Chapter 36: Ecosystems Flashcards
1
Q
Community
A
- collection of all the organisms living in the same place
- lives in a habitat
2
Q
Ecosystem
A
- sum of community and habitat
3
Q
Producers
A
- use sun’s energy to make food
4
Q
Autotrophs
A
- capture energy from sunlight of chemicals and use that energy to produce food (they are producers)
- Photosynthesis: plants
- Chemosynthesis: bacteria
5
Q
Consumers
A
- get their energy directly or indirectly from producers (primary eats plants, secondary eats plant-eating animals)
6
Q
Heterotrophs
A
- organisms that cannot make their own food and must rely on other organisms for nutrients and energy
- ex. herbivores, omnivores, carnivores
- Detritivores: feed on plants and animal remains (ex. mites, earthworm, snails)
- Decomposers: break down organic matter (ex. bacteria, fungi)
7
Q
Food chain v. food web
A
Food chain: transfer of energy by eating and being eaten
Food web: describes complex relationships and links together all food chains in an ecosystem
8
Q
Trophic level
A
- each step of an organism eating another organism
9
Q
Energy pyramid
A
- shows relative amounts of energy contained within each trophic level
- only 5-20% of each moves on to next trophic level, lots is lost at each step
10
Q
6 steps of water cycle
A
- Precipitation
- Evaporation
- Transpiration
- Condensation
- Percolation
- Runoff
11
Q
Precipitation
A
- falling products of condensation in atmosphere
- rain, hail, sleet, snow
12
Q
Condensation
A
- water vapor liquifies to form clouds or fog
13
Q
Evaporation
A
- changing from a liquid to a gas (water vapor)
14
Q
Transpiration
A
- passage of water from plant leaf to atmosphere
15
Q
Infiltration
A
- seepage of water into rock or soil
- how water gets back into the ground
