Details Title: 18-3, 18-4Vocab Description: N/A Total Flash Cards: 25 Created: 09/09/2009 15:51:53		New Users: To study from this flashcard set, or to create your own your own study flash cards, REGISTER HERE. Existing Users: CLICK HERE. Additional Biology Flashcards
Cards in this set: Term Producer Definition Because autotrophs capture energy and use it to make organic molecules Term Chemosynthesis Definition In which bacteria use energy stored in inorganic molecules to produce carbohydrates Term Gross Primary Productivity Definition The rate at which producers in an ecosystem capture the energy of sunlight by producing organic compounds Term Biomass Definition What ecologists refer to the organic material that has been produced in an ecosystem Term Net Primary Productivity Definition Ecologists often measure the rate at which biomass accumulates Term Consumers Definition Heterotrophs Term Herbivores Definition Eat Producers Term Carnivores Definition Eat other consumers Term Detritivores Definition Consumers that feed on the "garbage" of the ecosystem Term Decomposers Definition Bacteria and fungi are detritivores that cause decay by breaking down complex molecules into simpler molecules Term Trophic Level Definition Indicates the organism's position in a sequence of energy transfers Term Food Chain Definition A single pathway of feeding relationships among organisms in an ecosystem that results in energy transfer Term Food Web Definition The interrelated food chains in an ecosystem Term Biogeochemical Cycles Definition Substances such as water, carbon, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus each pass between the living and nonliving worlds Term Groundwater Definition Water in the soil or in underground formations of porous rock Term Water Cycle Definition The movement of water between these various reservoirs Term Transpiration Definition The process by which water evaporates from the leaves of plants in terrestrial ecosystems Term Carbon Cycle Definition Photosynthesis and cellular respiration form the basis of the short term Term Nitrogen Cycle Definition The complex pathway that nitrogen follows in an ecosystem Term Nitrogen Fixation Definition The procces of converting N2 gas to nitrate Term Nitrogen- Fixing bacteria Definition To transform nitrogen gas into a usable form Term Ammonification Definition Decomposers break down these materials and release the nitorgen they contain as Term Nitrification Definition Soil bacteria take up ammonium and oxidize it into nitrites, NO2, and nitrates, NO3 Term Denitrification Definition Nitrogen is returned to the atmosphere Term Phosphorus Cycle Definition THe movement of phosphorus from the environment to organisms and then back to the environment