Decomposers
Plants or organisms that feed on dead material and cause its mechanical or chemical breakdown.

Species
A population of organisms composed of related individuals that resemble one another and freely breed among themselves.

Ecosystem
The interacting system of a biological community and its nonliving environment; also, the place where these interactions occur.

Stomata
Microscopic openings in the surface of a leaf that allow gases to pass in and out.

Environment
The sum of all external conditions and influences that affect the development and, ultimately, the survival of an organism or group of organisms.

Decomposer
A plant or organism that feeds on dead material and causes its mechanical or chemical breakdown.

Food chain
The transfer of food energy from organisms in one nutritional level to those in another.

Food web
The complex and interlocking series of food chains.

Fungi
Small, often microscopic, organisms that lack chlorophyll and cellulose in their cell walls. Fungi are important decomposers of organic wastes.

Growth ring
A layer of wood formed in tree or other woody plant during one growth period.