Term
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Definition
| all organisms in a given area as well as abiotic factors with which they interact; a community and its physical environment |
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Term
| 1st law of thermodynamics |
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Definition
| energy can be transferred and transformed, but it cannot be created or destroyed |
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| 2nd law of thermodynamics |
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Definition
| every energy transfer or transformation increases the entropy of the universe |
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Term
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Definition
| The initial start of the food chain, fed upon by primary consumers |
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Term
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Definition
| Feed off of the producers in the food chain. They are fed upon by secondary consumers. |
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Term
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Definition
| Feed off of the primary consumers. They are eaten by the tertiary consumers in the food chain |
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Term
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Definition
| Top of the food chain. Feed on the secondary consumers |
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Term
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Definition
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Definition
| a consumer that derives its energy from nonliving organic material ; decomposer |
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Term
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Definition
| autotroph, usually a photosynthetic organism. Collectively make up trophic level of ecosystem that supports all other levels |
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Term
Gross Primary Production
(GPP) |
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Definition
| Total primary production of an ecosystem |
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Term
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Definition
| Element that must be added for production to increase in a particular area |
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Term
Net Primary Production
(NPP) |
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Definition
| GPP of an ecosystem the energy used by the producers for respiration |
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Term
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Definition
| A process by which nutrients, particularly phosphorus and nitrogen, become highly concentrated in a body of water, leading to increased growth of organisms such as algae. Cultural Eutrophication refers to situations where the nutrients added to the water body originate mainly from human sources,. such as agricultural drainage or sewage. |
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Term
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Definition
| The amount of chemical energy in consumers' food that is converted to their own new biomass during a given time period. |
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Definition
| The fraction of energy stored in food that is not used for respiration. |
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Term
| The Green world hypothesis proposes the following factors keep herbivores in check: |
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Definition
a. Plants have defenses against herbivores
b. Nutrients, not energy supply, usually limit herbivores
c. Abiotic factors limit herbivores
d.Intraspecific competition can limit herbivore numbers
e. Interspecific interactions keep herbivore densities in check |
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Term
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Definition
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Definition
| the transfer of energy through trophic levels, the trophic level is the same as the food chain |
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Term
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Definition
| a diagrammatic representation of the amount of organic material, measured in grams of dry mass per square meter |
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Term
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Definition
| a graphical representation of the numbers of individuals in each population in a food chain |
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Term
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Definition
| the flow of chemical element and compounds between living organisms and physical environment |
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Definition
| the journey water takes as it circulates from land to the sky and back again |
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Term
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Definition
| the circulation of carbon atoms in the biosphere as a result of photosynthetic conversion of carbon dioxide into complex organic compounds by plants, which are consumed by other organisms |
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Term
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Definition
| nitrates from the soil are absorbed by plants which are eaten by animals that die and decay returning the nitrogen back to the soil |
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Term
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Definition
| assilmilation of atmospheric nitrogen by certain prokaryotes into nitrogenous cpds. that can be directly used by plants |
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Term
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Definition
| the incorporation of carbon into organic cpds. by an autotrophic organism |
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Term
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Definition
| oxidizing oxygen and ammonia into nitrates, which is often done by bacteria |
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Term
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Definition
| Under anaerobic conditions, bacteria use NO3- in their metabolism instead of oxygen, releasing nitrogen |
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Term
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Definition
| Descrives the movement of phosphorus through the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biodsphere |
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Term
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Definition
| Chemical element added to soil after weathering of rocks, taken up by producers, and distributed through the food web |
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Term
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Definition
| The conjecture that terrestrial herbivores consume relatively little plant biomass because they are held in check by a variety of facors, inlcuding predators, parasites, and disease |
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Term
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Definition
| the amount of added nitrogen that cdan be absorbed by plants without damaging ecosystem integrity |
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Term
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Definition
| when sewage and factory wastes, runoff of animal waste from pastures and stockyards, and the leaching of fertilizer from agricultural, recreational, and urban areas overload streams, rivers, and lakes with inorganic nutrients |
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Term
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Definition
| A trophic process in which retained substances become more concetrated with each link in the food chain |
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Term
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Definition
| The warming of planet Earth due to atmospheric accumulation of carbon dioxide |
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