ECOSYSTEMS Vocabulary
Abiotic – NONliving factors in an ecosystem
Adapt: To make suitable by changing or adjusting.
Algae: A large group of water organisms.
Aquarium: A tank for keeping live water plants and animals.
Bacteria: Microorganisms that act as decomposers.
Biome: One of the major terrestrial ecosystems characterized by specific
soil conditions and climate.
7. Biotic- living organisms in an ecosystem
8. Camouflage: To hide or disguise.
9. Carbon dioxide: A colorless, odorless gas, present in the atmosphere. It
is released by plants and animals during respiration.
10. Carnivore: An animal that eats other animals.
11. Consumer: An organism that cannot make its own food. Consumers eat
other organisms.
12. Decomposer: An organism that breaks down plant and animal material
into simple chemicals. The chemicals can then be reused in the
ecosystem.
13. Decomposition: The process by which organic materials break down
through chemical change.
14. Dormant: At rest.
15. Drought: A long period of dry weather.
16. Ecosystem: A system of living things, all the nonliving things that
surround it, and the relationships between them.
17. Environment: Everything that surrounds and influences an organism.
18. Environmental factor: One part of the environment. An environmental
factor can be nonliving, such as water, light, temperature, or chemicals, or
living, such as a plant or an animal.
19. Food chain: A description of the feeding sequence of one set of
organisms in an ecosystem, such as grass seeds, chipmunk, and hawk.
Arrows point in the direction of the flow of energy from one organism to
another.
20. Food web: A description of the feeding relationships between all of the
organisms in an ecosystem. Arrows show the flow of energy from one
organism to another.
21. Fungus: An organism that lacks chlorophyll and absorbs nutrients from
dead or living organisms.
22. Herbivore: An animal that eats plants.
23. Host: A living organism on which a parasite lives.
24. Kelp: A brown seaweed. A type of algae.
25. Microorganisms: Microscopic organisms such as bacteria and algae.
26. Nutrient: A chemical needed for the maintenance, growth, and
development of an organism.
27. Omnivore: An animal that eats both plants and other animals.
28. Organism: Any living thing, including all plants and animals.
29. Parasite: An organism that lives on or in another living thing, always at
the expense of the host organism.
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30. Photosynthesis: The process by which plant cells make carbohydrates
for food from carbon dioxide and light.
31. Pollination: The moving of pollen to the female part of a flower.
32. Predator: An animal that preys on other animals.
33. Producer: An organism, such as a plant or algae, that makes its own
food.
34. Regenerate: To grow again.
35. Species: A group of organisms that differ in one or more characteristics
from the organisms in other groups.
36. Terrarium: A mini-garden in an enclosed container.
37. Thrive: To grow and be healthy.
38. Variable: Something that can be changed.
39. Venomous: Poisonous.
40. Viable: Alive and able to grow.