GEOG 1 - Quiz 5 vocab cont.

esker

a typical landform that is composed of glacial outwash but located on a till plain

sinuously curving, narrow ridge of coarse sand and gravel

kame

another landform composed of glaciofluvial deposition

small hill/knob/mound of sorted sand and gravel that is deposited by water on the surface of a glacier

ecosystem

self-sustaining association of living plants and animals and their nonliving physical environment

ecology

study of the relationship between organisms and their environment among the various ecosystems of the biosphere

biogeography

study of the distribution of plants and animals, the diverse spatial patterns they create, and the physical and biological processes, past and present, that produce Earth’s species richness

photosynthesis

solar energy enters the ecosystem

producers

organisms that are capable of using the sun’s energy directly to produce their own food

vascular plants

land plants with conductive tissues and true roots for internal transport of fluid and nutrients

stomata

small pores gas move into and out through a leaf

numerous on the lower side of the leaf

chlorophyll

green, light sensitive pigment

cellular respiration

reverse of the photosynthesis process

plants oxidize carbs

release CO2, water, and energy as heat

net primary productivity

net photosynthesis for an entire ecosystem

amount of food stored in chemical energy that the ecosystems generate

biomass

total organic matter in an ecosystem with its associated chemical energy

consumers

organisms that feed on organic matter for energy

food chain

from the producers which manufacture their own food, energy flows through the system along an idealized unidirectional pathway

food web

complex network of interconnected food chains with multidirectional directions

herbivore

primary consumer

plant eater

carnivore

secondary consumer

mainly eats herbivores (primary consumers)

omnivore

feeds on both producers and consumers

detritivores

organisms that feed on detritus (dead organic debris) produced by living organisms

decomposers

primarily fungi and bacteria that digest organic debris outside their bodies and absorb and release nutrients in the process

communities

made up of interacting populations of living plants and animals in a particular place

habitat

the environment in which an organism resides or is biologically adapted to live

ecological niche

function or occupation of a life form with a given community

life zone

possesses its own temperature and precipitation regime and therefore its own biotic communities

limiting factor

physical, chemical, or biological characteristics of the environment that determine species distributions and population size