Enviro Flashcards
A system where energy and matter are transferred between living organisms and non-living parts of the environment.
What is the nutrient cycle?
Nitrogen gas is transformed into usable nutrients by nitrogen fixing bacteria NO -> NH4 (ammonium).
What is nitrogen fixation?
Ammonium is oxidized by nitrifying bacteria NH4 -> NO2 (nitrite).
What is nitrification?
The process that converts nitrate to nitrogen gas, thus removing bioavailable nitrogen and returning it to the atmosphere.
What is denitrification?
The biogeochemical cycle that describes the transformation and translocation of phosphorus in soil, water, and living and dead organic material.
What is the phosphorus cycle?
The process that moves carbon between plants, animals, and microbes; minerals in the earth; and the atmosphere.
What is the carbon cycle?
The process of extracting a substance from a solid material that is dissolved in a liquid.
What is leaching?
1st trophic level.
What is a producer?
2nd trophic level.
What is a primary consumer?
3rd trophic level.
What is a secondary consumer?
4th trophic level.
What is a tertiary consumer?
1st trophic level from the top.
What is a quaternary consumer?
Changing of stored chemical energy in food molecules to a form usable by organisms.
What is cellular respiration?
This process can cause loss of aquatic habitats, degradation of water quality, and increased flooding potential.
What is sedimentation?
The transfer of substances from the environment to plants, animals, and humans.
What is uptake?
