Resources in Ecosystems: Vocabulary

Word Definition Image

an organism that eats both

omnivore
plants and animals in

similar amounts

an organism that mainly

herbivore
eats plants or plant parts

an organism that mainly

carnivore
eats animals

a relationship in which one

predation
organism, the predator,

benefits by eating another

organism, the prey

 a limitation on an
constraint
engineering solution

the requirements that must

criteria
be met for an engineering

solution to be successful

a relationship between two

mutualis
species in which both

species benefit
 a relationship in which one
parasitis
species benefits while the

other is harmed but not

usually killed

commensalism relationship between two

species in which one

species benefits and the

other is unaffected

ecological the predictable way that

succession ecosystems change from

one type to another over

time

any system that is

dynamic characterized by constant
system change
 information obtained by
evidence
observation or

experimentation

a group of living things that

species
share traits and can breed

successfully with each

other, but not with other

groups

an individual living thing

organism

any material or energy

resource
needed by living things to

survive, grow, and

reproduce
 a group of individuals of a
populatio
species that lives and

n reproduces in the same

area

an interaction between
competiti
living things that need the
on
same limited resource

a group of populations of
ecosyste
living things and the
m
nonliving parts of their

environment that support

them

a large area of Earth

biome
characterized by certain

physical conditions and

the living things that are

found there
 the parts of Earth in which
biosphere
organisms are able to live