Introduction to Key Concepts

These flashcards cover essential vocabulary related to environmental biology concepts introduced in the lecture.

Photosynthesis

The process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods with the help of chlorophyll.

Chlorophyll

A green pigment found in plants that is essential for photosynthesis.

Respiration

The biochemical process in which cells convert glucose and oxygen into energy, carbon dioxide, and water.

Cellular Respiration

A process that takes place in all living cells, where glucose is broken down to produce energy.

Aerobic Respiration

A form of respiration that requires oxygen to produce energy from glucose.

Anaerobic Respiration

A form of respiration that occurs without oxygen; it produces less energy compared to aerobic respiration.

Ecosystem

A community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.

Biodiversity

The variety of life in the world or a particular habitat or ecosystem.

Food Chain

A linear sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy pass as one organism eats another.

Producers

Organisms, typically plants, that produce their own food through photosynthesis.

Consumers

Organisms that cannot produce their own food and rely on consuming other organisms.

Decomposers

Organisms, like fungi and bacteria, that break down dead organic material, returning nutrients to the soil.