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| the study of the interactions of living organisms with one another and with their environment |
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| a group of various species that live in the same habitat and interact with each other |
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| a community of organisms and their abiotic environment |
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| a large region characterized by a specific type of climate and certain types of plant and animal communities |
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| describes living factors in the environment |
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| describes the nonliving part of the environment, including water, rocks, light, and temperature |
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| 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 |
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| a species that is critical to the functioning of the ecosystem in which it lives because it affects the survival and abundance of many other species in its community |
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| 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 |
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| an organism that produces its own nutrients from inorganic substances or from the environment instead of consuming other organisms |
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| an organism that eats other organisms or organic matter instead of producing its own nutrients or obtaining nutrients from inorganic sources |
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| an organism that obtains organic food molecules by eating other organisms or their byproducts and that cannot synthesize organic compounds from inorganic materials |
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| the production of carbohydrates through the use of energy from inorganic molecules instead of light |
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| the pathway of energy transfer through various stages as a result of the feeding patterns of a series of organisms |
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| an organism that eats animals |
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| a consumer that feeds on dead plants and animals |
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| an individual or a species that is adapted to a particular environmental factor or ecological niche and that can tolerate only a narrow range of conditions |
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| one of the steps in a food chain or food pyramid; examples include producers and primary, secondary, and tertiary consumers |
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| an organism that eats only plants |
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| an organism that eats both plants and animals |
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| an organism that feeds by breaking down organic matter from dead organisms; examples include bacteria and fungi |
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| a species that has a broad niche such that the species can tolerate a wide range of conditions and can use a variety of resources |
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| a diagram that shows the feeding relationships between organisms in an ecosystem |
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| The water cycle, also known as the hydrologic cycle or H2O cycle, describes the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth. Water can change states among liquid, vapour, and ice at various places in the water cycle |
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| the circulation of substances through living organisms from or to the environment |
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| the process by which gaseous nitrogen is converted into ammonia, a compound that organisms can use to make amino acids and other nitrogen-containing organic molecules |
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| plant material, manure, or any other organic matter that is used as an energy source |
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| 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 |
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