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The characteristics that enable organisms to better survive and reproduce |
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What an organism does to survive in the unique conditions of its environment |
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The gradual build-up of synthetic and organic chemicals in living organisms |
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The breaking down of dead organic matter by living organisms such as bacteria |
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The variety of all living species of plants, animals, and micro-organisms on earth |
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The process in which chemicals not only accumulate but become more concentrated at each trophic level in a food pyramid. |
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The total mass of living plants, animals, fungi and bacteria in a given area. |
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the use of organisms usually micro-organisms or plants to break down chemical pollutants in water or soil to reverse or lessen environmental damage |
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The thin layer of air, land and water on or near Earth’s surface in which all living things on Earth exist |
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Living components such as plants, animals, fungi and bacteria |
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The nutrient cycle in which carbon is moved through the biosphere; maintains the balance of CO2 in the atmosphere |
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A body or process that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and stores it |
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A body or process that releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere |
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A combination of carbon and oxygen that is dissolved in ocean water |
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Secondary consumers that eat primary consumers and often other secondary consumers |
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The process in which both plants and animals release carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere by converting carbohydrates and oxygen into carbon dioxide and water |
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The average conditions of that atmosphere in a large region over 30 years or more |
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Changes in long-term weather patterns in certain regions |
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A graph of climate data for a specific region |
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A mature community such as a boreal forest, tropical rainforest, grassland, or desert, that continues to change over time. |
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A system that does not exchange matter with its surroundings |
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A symbiotic relationship in which one species benefits and the other species is neither helped nor harmed. |
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All the populations of the different species that interact in a specific area or ecosystem |
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A harmful interaction between two or more organisms that can occur when organisms compete for the same resource in the same location at the same time |
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An organism that eats other organisms |
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An insecticide and well-known persistent organic pollutant, no banned in many countries |
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| Organisms that break down wastes and dead organisms and change them into usable nutrients available to other organisms |
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| The clearing or logging of forests without replanting |
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| The process in which nitrogen is returned to the atmosphere |
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| Bacteria that convert nitrate (NO3-) back into nitrogen gas (N¬2) |
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| Consumers that feed at every trophic level, obtaining their energy and nutrients by eating dead organic matter. |
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| The order of biotic interactions and relationships in an ecosystem: organism, population, community, ecosystem |
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| Ecological pyramid (food pyramid) |
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| A food pyramid. There are three types of ecological pyramids: biomass, numbers and energy |
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| Changes that take place over time in the types of organisms that live in an area |
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| A part of a biome in which abiotic components interact with biotic components |
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| The flow of energy from an ecosystem to an organism and from one organism to another |
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| The process in which excess nutrients in aquatic ecosystems result in increased plant production an decay |
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| The dying out of a species; no more of that species |
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| A model that shows the flow of energy from plant to animal and animal to animal |
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| Food pyramid(ecological pyramid) |
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| Model that shows the loss of energy from one trophic level to another |
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| Model of the feeding within an ecosystem, formed from interconnected food chains |
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| Increase in global average temperature |
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| Gases in earth`s atmosphere that absorb and trap radiation as thermal energy such as carbon dioxide |
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| The place in which an organism lives such as a nest or a burrow |
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| The division of habitats by human activity (like building highways through owl territory) |
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| The destruction of habitats that usually results tfrom human activities |
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| metallic elements with a igh density that are toxic to organisms at low concentrations |
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| primary consumers that eat plants |
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| an organic compound that contains only the elements hydrogen and carbon |
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| plants, animals, or micro-organisms that are transported intentionally or by accident into regions in which they did not exist previously |
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| introduced organisms that can take ove the habitats of native species or invade their bodies |
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| species such as salmon that can greatly affect poulation numbers and the health of an ecosystem. would greatly hurt the system if removed from it. |
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| the ways in which we use land, such as for urban development, agriculture, industry, mining and forestry |
