Ecosystems Overview Quiz

Study Notes

An ecosystem includes all living and non-living things in an area, and how they affect each other
The environment surrounding an organism includes all things that affect its life.
Ecosystem components include producers (plants), consumers (animals), and decomposers (fungi, bacteria).
Producers create their own food using sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide
Consumers, like animals, depend on producers or other consumers for food
Decomposers break down dead organisms and return nutrients to the soil
Food chains follow the flow of energy from one organism to another during feeding
Examples of a food chain: green plants → deer → lion
Food webs display the interconnectedness of multiple food chains within an ecosystem
Trophic levels are different steps in the flow of energy through an ecosystem (producers → primary consumers → secondary consumers → tertiary consumers)
Abiotic components include air, water, soil, and climate
Biotic components encompass all living things in an environment (plants, animals, microorganisms)
Examples of abiotic components: air, water, soil, climate, temperature, sunlight, and humidity

Biotic components are living organisms in an ecosystem
Examples include plants, animals, microorganisms
Groups of living organisms based on how they obtain food
Producers: Make their own food (plants)
Consumers: Obtain food by eating other organisms (herbivores, carnivores, omnivores)
Decomposers: Obtain food by breaking down dead organisms (fungi, bacteria)

A food chain shows the transfer of energy from one organism to another
A food web shows the interconnectedness of multiple food chains in an ecosystem
Producers are on the bottom of the food chain
Primary consumers eat producers
Secondary consumers eat primary consumers
Tertiary consumers eat secondary consumers
Food chains always move from producers to consumers and eventually to decomposers