Term
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Definition
| the species present in a region, along with abiotic components such as the soil, climate, water, & atmosphere |
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Definition
| the thin zone of life surrounding the earth |
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Term
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Definition
| an organism that can synthesize its own food from inorganic sources |
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Term
| gross primary productivity (GPP) |
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Definition
| the total amount of chemical energy produced in a given area & time period |
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Term
| 2 ways that primary producers use chemical energy |
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Definition
1. cellular respiration
2. growth & reproduction |
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Term
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Definition
| energy that is invested by primary producers in building new tissue or offspring |
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Term
relate: NPP, GPP, and R
(NPP = net primary productivity)
(GPP = gross primary productivity)
(R = energy used in cellular respiration or lost) |
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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
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Term
| primary consumers eat _____ |
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Definition
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Term
| secondary consumers eat ______ |
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Definition
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| tertiary consumers eat _____ |
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Definition
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Term
| decomposers/detrivores obtain energy by _____ |
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Definition
| feeding on the remains of other organisms or waste products |
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Term
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Definition
| dead animals & dead plant tissues |
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Term
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Definition
| organisms that obtained energy from the same type of source |
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Term
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Definition
| focuses on one possible pathway of energy flow among trophic levels in an ecosystem |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| consumer limits a prey population |
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Term
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Definition
| when changes in top-down control cause conspicuous effects two or three links away in a food web |
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Term
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Definition
| the path an element takes as it moves from abiotic systems through producers, consumers, & decomposers & back again |
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Definition
| microscopic decomposers & the carbon-containing compounds that they release; a complex mixture of partially & completely decomposed detritus |
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Term
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Definition
| when detritus becomes completely decayed |
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Term
| 3 types of factors that affect decomposition rate |
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Definition
1. abiotic conditions (oxygen availability, temperature, precipitation)
2. quality of the detritus as a nutrient source for the fungi, bacteria, & archaea that accomplish decomposition
3. abundance & diversity of detrivores present |
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Term
| 3 major mechanisms to replace nutrients |
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Definition
1. ions that act as nutrients are released as rocks weather
2. nutrients can blow in on soil particles or arrive dissolved in streams
3. nitrogen is added when nitrogen-fixing bacteria convert N2 in the atmosphere to useable nitrogen in ammonium or nitrate ions |
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Term
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Definition
| areas drained by a single stream |
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Definition
| water that is found underground |
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Term
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Definition
| layers of porous rock, sand, or gravel that are saturated with water; stores groundwater |
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Definition
| the level where soil is saturated with stored water |
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Term
| 3 major sources of human-fixed nitrogen |
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Definition
1. industrially produced fertilizers
2. cultivation of crops that harbor nitrogen-fixing bacteria
3. burning of fossil fuels |
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Term
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Definition
| documents the movement of carbon among terrestrial ecosystems, the oceans, & the atmosphere |
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Term
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Definition
| the increase in average temperature of the planet |
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Term
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Definition
| the sum of all the changes in local temperature & precipitation patterns that result from global warming |
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Term
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Definition
| the timing of seasonal events |
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