Community

   A group of various species that live in the same habitat and interact with each other.

                   Ecosystem

A community of organisms and their abiotic environment.

                      Habitat

The place where an organism usually lives

                    Biodiversity

    The variety of organisms in a given area, the genetic variation within a population, the variety of species in a community, or the variety of communities in an ecosystem.

                     Succession

   The replacement of one type of community by another at a single location over a period of time.

                       Climate

The average weather conditions in an area over a long period of time.

                        Biome

   A large region characterized by a specific type of climate and certain types of plant and animal communities

                     Producer

    An organism that can make organic    molecules from inorganic molecules; a photosynthetic or chemosynthetic autotroph that serves as the basic food source in an ecosystem.

                      Consumer

An organism that eats other organisms or organic matter instead of producing its own nutrients or obtaining nutrients from inorganic sources

                 Decomposers

   An organism that feeds by breaking down organic matter from dead organisms; examples include bacteria and fungi.

                   Trophic Level

  One of the steps in a food chain or food pyramid; examples include producers and primary, secondary, and tertiary consumers

                   Energy Pyramid

  A triangular diagram that shows an ecosystem's loss of energy, which results as energy passes through the ecosystem's food chain; each row in the pyramid represents a trophic (feeding) level in an ecosystem, and the area of a row represents the energy stored in that trophic level

                    Carbon Cycle

 The movement of carbon from the nonliving environment into living things and back.

                    Respiration 

  In biology, the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between living cells and their environment; includes breathing and cellular respiration.

                  Nitrogen Cycle

  The cycling of nitrogen between organisms, soil, water, and the atmosphere.

             Phosphrous Cycle

  The cyclic movement of phosphorus in different chemical forms from the environment to organisms and then back to the environment.