Ecology Vocabulary Words
Abiotic Factor
Adaptation
The part of the ecosystem that is not alive and has never been alive (sun, soil,
water, etc)
A characteristic that helps an organism survive in its environment (Ex: A
cactus storing water)
Algae
A simple plant-like organism that is food for many water organisms
Biome
A plant and animal community that covers a large part of the Earth
Biotic Factor
Canopy
Carbon Cycle
The part of an ecosystem that is alive
The large leaf layer in the forest biomes created by overhanging leaves and
branches. Can be very thick and prevent some sunlight from reaching the
forest floor
The movement of carbon from the environment into living things and back into
the environment
Carnivores
An organism that eats only other consumers (meat eater)
Community
A group of organisms living together in a certain area
Consumers
An organism that survives by eating producers or other consumers in its
ecosystem
Deciduous Forest
A forest biome with many kinds of trees that lose their leaves each autumn
Decomposers
An organism, such as bacteria or fungus, that breaks down dead matter and
returns nutrients to the soil
Deforestation
The cutting down and clearing of forest land – will usually lead to increased
soil erosion in this area
Desert
An area that gets less than 25 centimeters of precipitation each year, making
it VERY dry
Ecology
Ecosystem
Estuary
The study of how living things interact with one another and their environment
All the living and nonliving things in an area and their interactions
A body of water where fresh water and salt water ecosystems merge
together (marine and freshwater ecosystems will be present here)
Fauna
The animal life in an area
Flora
The plant life in an area
Food Chain
The order in which animals feed on plants and other animals (shows how
energy flows from producer-consumer-decomposer)
Food Web
Many food chains put together to show how energy flows through the
ecosystem
Grasslands
A biome whose main plants are grasses
Habitat
Herbivores
Host
Limiting Factor
The place and surroundings where an organism normally lives
An organism that eats only plants
A living organism on which a parasite lives
Something in an environment that keeps the population of an organism from
increasing as much as it could
Niche
1. The habitat that supplies everything needed for a species or an organism to
survive 2. The role that an organism plays in its environment
Nitrogen Cycle
The continuous series of processes in which nitrogen passes from the air into
the soil, then into an organism, and then back into the air
Omnivores
Parasite
Photosynthesis
A consumer that eats both plants and meats
An organism that lives in or one another organism (called the host)
The process by which green plant cells make food from sunlight, water, and
carbon dioxide
Pollutant
A substance that spoils, dirties, or damages some aspect of the environment
Pollution
Occurs when harmful pollutants are put into the environment and can cause
harm
Population
All the members of one species that live in one area
Predator
An animal that hunts, kills, and eats other animals
Prey
Producer
Rainforest
Recycle
An animal that is hunted, killed and eaten by a predator
An organism that can make its own food
A hot, humid biome near the equator with much rainfall and a wide variety of
life. The soil in this biome is not very fertile because of all the many plants
taking the nutrients from the soil
The breaking down of products into raw materials that can be used to make
new products
Respiration
Occurs in animals and plants - energy is released from sugar (glucose) by a
series of chemical reactions. The sugar is broken down into carbon dioxide and
water in a process which uses oxygen
Temperate
Mild
Taiga
Tundra
Water Cycle
A cool forest biome in the Northern Hemisphere that has mostly conifer
trees (needle-like leaves )
A flat or slightly rolling plain with few trees and permanently frozen ground
The continuous circulation of water between the Earth’s surface and the
atmosphere