aboiotic
Non-living factor in an ecosystem, such as moisture, temperature, wind, sunlight, soil, and minerals.
organism that obtains its energy from abiotic sources, such as sunlight or inorganic chemicals.
movement of a chemical through the biological and geological, or living and nonliving, parts of an ecosystem.
total dry mass of all organisms in a given area.
biome
Regional or global community of organisms characterized by the climate conditions and plant communites that thrive there. bioremediation
A process by which humans use living things to break down pollutants.
biosphere
all organisms and the part of Earth where they exist.
biotic
living things such as, plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria.
community
Collection of all the different populations that live in one area.
organism that eats dead organic matter. ecology
Study of the interactions among living things and their surroundings.
ecosystem
Collection of organisms and nonliving things, such as climate, soil, water, and rocks, in an area.
food chain
model that links organisms by their feeding relationships.
model that shows the complex network of feeding relationships within an ecosystem.
combined biotic and abiotic factors found in the area where an organism lives. heterotroph
organism that obtains its energy and nutrients by consuming other organisms.
nitrogen fixation
process by which certain types of bacteria convert gaseous nitrogen into compounds.
population
all of the individuals of a species that live in the same area.
population dispersion
way in which individuals of a population are spread out over an area or volume.
process by which one organism hunts and kills another organism for food. symbiosis
ecological relationship between members of at least two different species that live in direct contact with one another.
level of nourishment in a food chain.