Ecosystems Vocabulary

An organism that makes its own food

• consumer

• producer

• decomposer

• carnivore

An organism that needs to eat other organisms to survive

• consumer

• producer

• abiotic

• ecosystem

A substance, usually a mineral, needed for the healthy growth of living things

• cycle

• carnivore

• microbe

• nutrient

An animal that eats only animals 

• omnivore

• herbivore

• carnivore

• decomposer

The nonliving parts of an ecosystem

• endotherm

• ectotherm

• biotic

• abiotic

A consumer that eats plants and animals

• herbivore

• carnivore

• producer

• omnivore

An animal that eats only plants 

• omnivore

• carnivore

• herbivore

• decomposer

 A model of the transfer of energy within a set of interconnected food chains

• food chain

• abiotic

• food web

• producer

A living organism that breaks down dead organisms into smaller parts that can be reused by other living things

• decomposer

• producer

• ectotherm

• community

The living and nonliving things in an area

• endotherm

• producer

• omnivore

• ecosystem