- Abiotic factors: sunlight, water, soil, temperature
- Biotic factors: producers, consumers, decomposers
- Energy: flows through food chains and food webs
- Nutrients: cycle through ecosystems via biogeochemical cycles (e.g., carbon, nitrogen)
- Food chains: linear sequence of who eats whom
- Food webs: interconnected food chains showing complex feeding relationships
- Producers: autotrophs like plants and algae that make their own food
- Consumers: heterotrophs that eat other organisms (herbivores, carnivores, omnivores)
- Decomposers: break down dead organic matter (e.g., fungi, bacteria)
- Carbon cycle: movement of carbon between atmosphere, organisms, and Earth
- Nitrogen cycle: conversion and movement of nitrogen through ecosystem components
- Water cycle: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, runoff
- Oxygen cycle: production by photosynthesis, consumption by respiration
- Ecological succession: gradual change in species composition over time
- Pioneer species: first organisms to colonize disturbed or barren areas
- Climax community: stable, mature community at end of succession
- Trophic levels: hierarchical levels in a food chain (primary producer → primary consumer → secondary consumer → tertiary consumer)
- Energy transfer: ~10% energy transferred between trophic levels; rest lost as heat
- Biomass pyramid: shows decreasing biomass at higher trophic levels
- Population dynamics: birth rate, death rate, immigration, emigration
- Carrying capacity: maximum population size an environment can sustain
- Symbiosis: close, long-term interaction between species (mutualism, commensalism, parasitism)
Parent Tip: Review the logic above to help your child master the concept of ecosystems concept map worksheet.
