Terms Chapter 6 Flashcards
Absorption
The movement of nutrients to the interior portion of the body.
Acid Mine Drainage
The outflow of acidic water from (sometimes abandoned) metal mines or coal mines.
Aerosols
Tiny solid particles or liquid droplets that remain suspended in the atmosphere for a long time.
Anoxic
absence of oxygen
Available (related to nutrients)
Chemical forms of nutrients that organisms can use.
Biogeochemical Cycles
the flow of matter among storages in the biological, geological, and chemical systems of Earth
Biota
All living organisms
Carbohydrates
Organic molecules that contain only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.
Deforestation
The act or process of clearing forests
Denitrification
The loss of gaseous nitrogen from soil through biological or chemical means
Digestion
Breaking complex forms of organic molecules into smaller forms.
Essential
Molecules that an organism cannot synthesize from its constituents.
Eutrophication
the ecosystem response to the addition of artificial or natural substances, mainly phosphates, through detergents, fertilizers, or sewage, to an aquatic system
Fats
Organic molecules that contain only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen and can store large amounts of energy per unit mass.
Flow
Movements of energy or materials between storages in a system.
Kwashiorkor
Severe malnutrition caused by a diet with insufficient protein that is found primarily in young children.
Legumes
Plants that have symbiotic relationship with nitrogen fixers.
Liebegs Law of the Minimum
The growth rate of plants often is determined by the nutrient that is least abundant or least available relative to the needs of the plant.
Limiting Nutrient
The nutrient that is in least supply relative to the quantity required by an autotroph.
Mineralization
conversion of organic forms of nutrients to inorganic forms
Nitrification
A process whereby ammonia is oxidized to nitrite and then to nitrate by bacterial or chemical reactions.
Nitrogen Fixation
A biological or chemical process by which molecular nitrogen, from the atmosphere, is converted to organic or available nitrogen.
Nonessential
Molecules an organism can synthesize from its constituents.
Non spontaneous Flow
movement of energy or matter against the tendency toward a greater state of entropy
Nutrients
Chemicals that are needed by living organisms.
Proteins
Large complex molecules made up of one or more chains of amino acids.
Redfield Ratio
The ratio of nitrogen atoms to phosphorus atoms that are needed by autotrophs.
Residence Time
the time that an atom spends in a storage pool
Spontaneous Flow
movements of matter or energy that are consistent with the tendency toward a greater state of entropy
Storage
A system part where energy or materials stay for an extended period.
Symbiosis
the intimate living together of two dissimilar organisms in a mutually beneficial relationship
Tailings
material that remains after all metals considered economic have been removed from ore during milling
Transpiration
The process by which water absorbed by plants, usually through the roots, evaporates from the plants’ surface, principally from the leaves.
Unavailable (in reference to nutrients)
Forms of nutrients that cannot be used by an autotroph.
