Name: ________________________
Date:_______________
Group:_____________
Organized Ecology Vocabulary
Directions: Use your textbook and notes to mach each word to its correct definition. The words
above each box are the ones used for that box. Each word is used only once!
Levels of Organization
Organism
Population
Community
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Ecosystem
Biome
Biosphere
______________________ The highest level of environmental organization. It extends from pole
to pole and from the top of the atmosphere to below the ocean floor.
______________________ All the members of one species in a particular place
______________________ A living thing
______________________ All of the different populations that live together in an area
______________________ The community of organisms that live in an area, along with their nonliving surroundings
______________________ A group of land ecosystems with similar climates and organisms
Use the following terms in the chart below.
Arrange them from the smallest (lowest) to the largest (highest) level of organization.
Populations
Biosphere (Ecosphere)
Organisms
Biomes
Ecosystems
Communities
Levels of Organization
Biomes
Organisms
Types of ecosystems found all over the world
Estuary
Freshwater
1.
2.
3.
4.
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
Marine
Wetlands
Ponds, lakes and rivers.
Ocean and saltwater environments.
Land that is covered by water at least part of the year (Example: a swamp).
A habitat in which the freshwater of a river meets the saltwater of the ocean.
Living Things and the Environment
Ecology
Abiotic Factor
Biotic Factor
Limiting Factor
Habitat
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Niche
Exotic Species
Succession
Primary succession
Secondary succession
______________________ A species that is not native to an area – has been brought in from a distant
place.
______________________ A living part of an organism’s environment.
______________________ The role an organism has in its environment.
______________________ Type of succession that begins on soil after the destruction of an existing
ecosystem.
______________________ The specific environment that provides the things an organism needs.
______________________ An environmental factor that prevents a population from increasing.
______________________ The study of how organisms interact with their environment.
______________________ Type of succession that begins with pioneer species growing on rock.
______________________ The series of predictable changes that occur in a community over time.
______________________ A non-living part of an organisms habitat.
Populations
Birth Rate
Death Rate
Population Density
Carrying Capacity
Competition
Immigration
Emigration
1. ______________________ Movement of individuals out of a population.
2. ______________________ The struggle between organisms to survive as they attempt to use the
same limited resources.
3. ______________________ The number of births in a population in a certain amount of time.
4. ______________________ The number of individuals in an area of a specific size.
5. ______________________ The largest population that an area can support.
6. ______________________ The number of deaths in a population in a certain amount of time.
7. ______________________ Movement of individuals into a population.
Energy Flow
Food Chain
Energy Pyramid
Food Web
Producer
Decomposer
Consumer
Herbivore
Carnivore
Omnivore
Scavenger
1. ______________________ An organism that obtains food by feeding on other organisms.
2. ______________________ An organism that can make its own food.
3. ______________________ An organism that breaks down other organisms and returns nutrients to the
soil.
4. ______________________ The pattern of overlapping food chains in an ecosystem.
5. ______________________ A consumer that eats only animals.
6. ______________________ A consumer that eats plants and animals.
7. ______________________ A consumer that feeds on the bodies of dead animals.
8. ______________________ A diagram that shows the amount of energy (calories) that move from one
feeding level to the next.
9. ______________________ A series of events in which one organism eats another and obtains energy.
10. ______________________ A consumer that eats only plants.
Biomes from the Equator to the North Pole (from hot to
cold climates)
Desert
Tropical Rain Forest
Canopy
Understory
Grassland Biomes
Savanna
Temperate Deciduous Forest
Deciduous Tree
Tiaga
Coniferous Tree
Tundra
Permafrost
1. ______________________ Soil that is frozen all year.
2. ______________________ An area that receives less than 25 cm of rain a year, is hot and has
nutrient poor soil.
3. ______________________ Cold, dry biome, very short summers and only low growing vegetation.
4. ______________________ A forest with trees that lose their leaves. Georgia’s biome.
5. ______________________ A flat leaf tree that sheds its leaved every year.
6. ______________________ A leafy roof formed by tall trees.
7. ______________________ A grassland close to the equator.
8. ______________________ An area populated by grasses and grazing animals.
9. ______________________ A layer of shorter plants that grow in a rain forest.
10. ______________________ Coniferous trees, very cold winters and short summers.
11. ______________________ A tree that has cones and needle-shaped leaves.
12. ______________________ Rains every day. Diverse organisms. Has distinct Layers.