Chapter 5 Key Terms Flashcards
Photosynthesis
The process in which plants convert sunlight and water to make sugar which they use as food.
Producer
An organism that makes it’s own food
Consumer
Organisms that get their energy from eating other organisms
Decomposer
Organisms that get their food from breaking down matter from dead organisms
Cellular Respiration
the process of breaking down carbohydrates
Food chain
Path in which energy is transferred from one organism to the next
Food web
Includes more organisms and shows the feeding relationship between species
Trophic level
Each step which energy is transferred
Carbon cycle
Process in which carbon is cycled between atmosphere, land, water, and organisms
Nitrogoen-fixing bacteria
(rare) Can convert atmospheric nitrogen into a useful from called ammonia
Nitrogen cycle
Process in which Nitrogen is cycled between the atmosphere, the soil, and organisms
Phosphorus cycle
Movement between phosphorus from the environment to organisms
Ecological succession
Gradual process of changes and replacement of some or all of the species in a community
Primary Succession
When succession appears in areas that previously did not support life (rocks, Dunes)
Secondary succession
Occurs in an area that previously existed
