BLOCK 9: ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH - Unit 2: Ecology (complete) Flashcards
Describe the collection of all organisms in the ecosystem. They include the following: plants (e.g., ferns), animals (e.g., bears), and microbes (e.g., bacteria).
BIOTIC FACTORS
Include the nonliving chemical and physical factors of an environment. They include the following: rainfall, temperature, wind, and pH.
ABIOTIC FACTORS
Organisms that are able to make their own food by using the energy of the Sun are called _______________, meaning “self-feeders”.
AUTOTROPHS
Autotrophs also are referred to as primary producers. Autotrophs are not totally self-sufficient; however, they are self-feeders only in the sense that they sustain themselves without eating or decomposing other organisms.
Obtain their organic material by the second major mode of nutrition, consumption. Unable to make their own food, they live on compounds produced by other organisms; they are the biosphere’s consumers.
HETEROTROPHS
Almost all heterotrophs, including humans, are completely dependent on _______________ for food and also for oxygen, a byproduct of photosynthesis.
PHOTOAUTOTROPHS
Heterotrophs who obtain their energy from living organisms are called _______________.
CONSUMERS
Organisms that use light as a source of energy to synthesize lipids, proteins, and other organic substances.
PHOTOAUTOTROPHS
Animals that feed directly on producers (only plant material), whether as large as elephants or as small as mites.
PRIMARY CONSUMERS (HERBIVORES)
Animals that feed on primary consumers.
SECONDARY CONSUMERS
Consumers that feed on both plants and animals.
OMNIVORES
Organisms that feed on or derive nourishment from decaying matter.
SAPROTROPHS
Saprotrophs that do not kill prey but instead decompose and feed on organic litter such as carcasses and fallen leaves.
DECOMPOSERS
Dead plant material from sources such as leaves falling in the forests, the fecal wastes of animals, and occasional dead animals.
DETRITUS
Many organisms are specialized to feed on detritus, and we refer to such consumers as _______________.
DETRITUS FEEDERS
Examples include vultures, earthworms, millipedes, crayfish, termites, ants,
and wood beetles.
_______________ is the result of metabolic activity of fungi and bacteria.
ROTTING
When a fungus or other decomposer dies, its body becomes part of the detritus and the source of energy and nutrients for yet other detritus feeders and decomposers. When plants and animals die, they become food for decomposers like bacteria, fungi and earthworms. Saprotrophs recycle dead plants and animals into chemical nutrients like carbon and nitrogen that are released back into the soil, air, and water.
The part of our Earth in which the land (lithosphere), air (atmosphere), and water (hydrosphere) come together to help sustain life and continually maintains an even distribution of materials and energy, which are used for food and fuel.
BIOSPHERE
What are the three divisions of the biosphere?
*Lithosphere (land)
*Atmosphere (air)
*Hydrosphere (water)
