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Ecology – Study Guide #1 – Vocabulary Ecology = the scientific study of how living things interact with each other and their environment Ecologist = scientist who studies relationships between organisms and environments Ecosystem = all the living (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic) things that interact in a particular environment; an ecosystem can be as small as a meadow or a swamp or as large as a forest or a desert Niche = the role a living thing plays in its habitat Extinct = the permanent disappearance of a species Predator = an animal that hunts other animals and eats them Prey = an animal that other animals hunt and eat Producer = an organism that captures energy from sunlight and transforms it into chemical energy that is stored in energy-rich carbon compounds; producers are a source of food for other organisms Autotroph = an organism that CAN produce energy through the process of photosynthesis First Level Consumer = eats or consumes producers (plants) Second Level Consumer = consumes first-level consumers; eats something that eats plants Third Level Consumer = consumes second-level consumers; eats something that eats something that eats plants Photosynthesis = the process by which green plants and other producers use simple compounds and energy from light to make sugar, an energy-rich compound Consumer = a living things that gets its energy by eating other living things in a food chain; consumers are also called heterotrophs Heterotroph = an organism that MUST eat or consume something for energy Food Chain = a model used to show the feeding relationship between a single producer and a chain of consumers in an ecosystem Food Web = a model used to show a feeding relationship in which many food chains overlap in an ecosystem Energy = the ability to do work or to cause change; ALL living things need energy Abiotic Factor = a non-living physical or chemical part of an ecosystem Biotic Factor = a living thing in an ecosystem Herbivore = an organism that ONLY eats plants; humans that are herbivores are called vegetarians Carnivore = an organism that eats ONLY meat Omnivore = an organism that eats BOTH plants and animals Decomposer = an organism that feeds on and breaks down dead plant or animal matter Scavenger = a carnivore that feeds on the bodies of dead organisms that they did not kill (carrion) Carrion = the dead and decaying flesh of an animal Organism = an individual living thing, made up of one or many cells, that is capable of growing and reproducing Population = a group of organisms of the same species that live in the same area