Chapter 3 - The Biosphere Flashcards
The analysis of the relation between organisms and their environment.
Ecology
The largest unit in which life can be sustained, including anything within or below the atmosphere(until you hit the mantle, of course).
Biosphere
A group of organisms that are related enough that they can reproduce.
Species
A number of the same kind of species that live in the same general area.
Populations
Groups of many populations living in one location.
Communities
A group of all the organisms that live in one place with their nonliving environment.
Ecosystem
A collection of ecosystems that have equivalent dominant communities and climate.
Biome
Create their own food/energy by using some from their environment.
Autotrophs
Another word for “Autotrophs.”
Producers
Some autotrophs use the energy from the sun, along with other critical ingredients (CO2, H20) to create sugars to use as food. What is this process called?
Photosynthesis
This is when autotrophs use chemical energy to create carbohydrates.
Chemosynthesis
Organisms that eat other organisms (and ONLY other organisms) to get energy and food.
Heterotrophs
What is the other word for “heterotroph?”
Consumers
A type of heterotroph that eats only plants.
Herbivore
A type of consumer that only eats other animals.
Carnivore
A type of heterotroph that eats both animals and plants.
Omnivore
A type of consumer that feeds on dead animals.
Detritivore
Consumers that break down organic matter.
Decomposers
The transfer of energy from organisms to others by eating each other. This process is organized in a series of steps.
Food Chain
This connects every food chain within an ecosystem together.
Food web
This is a certain step within a food web or chain.
Trophic Level
The diagram that shows the relationship between the energy contained in each trophic level in each food chain or web.
Ecological Pyramid
This is the amount of living tissue in a trophic level.
Biomass
The process in which chemical compounds travel from one organism to another, and likewise between parts of the biosphere.
Biogeochemical Cycles
When matter transforms from a liquid into a gas through the addition of energy to the matter. (Water turns into water vapor).
Evaporation
When water evaporates from the leaves of a plant into the atmosphere.
Transpiration
The chemical substance that all organisms require to live.
Nutrients
When certain types of bacteria convert nitrogen gas into ammonia.
Nitrogen Fixation
When bacteria change nitrates into nitrogen gas.
Denitrification
How fast organic matter is created by producers/autotrophs.
Primary Productivity
When a single nutrient is required by an ecosystem and is very limited.
Limiting Nutrient
When a surplus of limited nutrient is acquired in an ecosystem, and it produces a lot of algae.
Algal Bloom
