Study Guide for Ecosystems and Biome Test
Vocabulary
Ecology: is the study of the interactions among living things
Producer: makes its own food
Predator: hunts/kills and eats prey
Consumer: eats other organisms
Prey: is killed and eaten by predator
Herbivores: eat plants only/consumer
Decomposers: break down remains of dead organisms
Carnivores: eat meat only/consumer
Abiotic: non-living things in an environment; air, clouds, rain
Omnivores: eat both plants and animals/
Biotic: living things in the environment; bacteria, plants animals
consumer
The flow of energy from organism to organism can be shown through food chains, food webs and energy pyramids.
Food Chain: a single pathway showing how different organisms get their food.
Energy
Source
grass
producer
rabbit
herbivore
snake
carnivore
hawk
scavengers feed off remains
top predator
decomposers break down remains
(carnivore)
Food Web: many food chains together showing the flow of energy from organism to organism in an ecosystem.
In this food web, the producers are the two types of plant life. Primary consumers are
herbivores. The grasshopper, mouse, rabbit and squirrel eat the plants. The secondary
consumers are the carnivores and ominvores that eat the primary consumers. The frog
and the mouse are the secondary consumers. Tertiary consumers include carnivores
such as the snake and the fox. The top predator is the owl who preys on the snake
and the frog.
Energy Pyramid: shows the loss of energy at each level of the food chain. There are more producers at the
bottom of the pyramid than there are consumers at the top of the pyramid. This is because there is more energy
available at the bottom of the pyramid than at the top. Energy is lost at each level of the pyramid so there is less
energy available for the animals at the top of the pyramid.
If the amount of organisms at the top equaled the
number of organisms at the bottom, there would not be enough food to support the higher level consumers and
many would die.
Population: group of organisms of the same species example: a pack of wolves
Community: a group of different populations living together in the same area ex: pack of wolves, rabbits and foxes.
Ecosystem: communities of living organisms along with their abiotic environments. Ex: wolves, rabbits, foxes, and
fox dens, sun and water.
Biome: groups of similar ecosystems
Biosphere: anywhere on Earth where life exists
Niche: where an animal lives and its way of life including how it gets energy, how it survives, and how it
reproduces.
Animals compete for limited resources such as food, water, mates, shelter and space. An area can only support a
specific number of each species of animal. This is called its carrying capacity. If there is not enough food available for
the number of animals in an area they will be at risk of starving.
Animals use cooperation and competition to obtain limited resources like food, water, mates, shelter and space.
Cooperation is used when animals work together for a common goal. Chimpanzees will pick fleas off each other and
dolphins will surround fish.
Competition can be between members of the same species or between different species to obtain limited resources.
Carnivores like wolves, lions and tigers all eat deer so they will compete for this resource. Eating prey is not an
example of a long term relationship so it cannot be considered a symbiotic relationship.
Symbiosis: Is a close and long-term relationship between different species.
relationships.
There are 3 types of symbiotic
Mutualism: where both organisms benefit from their relationship. The clownfish gets protection from the sea
anemone and the sea anemone gets food when other organisms are attracted to the clownfish.
Parasitism: when one organism; the parasite benefits and the other organism; the host is harmed. A tick on a
dog sucks the blood of the dog. The dog is harmed and the tick gets nutrients. A tapework will take nutrition
from its host.
Commensalism- when one organism benefits and the other organism is unaffected. The remora rides on the
shark and eats remnants of the sharks’ food while the shark is not affected by the remora.
Water Cycle, Carbon Cycle and Nitrogen Cycle
The three main cycles in any ecosystem are the water, carbon and nitrogen cycles.
Water cycles through an ecosystem through precipitation, evaporation and condensation.
Carbon is an element in every living thing. Carbon enters the atmosphere when animals do respiration, when we
drive cars, and when factories burn fossil fuels. Plants take in carbon dioxide during photosynthesis. Animals die and
carbon reenters the earth when the body of the organism decomposes. Plants either take in carbon or it will
eventually turn into coal or oil. When the coal or oil is burned, it releases large quantities of carbon dioxide gas back
into the atmosphere. This build of CO 2 is not good for the environment. Sunlight can get through it but it cannot get
back out. Heat becomes trapped and is thought to be a major cause of our global temperatures rising.
Nitrogen is needed by all living organisms to make protein and DNA. Animals get nitrogen from eating plants. Plants
get nitrogen through their roots. Plants cannot use nitrogen gas which makes up most of the nitrogen on Earth.
Bacteria in the soil can fix this nitrogen into a useable form. Nitrogen comes from animal waste and decaying matter.
Nitrogen is in fertilizers we use on our lawns and crops. Large amounts of nitrogen wash off into water ways and
speed the growth of water plants. Plants then take in large amounts of oxygen and deplete the oxygen available for
other organisms in that biome. People can reduce their carbon footprint by reducing, reusing and recycling, driving
hybrid cars, don’t use bottle water, unplug things you are not using and turn out the lights.
Water Cycle
Carbon Cycle
Nitrogen Cycle
BIOMES
Biome
TUNDRA
CONIFEROUS FOREST
DECIDUOUS FOREST
TEMPERATE GRASSLAND
TROPICAL RAINFOREST
DESERT
SAVANNA
MARINE
FRESHWATER
Description
Permafrost, cold, thin soil
caribou, arctic fox, polar bear
mosses, lichen
Long cold winters,
short cool summers, red fox, moose,
owl, evergreen trees
Four seasons, moderate temperature
deciduous trees, eagle, deer, bear
trees lose leaves in the fall
Grasses, few trees, four seasons,
wildflowers, coyotes, bobcats, bison
Where it is located
At the far northern tip of the earth
Canada
Eastern half of North America and
Europe
Mid-Latitudes outside of tropics,
Great plains
Most diverse. Many different types
of plants and animals. Most life lives Near the equator
in the canopy, most average rainfall
Very hot days, cool nights, very dry
lowest yearly rainfall, lizards, snakes,
cactus
Very dry season and very wet season
elephants, zebra, leopards
North America, Australia, China,
North Africa
Oceans, salt water, four zones
blue whale, sea otters fish
coral
Covers ¾ of Earth’s surface
Ponds, lakes, rivers, streams
frogs, fish, ducks
All over the world
South America, Africa and Australia
Estuary: where the salt water and freshwater mix. Chesapeake Bay crab, salmon and heron.