Ch. 5 Key Terms Flashcards
photosynthesis.
Energy from the sun enters an ecosystem when organisms use sunlight to make sugar in a process called
producer
an organism that makes its own food. Producers are also called autotrophs, or self-feeders
consumers
organisms that get their energy by eating other organisms.
decomposers
Consumers that get their food by breaking down organic matter from dead organisms are called
cellular respiration,
The process of breaking down carbohydrates to yield energy is called
food chain
the path in which energy is transferred from one organism to the next as each organism eats another organism.
food web
A food web includes more organisms and shows the feeding relationships between organisms that are possible in an ecosystem
trophic level
Each step through which energy is transferred in a food chain is known as a
carbon cycle
is a process by which carbon is cycled between the atmosphere, land, water, and organisms.
nitrogen-fixing bacteria
Only a few species of bacteria, called nitrogen-fixing bacteria, can fix atmospheric nitrogen into a useful form called ammonia
nitrogen cycle,
a process in which nitrogen is cycled between the atmosphere, soil, and organisms.
The phosphorus cycle
is the movement of phosphorus from the environment to organisms and then back to the environment.
Ecological succession
is a gradual process of change and replacement of some or all of the species in a community
primary succession.
Succession can occur in areas that previously did not support life, such as on rocks or sand dunes. This type of succession is called
secondary succession,
A more common type of succession, called in areas where an ecosystem has previously existed.
