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What does the biosphere include?
all life on earth
Ecology is the scientific study of ___ among organisms, populations, and communities.
interactions
Human economies depend on healthy ___ systems.
ecological
What is a population?
a group of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area
What is a community?
all the different populations that live together in an area
What is an ecosystem?
a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.
What is a biotic factor?
any living part of the environment
What is an abiotic factor?
nonliving part of the environment
What does the atmosphere include?
all the gases that surround Earth
What does the hydrosphere include?
all of Earth's water
What does the geosphere include?
features of the earths surface such as continents, rocks, and the sea floor
What are the four spheres of Earth?
hydrosphere, geosphere, biosphere, atmosphere
What are autotrophs?
organisms that produce their own food
What are autotrophs called?
primary producers
What are heterotrophs?
organisms that obtain food by consuming other living things; consumers
What is detritus?
small pieces of dead and decaying plant and animal remains
What process do producers use to produce carbohydrates?
photosynthesis
What process do producers use to produce carbohydrates in the ocean?
chemosynthesis
What is a herbivore?
an organism that only eats plants
What is a carnivore?
an organism that only eats animals
What is an omnivore?
an organism that eats both plants and animals
What is a detritivore?
an organism that feeds off of dead organic material (detritus)
What is a decomposer?
an organism that breaks down and obtains energy from dead organic matter
What is a scavenger?
an organism that eats dead or decaying material
What is a primary producer?
organisms that acquire their energy from sunlight and materials from nonliving sources
What is a primary consumer?
organisms that eat producers (herbivores)
What is a secondary consumer?
an organism that feeds on primary consumers (could be an omnivore)
What is a tertiary consumer?
an organism that feeds on secondary consumers
What are ALL the levels of organization (smallest to largest)?
atom, molecule, macromolecule, cell, tissue, organ, organ system, organism, population, community, ecosystem, biome, biosphere
What are the levels of organization starting from organism (smallest to largest)?
organism, population, community, ecosystem, biome, biosphere
What is a food web?
the feeding relationships between all organisms in an ecosystem
What is a food chain?
a series of events in which one organism eats another and obtains energy.
What are ecological pyramids?
diagrams that show the relationships between trophic levels in an ecosystem
What is a trophic level?
each step in a food chain or food web
What is a pyramid of biomass?
it shows the relative amount of organic matter at each trophic level
What is a pyramid of energy?
it shows the relative amount of energy available at each trophic level
What is a pyramid of numbers?
it shows the relative number of individual organisms at each trophic level
What percentage of energy is available from one trophic level to the next?
10%
Energy that is not used for life processes is released into the environment as...
heat
When might a pyramid of numbers appear "upside down?"
when consumers are smaller in size and mass than the organisms they feed upon (insects feeding on one tree)
Who is the producer in this food chain?
tree --> insect --> bird --> fox
tree
Who is the primary consumer in this food chain?
tree --> insect --> bird --> fox
insect
Who is the secondary consumer in this food chain?
tree --> insect --> bird --> fox
bird
Who is the tertiary consumer in this food chain?
tree --> insect --> bird --> fox
fox
Which is correct?
A. rabbit --> fox
B. rabbit <-- fox
A.
Note 
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