Ecosystem Terminology

Front

What is a consumer?

Back

An organism that eats other organisms or organic matter.

Front

What is an energy pyramid?

Back

A triangular diagram that shows an ecosystem’s loss of energy as energy passes through the ecosystem’s food chain. Each row in the pyramid represents a trophic (feeding) level in an ecosystem, and the area of a row represents the energy stored in that trophic level.

Front

What is a food chain?

Back

The pathway of energy transfer through various stages as a result of the feeding patterns of a series of organisms.

Front

What is a food web?

Back

A diagram that shows the feeding relationships between organisms in an ecosystem.

Front

What is a producer?

Back

An organism that can make its own food by using energy from its surroundings.

Front

one of the steps in a food chain or 

food pyramid; examples include producers and 

primary, secondary, and tertiary consumers

Back

Trophic Level

Front

What is a decomposer?

Back

An organism that breaks down dead or decaying organisms, releasing nutrients back into the ecosystem.

Front

What role do producers play in an ecosystem?

Back

Producers convert energy from the sun into food through photosynthesis, forming the base of the food chain.

Front

How does energy flow in an ecosystem?

Back

Energy flows from producers to consumers and then to decomposers, with energy being lost as heat at each trophic level.