Flow of Energy Flashcards
Ecosystem
The simplest definition of an ecosystem is that it is a community or group of living organisms that live in and interact with each other in a specific environment
Producer
a person, company, or country that makes, grows, or supplies goods or commodities for sale.
Consumer
a person who purchases goods and services for personal use.
Decomposer
an organism, especially a soil bacterium, fungus, or invertebrate, that decomposes organic material.
a device or installation that is used to break down a chemical substance.
Food Chain
a hierarchical series of organisms each dependent on the next as a source of food.
Food Web
a system of interlocking and interdependent food chains.
Photosynthesis
the process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water. Photosynthesis in plants generally involves the green pigment chlorophyll and generates oxygen as a byproduct.
Cellular Respiration
Cellular respiration, the process by which organisms combine oxygen with foodstuff molecules, diverting the chemical energy in these substances into life-sustaining activities and discarding, as waste products, carbon dioxide and water.