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| removal by water of substances that have dissolved in moist soil |
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| a symbiotic relationship between two organisms in which both organisms benefit |
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| plants and animals that anturally inhabit an area |
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| the process in which, over time, the best-adapted members of a species will survive and reproruce. this process makes changes in living things possible. |
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| the special role an organism play sin an ecosystem, including teh way in which it contributes to and fits into its environment |
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| the process in which ammonium (NH4+) is converted into nitrate (NO3-) |
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| soil bacteria involved in two stages of nitrification. in the first stage, certain species convert ammonium (NH4+) into nitrite (NO2-); in teh second stage, different species converte nitrite (NO2-) into nitrate (NO3-) |
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| the nutrient cycle in which nitrogen is moved through te biosphere |
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| the process in which nitrogen gass (N2) is converted into compounds that contain nitrate (NO3-) or ammonium (NH4+) |
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| bacgeria that converte nitogen gas (N2) into ammonium (NH4+) during decomposition, playing a significant role in nitrogen fixation |
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| the way nutrients are cycled in the biosphere; the continuous flows (exchange) of nutrients in and out of storage |
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| substances such as the chemicals nitrogen and phosphorus that are required by plants and animals for energy, growth, development, repair, or maintenance; important components of nutrient cycles in the biosphere |
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| consumers that eat both plants and animals |
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| the use or extraction of a resource until it is depleted |
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| a symbiotic relationship in which one species benefits and another is harmed |
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| PCBs (polychlorinated biphyenyls) |
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| synthetic chemicals containing chlorine athat are used int eh manufacture of plastics and other inducstrial products, become stored inthe tissue of animals, and also persist in teh environment |
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| POPs (persistent organic pollutants) |
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| carbon containing compounds that remain in water and soil for many years |
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| a general term fo chemicals that are used to eliminated pests, such as insecticides that kil insects and herbicedes that kill plants |
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| the nutrient cycle in which phosphorus is moved through the biosphere |
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| a process in which carbon dioxie enters the leaves of teh plants and reacts with water in the presence of sunlight to produce carbohydrates and oxygen; photosynthesis also occurs in some micro-organisms. |
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| physical or chemical event that occurs within the body of an organism and enables suvival |
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| organisms such as lichens and other plants that are the first to survive and reproduce in an area; these organisms change the abiotic and biotic conditions of an area so taht other organisms can survive there. like making soil so bigger plants can grow |
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| all the members of a particular species within an ecosystem |
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| predator-prey interactions in which one organism eats all or part of another organism |
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| organisms in teh second trophic level which contain their energy by eating primary produces (grasshoppers eating grass) |
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| organisms in the first trophic level, such as plants and algae. |
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| the development of new life in areas where no organisms or soil previously excisted, such as on bare rock; the first organisms may be lichen spores carried by wind |
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| organisms that produce food in the form of carbohydrates during photosynthesis |
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| an ecological pyramid that shows the number of organisms at each trophic level multiplied by their mass |
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| ecological pyramid that shows the amount of energy available at each trophic level |
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| the ways in which we obtain and use naturally occurring materials such as soil, wood, water, gas, oil, or minerals. |
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| organisms in teh third trophic level such as frogs and crabs, which obtain their energy by erating primary consumers. |
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| the reintroduction of life after a disturbance to an area that already has soil and was once the home of living organisms. |
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| the process in which soil particles and decaying organic matter accumulate in layers on teh ground or at the bottom of large bodies of water, contributing to the formation of sedimentary rock. |
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| the squeezing together of soil particles so that air spaces between them are reduced |
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| damage to soil - for example, as a result of deforestation or the removal of topsoil from bare land by water and wind erosion |
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| a group of closely related organisms that can reproduce with one another |
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| a physical feature of an organism's body having a specific function that contributes to the survival of the organism |
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| the ability of an ecosystem to sustain ecological processes and maintain biodiversity over time; using natural resources ina way that amintains ecosystem health now and for future generations |
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| the interaction between members of two different species that live together in a close association |
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| organisms in the fourth trophic level which obtain their energy by eating secondary consumers (hawks and sea otters) |
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| traditional ecological konwledge |
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| ecological information, passed down from generation to generation, that reflects human experience with nature gained over centuries |
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| steps in a food chain that show feeding and niche relationships among organisms |
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| the process in which rock is broken down into smaller fragments. |
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