vocabulary Term
ecology
community
estuary
biotic
ecosystem
Book Definition
The study of the interactions between
organisms and their environment
All of the populations of different
species that live and interact in an
area
An area where fresh water from
streams and rivers spills into the
ocean
Describes living factors in the
environment
A community of organisms and their
nonliving environment
A hot, dry biome inhabited by
organisms adapted to survive high
daytime temperatures and long
periods without rain
deciduous forest Describes trees with leaves that
change color in autumn and fall off in
winter
A treeless wetland ecosystem where
marsh
such plants a cattails and rushes grow
Describes nonliving factors in the
abiotic
environment
The part of the Earth where life exists
biosphere
desert
tundra
taiga (coniferous
forest)
swamp
population
permafrost
marine biome
A far-northern biome characterized
by long, cold winters,
PERMAFROST, and few trees
Coniferous forests are found in areas
with long, cold winters and short,
cool summers. Consist mainly of
evergreen trees.
A wetland ecosystem in which trees
and vines grow
A group of individuals of the same
species that live together in the same
area at the same time
The permanently frozen ground
below the soil surface in the arctic
tundra
Describes an ecosystem based on
salty water
herbivore
A consumer that eats plants
prey
An organism eaten by another
organism
My Definition
Picture
Ecology Vocabulary
biome
food chain
niche
symbiosis
A large region characterized by a
specific type of climate and certain
types of plant and animal
communities.
A diagram (picture or words) that
represents how the energy in food
molecules flows from one organism
to the next
An organism’s way of life and its
relationships with its abiotic
(nonliving) and biotic (living)
environments
A close, long-term association
between two or more species
carnivore
A consumer that eats animals
food web
A complex diagram representing the
many energy pathways in a real
ecosystem
carrying
capacity
The largest population that a given
environment can support over a long
period of time
mutualism
A symbiotic relationship in which
both organisms benefit
omnivore
A consumer that eats a variety of
organisms
energy pyramid
A diagram shaped like a triangle that
shows the loss of energy at each level
of the food chain
commensalism
A symbiotic relationship in which
one organism benefits and the other is
unaffected
succession
The gradual re-growth or
development of a community of
organisms over time
scavenger
An animal that feeds on the bodies of
dead animals
habitat
The environment where an organism
lives
predator
An organism that eats other
organisms
parasitism
A symbiotic association in which one
organism benefits while the other is
harmed
Ecology Vocabulary