Name ___________________________________
Date _____________________
Period _____
Vocabulary for Chapter 20: Interactions of Life (Ecology)
1.
_____________biomass_________ - The total mass of living and formerly-living material within a given area
2.
_______ecosystem______________ - All the organisms living in an area and the nonliving features in their
environment.
3.
____ecology__________________- The study of the relationships between organisms and their
environment.
4.
____compost_pile_____________ - Pile of organic matter such as leaves, grass clippings, plant clippings,
newspapers, kitchen scraps, and soil etc. allowed to decay naturally
5.
____herbivore________________ - Organism that eats plants
6.
____decay____________________ - To break down into component parts, to rot
7. ____habitat__________________ - The place in which an organism lives
8. ____niche____________________ - How an organism survives, including its habitat, how it obtains food
and shelter, and how it avoids danger (it’s role in the ecosystem.)
9. ____carnivore________________ - Organism that eats animals
10. ____decomposer_______________ - The organism that breaks down organic matter from larger to smaller
molecules
11. ____producer________________ - Organism that makes their own food (use sun’s energy)
12. ____consumer________________ - Organism that cannot make their own energy-rich molecules (food)
13. ____omnivore________________ - Organism that eats plants and animals
14. _____scavenger______________ - Organism that feeds on dead or decaying organisms
15. __trophic level_____________ - Feeding level (level in a food chain)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Choices:
biomass
decomposer
niche
ecology
omnivore
compost pile
ecosystem
producer
consumer
habitat
scavenger
decay
herbivore
trophic level
carnivore