Ecology vocab 2

1. decomposers noun break down dead matter and return nutrients to the soil  think fungi or worms
2. Estuary noun a body of water where freshwater and saltwater ecosystems merge Russian river has an estuary
3. habitat noun the place and surroundings where an organism lives think of estuary being a habitat
4. Herbivores noun an organism that only eats plants think herb being plants
5. host noun a living organism  on which parasitic lives think human with a tapeworm
6.  limiting factor noun something in an environment that keeps the population from increasing as much as it could think mosquito eaters and mosquito
7. Niche noun the habitat that supplies everything needed for a species or an organism to survive think canopy and birds
8. omnivores noun a consumer that eats plants and meats think bears eating people and berries
9. parasite noun an organism that lives in or on an another organism (host) think tapeworm the in human
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