PSMS Ecology vocabulary

organism that makes its own food

• 
• Autotroph

• Decomposer

• Consumer

An animal that hunts and kills other animals for food.

• 
• Carnivore

• Omnivore

• Scavenger

An animal that is hunted and caught for food.

• 
• Predator

• Herbivore

• Carnivore

all the living organisms that live in an area and the nonliving features of their environment

• 
• Community

• Population

• Biome

Non-living parts of an ecosystem: air, water, soil.

• 
• Water

• Soil

• Plants

eats producers and consumers

• 
• Carnivore

• Omnivore

• Decomposer

any close relationship between species, including mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism.

• 
• Competition

• Predation

• Isolation

eats producers

• 
• Carnivores

• Omnivores

• Decomposers

largest number of individuals of a particular species that an ecosystem can support over time

• 
• Population Density

• Biodiversity

• Ecological Footprint

A chain showing how energy passes from one organism to the next.

• 
• Energy cycle

• Nutrient cycle

• Food chain