Food Webs

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Ecology Noun

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[ee-kol-uh-jee]

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Ecology

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The scientific study of the relationships between organisms and their environment, including interactions with other organisms and physical surroundings.

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Example: This diagram shows how ecology studies the flow of energy in a food web, from the sun to plants, then to animals, and finally to decomposers.

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Ecosystem Noun

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[ee-koh-sis-tuhm]

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Ecosystem

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A biological community of interacting organisms (biotic) and their physical, nonliving environment (abiotic) functioning as a single unit.

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Example: This image incorrectly shows a business or social system. A biological ecosystem involves living organisms (like plants and animals) interacting with their non-living environment.

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Biotic Adjective

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[bahy-ot-ik]

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Biotic

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Relating to or resulting from living things, especially in their ecological relationships, such as plants, animals, and bacteria.

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Example: Biotic factors are the living or once-living parts of an ecosystem, such as plants, animals, and fungi, which interact within a food web.

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Abiotic Adjective

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[ey-bahy-ot-ik]

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Abiotic

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Describing physical rather than biological factors; not derived from living organisms, such as sunlight, temperature, and water.

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Example: This chart shows examples of abiotic factors, which are the non-living parts of an ecosystem like water, light, air, soil, and temperature.

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Population Noun

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[pop-yuh-ley-shuhn]

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Population

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A group of individuals of the same species that live and interbreed within a specific geographical area.

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Example: This graph shows how a population's size increases over time until it reaches the environment's carrying capacity, the maximum number of individuals the ecosystem can support.

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Community Noun

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[kuh-myoo-ni-tee]

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Community

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An interacting group of various species, including different populations of plants and animals, living in a common location.

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Example: This image shows a community by displaying many different types of organisms—like deer, foxes, birds, insects, and trees—all living together in the same forest habitat.

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Biome Noun

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[bahy-ohm]

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Biome

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A large, naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat, such as a forest or tundra.

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Example: This image shows four examples of major world biomes—Tundra, Forest, Grassland, and Desert—each with representative animals and environments.

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Biosphere Noun

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[bahy-oh-sfeer]

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Biosphere

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The global ecological system integrating all living beings and their relationships, including their interaction with the elements of the lithosphere.

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Example: This diagram shows that the biosphere is the part of Earth where life exists, including the land (lithosphere), water (hydrosphere), and air (atmosphere).

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Autotroph Noun

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[aw-toh-trohf]

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Autotroph

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An organism that produces its own food from simple inorganic substances, typically using light or chemical energy; a producer.

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Example: This diagram shows a plant, an autotroph, using sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to make its own food (glucose) through photosynthesis.

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Heterotroph Noun

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[het-er-uh-trohf]

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Heterotroph

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An organism that cannot produce its own food and must obtain nutrition by consuming other complex organic substances.

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Example: This diagram shows that heterotrophs are organisms that eat others for energy, and includes examples of carnivores (lion), herbivores (zebra), and decomposers (worms).