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Ecology Vocabulary
autotroph
An organism that can produce its own food using light, water, carbon dioxide, or other chemicals.
heterotroph
An organism that eats other plants or animals for energy and nutrients.
biotic
Living or once living components of a community. This can include plants, animals, fungi, etc.
abiotic
A non-living condition or thing. Can include rocks, water, dirt, the sun, etc.
competition
A relationship between organisms in which one is harmed when both are trying to use the same resource in order to grow, reproduce, or survive.
predator
An animal that hunts another animal in order to survive.
prey
An animal that is hunted by another animal for food.
short-term environmental changes
Changes in the environment that occur quickly and immediately affect organisms. These changes last a short amount of time.
Examples include volcanic eruptions, floods, hurricanes, forest fires. droughts.
long-term environmental changes
Changes in the environment that occur slowly over time, can cause changes in organisms DNA and can affect several generations.
Examples include: Ice age, deforestation, urbanization, Earth’s orbit, Sun’s intensity, global Warming, radioactive waste/pollution, tectonic movement. Extinction of species could happen to any one of the food webs in a long-term change.
artificial reef
A human-created underwater structure, typically built to promote marine life in areas with a generally featureless bottom.
great pacific garbage patch
A collection of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean