Adaptation

A gradual change in an organism that enables it to survive in a particular

environment.

Algae

Nonvascular plants that are often found in aquatic or marine

environments and provides both food and a place for organisms to live.

Acid Rain

Rain that is contaminated with pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and

nitrogen oxide gases.

Adapt

Change; to change in order to fit a new situation or use.

Abiotic Factors

The nonliving parts of the environment.

Aquatic

Living in water.

Benthos

Bottom-dwelling organisms.

Biome

The natural place in a particular climate where many plants and animals live.

Biosphere

Encompasses all areas of the Earth — land, air and water — that support life.

Biotic Factors

The living parts of the environment.

Camouflage

Exploit the natural surroundings to disguise something.

Carbon Cycle

The cycle in which carbon flows through the environment and living things.

Carnivore

A consumer that eats only meat from animals or insects.

Carry Capacity

The largest population that an area can support.

Classify

To group things together because they share one or more properties.

Climate

temperature

Tim

e/y

ear

The average and variations of weather in a region over long periods of time.

Co-exist

Exist together.

Commensalism

Relationship in which one species benefits and the other species is neither helped nor

harmed.

Community

All of the populations that live in the same area.

Competition

The struggle between organisms to survive as they attempt to use the same limited

resources.

Consumer

An organism that feeds on other organisms or organic matter because

it cannot make its own food

Decay

The process where bacteria and other decomposers break down dead

things.

Deciduous

Describes a plant whose leaves fall off seasonally, or a leaf which falls off

seasonally.

Decomposers

Members of an ecosystem that break down organic material so it may be

used again (or recycled) by the ecosystem.

Deforestation

The clearing of forest lands.

Dependent

To depend on something else for survival.

Desert

A sandy or rocky biome, with little precipitation and little plant life.

Ecology

The study of how living things interact with each other and their environment.

Ecologists

Scientists who study ecology.

Ecosystem

A community that includes all the living and nonliving things found in a

certain area.

Emigration

To leave a population.

Endangered Species

A species that is in danger of becoming extinct.

Energy Pyramid

Shows the amount of energy that moves from one feeding level to another in a food

web.

Entomologist

A scientist who studies insect life.

Environment

Everything that surrounds an organism and influences it.

Equilibrium

State of balance within an ecosystem.

Estuaries

Bodies of water found in areas where fresh water and salt water mix.

Extinct

A species that has died out completely.

Food Chain

The ways in which the organisms in an ecosystem interact with one another

according to what they eat.

Food Web

Consists of the many overlapping food chains in an ecosystem.

Fossil Fuel

Fuels formed from plant or animal remains, such as coal, gas, and oil.

Germination

The process by which seeds swell up and begin to sprout and develop

roots.

Grasslands

Land where grass or grasslike vegetation grows and is the dominant form of plant

life.

Habitat

A place that is natural for an organism to live.

Herbivore

A consumer that eats only plants.

Host

The organism that a parasite lives in or on.

Humus

Partially decomposed organic matter; the organic component of soil.

Immigration

To move into a population.

Inorganic

Composed of matter other than plant or animal.

Interdependence

Being mutually responsible to and sharing a common set of principles

with others.

Lake

Bigger than a pond, and is too deep to support plant roots except near the shore.

Limiting Factor

An environmental factor that causes a population to stop growing.

Live-Bearer

An animal that gives birth to live, fully formed offspring.

Microorganism

An extremely small organism that can not be seen without a microscope.

Migration

To move periodically from one area to another for feeding or breeding.

Mutualism

Relationship in which both species benefit.

Natural Selection

A process by which characteristics that make an individual better suited to its

environment become more common in species.

Nekton

Organisms that swim through the water.

Niche

The role of an organism in the community; how it makes its living.

Nitrogen Cycle

The cycle in which nitrogen moves through the environment and living things.

Nitrogen Fixation

Process of changing free nitrogen gas into a usable form.

Nutrients

phosphorous potassium

nitrogen

Food for plants.

Organic

Composed of plant or animal matter.

Organisms

Living things.

Omnivore

A consumer that eats plants and animals.

Oxygen

An element that is normally colorless, odorless and tasteless and which is the most abundant element and is

essential to life.

Parasite

An organism that lives on, or inside, another organism and harms it.

Permafrost

Ground that is permanently frozen.

pH

A term that refers to the relative concentration of hydrogen ions (H+) in a solution, and therefore whether

the solution is acid or base.

Pioneer Species

The first species to populate an area.

Photosynthesis

The process by which green plants and blue-green algae, in the

presence of light, make food out of carbon dioxide and water.

Plankton

Organisms that float on the water.

Pollutant

Anything that spreads harmful or unpleasant substances into the air,

water, or ground.

Pollution

An unwanted change in the environment.

Pond

A still body of water smaller than a lake, often shallow enough for rooted plants to

grow throughout.

Population

A group of organisms of the same species living in the same place.

Predator

An animal that hunts and eats other animals.

Prey

An animal that is hunted and eaten by other animals.

Primary Consumer

An animal that eats green plants.

Primary Succession

The series of changes that occur to an area where no soil or organisms exist.

Producer

An organism that can make its own food through the process of

photosynthesis.

Protection

Anything that helps ward off some threat.

Recycle

To take something that would otherwise be thrown away and make it into something that can be used

again.

Reproduction

Process by which plants and animals give rise to offspring.

Respiration

OxygenCarbon

Dioxide

The processes by which an organism takes in and processes oxygen and

releases carbon dioxide.

Savannas

Grasslands that stay warm all year round.

Scavenger(Detrivore)

An organism, also known as a decomposer, that eats dead or

decaying organic matter.

Secondary Consumer

An animal that eats animals who eat plants.

Secondary Succession

The series of changes that occur in an area where the ecosystem has been disturbed,

but where soil and organisms still exist.

Soil

The top layer of earth, composed of organic materials (humus), inorganic

materials (sand, silt, and clay), water, and air.

Stable

Steady and balanced.

Symbiosis

A close relationship between two species that benefits at least one of the species.

Taiga

A cool forest biome of conifers in the upper Northern Hemisphere.

Temperate

A region with moderate or mild conditions.

Temperate Forest

Contain trees that lose their leaves each fall and found in areas with moderate

temperatures.

Temperature

A measurement of the amount of heat a substance contains.

Terrarium

A closed glass or plastic container where organisms can live and be

observed.

Terrestrial

Of or related to the land.

Tertiary Consumer

An animal that eats secondary consumers.

Thermometer

A device for measuring temperature.

Threatened Species

A species that is in danger of becoming endangered.

Topsoil

The layer of soil on the surface which supports vegetation.

Toxins

A poisonous substance.

Tropical Rain Forest

A hot biome near the equator, with much rainfall and a wide variety of life.

Tundra

A type of ecosystem dominated by lichens, mosses, grasses, and woody plants and is

located near the north and south poles.

Water Cycle

The ongoing process in nature that recycles fresh water.

Water Pollution

Condition that exists when harmful materials have entered the water and made it harmful to organisms.