Interacting biotic and abiotic components make up an (a)   .

One important resource is food, which provides an organism with the _________ and _________ it requires to grow, survive and reproduce (include the "and" in your answer).

(a)  

When a resource availability changes, (a)   size may change.

The (a)   method allows scientists to sample a population in a systematic way, allowing them to estimate the size of a population in different environments and over time.

By studying a population in a systematic way (like the trasect method), scientists can detect the patterns and relationships between (a)   and other components in the ecosystem.

Ecologists use (a)   to describe relationships and to explain how an ecosystem functions.

When scientific models focus on feeding relationships, they are called _______ ________.

(a)  

Ecologists use food webs to (a)   how changing one component within an ecosystem's feeding relationships may affect other components.

All ecosystems have ____________, like plants and algae, that use energy from the _________, and matter in the form of water and carbon _________ to make their own food.

(a)  

The process of plants using energy from the sun to use water and carbon dioxide to produce oxygen and sugar (glucose) is known as (a)   .

Producers can ________ the food they create, or __________it immediately.

(a)  

Consumers get their food by eating other organisms - ______, ________, or both.

(a)  

Both producers and consumers break down food through __________ ___________ to get the energy and matter that they need to grow, survive and reproduce.

(a)  

Decomposers are organisms that feed on dead and decaying organisms, breaking them down into carbon ______ and _______ that can be used again by _________. IN THIS WAY, MATTER CYCLES THROUGH ECOSYSTEMS.

(a)  

In contrast to matter, (a)   cannot be recycled in an ecosystem.

At each level of the food web, only _______% of the energy at that level is available to the next level. The remaining percentage leaves the food web as _______.

(a)  

Eventually (because of the decreasing energy availability), additional levels cannot be supported. Thus, energy flows _______, through and _____of a food web.

(a)  

__________ interactions follow predictable patterns across all __________.

(a)  

Organisms that require the same resources to survive, grow, and reproduce are (a)   for those resources.

An animal that eats other animals is a _________, and one that is eaten by other animals is __________.

(a)  

Organisms can be harmed by other organisms through (a)   .

Organisms can benefit one another through (a)   .

Disruptions to ecosystems happen (a)   due to small and large events.

When a disruption is small and short term, ______________ typically return to how they were before the _____________,

(a)  

When the disruption is large and happens over a long period of time, the ecosystem may change (a)   .

Disruptions can be caused by ________ __________, such as fires, volcanoes, landslides, and extreme weather conditions.

(a)  

Disruptions can also be caused by (a)   activity, including habitat destruction, overhunting, or the introduction of a new species to a place it doesn't belong.

Introduction of new species into an area can have an effect on the food (a)   .

When an introduced species is a plant, it may outcompete other plants for (a)   .

If an animal is the introduced species, it may ___________ other animals and cause a ____________ of these other species.

(a)  

If an introduced species is a predator, it may cause the decline of (a)   species that have no defenses against the new predator.

Introduced species may also cause harm to humans through effects on _________ or the __________.

(a)  

Symbiosis is a close and often long-term interaction between two (a)   .

An impala allows an oxpecker to perch on its back. The oxpecker eats the ticks off of the back. This is an example of symbiosis (a)   .