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26 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Ecosystem |
All organisms living in a community as well as all the abiotic factors with which they interact. |
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Dynamics of ecosystem |
The two processes of energy flow and chemical cycling. |
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Trophic levels |
A level of organisms in a food chain. |
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Autotrophs |
Primary producers, usually photosynthetic |
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Heterotrophs |
Trophic levels above the primary producers and depend on autotroph's photosynthetic output. |
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Primary consumers |
Herbivores that eat primary producers. |
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Secondary consumers |
Carnivores that eat herbivores. |
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Tertiary consumers |
Carnivores that eat secondary carnivores. |
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Detritivores |
Decomposers (such as fungi), gets energy from non-living organic material. |
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Primary production |
The amount of light energy converted to chemical energy. |
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Photic Zone |
The upper part of the ocean where lots of light penetrate (coral reefs). |
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Secondary production |
The amount of chemical energy in consumer's that is converted to their own new biomass during a time period. |
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Production efficiency |
The relationship between energy used for growth v.s. the energy used for daily needs. |
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Trophic efficiency |
The percentage of production transferred from one trophic level to the next. |
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Pyramids of production |
The multiplicative loss of energy from a food chain. |
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Biomass pyramids |
The ecological consequence of low trophic efficiencies. |
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Water cycle |
The processes of evaporation, transpiration, condensation, and precipitation. |
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Carbon cycle |
CO2 is taken up and released by photosynthesis and cellular respiration; additionally, volcanoes and burning of fossils fuels add CO2 to the atmosphere. |
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Nitrogen cycle |
Nitrogen is added to the soil through Atmospheric deposition and Nitrogen fixation. |
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Atmospheric deposition |
Usable nitrogen from the atmosphere is added to the soil through rain or dust. |
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Nitrogen fixation |
Certain prokaryotes convert N2 to minerals that can be used to synthesize nitrogenous organic compounds like amino acids. |
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Ammonification |
The product of nitrogen fixation is ammonia, which becomes ammonium, which plants can use. |
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Nitrification |
Certain aerobic bacteria oxide ammonium into nitrate. |
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Denitrification |
Certain bacteria get oxygen from the nitrate and release N2 back into the atmosphere. |
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Phosphorous cycle |
Phosphorus occurs only in phosphate, which plants absorb and use for organic synthesis. |
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Human disruption |
Soil nutrient depletion, adding toxins (fertilizers), atmospheric thickening through burning fossil fuels, and pollution is contaminating the trophic levels. |