Ecosystems Flashcards
Energy pyramid
A model that shows the available amount of energy in each tropic layer in a ecosystem.
Food web
A model that shows many different feeding relationships among living things in a given area.
Decomposer
Organisms which carry out the process of decomposition by breaking down dead or decaying organisms.
Food Chain
A model that shows one set of feeding relationships among living things.
Coniferous
Plants that produce reproductive organs called cones.
Consumer
An organism that eats other living things to get energy; an organism that does not produce its own food (related word: consume).
Biome
A major ecological community such as grassland, tropical rain forest, or desert.
Deciduous
(of a tree or shrub) shedding its leaves annually.
Ecology
The branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings.
Cycle
the movement of a substance through different reservoirs or stages
Nitrogen Cycle
a process in which nitrogen in the atmosphere enters the soil and becomes part of living organisms then eventually returns to the atmosphere
Biotic
The living things in an ecosystem are called biotic factors. Living things include plants, animals, bacteria, fungi and more. The non living parts of an ecosystem are called abiotic factors.
Water Cycle
the continual movement of water between the land, ocean, and the air through predictable physical processes
Abiotic factor
a nonliving condition or thing, as climate or habitat, that influences or affects an ecosystem and the organisms in it
Producer
an organism that makes its own food; an organism that does not consume other plants or animals
Carbon Cycle
a natural cycle in which carbon compounds, mainly carbon dioxide, are incorporated into living tissue through photosynthesis and returned to the atmosphere by respiration, decay of dead organisms, and the burning of fossil fuels
Predator
an animal that hunts and eats another animal
Prey
an animal that is hunted and eaten by another animal
Succession
the sequence of communities that develop in an area.
Levels of Organization
Species, population, community, ecosystem, biome, biosphere.
Lab Safety Rules
Report all accidents, injuries, and breakage of glass or equipment to the teacher immediately.
Keep pathways clear by placing extra items on the shelves or under the work tables.
Wear sensible clothing including footwear.
Metric System
a system of measurement based on multiples of 10
Dependent Variable
a factor, trait, or condition that is affected when another factor, trait or condition is changed in a scientific experiment
Independent Variable
in an experiment that is a fair test; the variable that a scientist changes
Constant Varible
A variable whose value cannot be changed once it has been assigned a value.
Hypothesis
a testable explanation for a problem or phenomena
