environmental science Flashcards
photosynthesis
The process by which primary producers use sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugars, releasing oxygen
producer
An organism that can capture energy from the sun or chemicals and store it also called an autotroph
consumers
Organisms that rely on other organisms for energy and nutrients that are also called heterotrophs
decomposers
An organism that breaks down nonliving matter into simple parts that can then be taken up and reused by primary producers
cellular respiration
The process by which organisms use oxygen to release the chemical energy of sugars such as glucose, releasing carbon dioxide and water as a by-product
food chain
A linear series of feeding relationships
food web
A visual map of feeding relationships and energy flow, showing the many paths by which energy and nutrients pass among organisms as they consume one another
trophic level
The rank in a feeding hierarchy
carbon cycle
is a process by which carbon is cycled between the atmosphere, land, water, and organisms.
nitrogen-fixing bacteria
can fix atmospheric nitrogen in to useful from called ammonia.
nitrogen cycle
a process in which nitrogen is crucial between the atmosphere, soil, and organism depends upon these bacteria to supply nitrogen.
phosphorus cycle
is the movement of phosphorus from the environment to organism and then back to the environment
ecological succession
is a gradual process of change and replacement of some or all the species in the community
primary succession
The somewhat predictable series of changes in a community that follows a disturbance so serve that no vegetation or soil life remains
secondary succession
The somewhat predictable series of changes in a community that follows a disturbance
