AP Environmental Science Chapter 3 Vocabulary

Biomass

The total mass/weight of all the living organisms in a given population/area

Conservation of Matter

In any chemical reaction, matter changes form; it's neither created nor destroyed

Carbon sinks

Places of carbon accumulation, such as in large forests (organic compounds) or ocean sediments (calcium carbonate); carbon is thus removed from the carbon cycle for moderately long to very long periods of time

Cells

Minute biological compartments within which the processes of life are carried out

Carnivores

Organisms that prey mainly upon animals

Chemical energy

Potential energy stored in chemical bonds of molecules

Compound

A molecule made up of two or more kinds of atoms held together by chemical bonds

Cellular respiration

The process in which a cell breaks down sugar or other organic compounds to release energy used for cellular work; may be anaerobic/aerobic, depending on the availability of oxygen

Consumers

Organisms that obtain energy and nutrients by feeding on other organisms or their remains

Decomposers

Fungi and bacteria that down complex organic material into smaller molecules

Detrivores

Organisms that organic litter, debris, and dung

Ecology

The scientific study of relationships between organisms and their environment. It is concerned with the life histories, distribution, and behavior of individual species as well as the structure and function of natural systems at the level of populations, communities, and ecosystems.

Ecosystems

A specific biological community and its physical environment interacting in an exchange of matter and energy

Energy

The capacity to do work (to change the physical state or motion of an object)

Enzymes

Molecules, usually proteins or nucleic acids, that act as catalysts in biochemical reactions

First law of thermodynamics

energy can not be created nor destroyed, only converted

Food chain

A linked feeding series, in an ecosystem, the sequence of organisms through which energy and materials are transferred, in the form of food, from one trophic level to another

Food web

A complex, interlocking series of individual food chains in an ecosystem

Heat

A form of energy transferred from one body to another because of a difference in temperatures

Herbivores

Organisms that only eat plants

Ions

Electrically charged atoms that have gained/lost electrons

Isotopes

Forms of a single element that differ in atomic mass due to having a different number of neutrons in the nucleus

Kinetic energy

Energy contained in moving objects, such as a rock rolling down a hill, the wind blowing through the trees, or water flowing over a dam

Matter

Anything that takes up space and has mass

Metabolism

All the energy and matter exchanges that occur within a cell or organism; collectively, the life processes

Molecules

Combinations of two or more atoms

Omnivores

Organisms that eat plants and animals

Photosynthesis

The biochemical process by which green plants and some bacteria capture light energy and use it to produce chemical bonds.. Carbon oxide and water are consumed while oxygen and simple sugars are produced

Population

A group of individuals of the same species occupying a given area

Producers

Organisms that synthesizes food molecules from inorganic compounds by using an external source; most producers are photosynthetic

Productivity

Synthesis of new organic material; synthesis done by green plants using solar energy is called primary productivity

Scavengers

Organisms that feed on dead bodies of other organisms

Species

Populations of morphologically similar organisms that can reproduce sexually among themselves but that cannot produce fertile offspring when mated with other organisms

Temperature

A measure of the speed of motion of a typical atom or molecule in a substance

Trophic Level

A step in the movement energy through an ecosystem; an organism's feeding status in an ecosystem