Glossary
Aquatic Ecosystems
An aquatic ecosystem is a group of interacting organisms dependent on one another and their water environment for nutrients and shelter. http://www.ec.gc.ca/eau-water/default.asp?lang=en&n=6CA710A4-1 |
Carnivores
Carnivores are consumers that eat other animals. |
Consumers
Consumers are organisms that rely on other organisms such as plants, animals, fungi or protists to get their energy. Consumers are unable to create their own food. |
Decomposers
A decomposer is an organism that breaks down material so that it can be reused in an ecosystem. |
Food Chain
A food chain is a simple feeding pathway that shows the flow of energy from one organism to the next. |
Food Web
A food web is a collection of interconnected food chains that shows the flow of energy through an ecosystem. |
Herbivores
Herbivores are organisms that eat only plant material. |
Invertebrate
Invertebrates are animals that do not have internal skeletons. |
Omnivores
Omnivores are animals that eat both plant material and other animals. |
Photosynthesis
The process by which plants convert solar energy to chemical energy. Water and carbon dioxide are converted into glucose and oxygen and the solar energy is converted and stored in the bonds of glucose. |
Plantlike Protist
Plantlike protists are unicellular protists that contain chlorophyll and carry out photosynthesis. Also see Protist From: http://www.biologycorner.com/bio1/notes_plantlikeprotists.html |
Producers
Producers are organisms that use the sun's energy to create their own food by converting it to chemical energy. This process is called photosysnthesis. |
Protists
"Protists are mostly unicellular, some are multicellular (algae); most live in water (though some live in moist soil or even the human body); a protist is any organism that is not a plant, animal or fungus" From: http://www.biologycorner.com/bio1/protista.html |
Sediment
Sediment is the material that settles to the bottom of the water. This might be mud, silt or gravel. The more organic material found here, the better plants can grow. |
Symbiotic
Organisms that have a symbiotic relationship with each other, both benefit from that relationship. |