Regents Ecology

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Decomposer

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Organisms that break down and absorb nutrients from dead organisms.

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Energy Source for Ecosystems

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Energy for ecosystems originally comes from sunlight.

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Carrying Capacity

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The maximum number of organisms an environment can support based on available energy, minerals, and oxygen.

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Food Chain

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A linear sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy pass as one organism eats another.

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Autotrophs

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Organisms that can make their own food, typically through photosynthesis.

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Consumer

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Organisms that obtain energy by consuming other organisms.

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Trophic Level

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The position an organism occupies in a food chain, which determines its role in the flow of energy and nutrients.

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Abiotic Factors

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Non-living chemical and physical parts of the environment that affect living organisms.

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Biological Diversity

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The variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem.

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Photosynthesis

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The process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods with the help of chlorophyll.