Term
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Definition
| Because autotrophs capture energy and use it to make organic molecules |
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Term
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Definition
| In which bacteria use energy stored in inorganic molecules to produce carbohydrates |
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Term
| Gross Primary Productivity |
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Definition
| The rate at which producers in an ecosystem capture the energy of sunlight by producing organic compounds |
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Term
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Definition
| What ecologists refer to the organic material that has been produced in an ecosystem |
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Term
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Definition
| Ecologists often measure the rate at which biomass accumulates |
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Definition
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| Consumers that feed on the "garbage" of the ecosystem |
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Term
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Definition
| Bacteria and fungi are detritivores that cause decay by breaking down complex molecules into simpler molecules |
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Term
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Definition
| Indicates the organism's position in a sequence of energy transfers |
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Term
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Definition
| A single pathway of feeding relationships among organisms in an ecosystem that results in energy transfer |
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Term
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Definition
| The interrelated food chains in an ecosystem |
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Term
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Definition
| Substances such as water, carbon, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus each pass between the living and nonliving worlds |
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Term
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Definition
| Water in the soil or in underground formations of porous rock |
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Term
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Definition
| The movement of water between these various reservoirs |
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Term
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Definition
| The process by which water evaporates from the leaves of plants in terrestrial ecosystems |
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Term
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Definition
| Photosynthesis and cellular respiration form the basis of the short term |
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Term
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Definition
| The complex pathway that nitrogen follows in an ecosystem |
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Term
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Definition
| The procces of converting N2 gas to nitrate |
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Term
| Nitrogen- Fixing bacteria |
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Definition
| To transform nitrogen gas into a usable form |
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Term
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Definition
| Decomposers break down these materials and release the nitorgen they contain as |
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Term
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Definition
| Soil bacteria take up ammonium and oxidize it into nitrites, NO2, and nitrates, NO3 |
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Term
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Definition
| Nitrogen is returned to the atmosphere |
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Term
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Definition
| THe movement of phosphorus from the environment to organisms and then back to the environment |
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