L22 Ecosystem Ecology

Flashcards covering key vocabulary related to ecosystem ecology, including terms related to nutrient and energy flow, trophic levels, and ecological interactions.

Ecosystem

A community of living organisms interacting with their physical environment.

Biogeochemical cycles

Cycles that describe the movement of nutrients between biotic and abiotic components in an ecosystem.

Trophic levels

Levels in an ecosystem that display the hierarchy of energy flow through different organisms based on their feeding relationships.

Photosynthesis

The process by which plants and other photosynthetic organisms convert light energy into chemical energy.

Primary productivity

The rate at which primary producers synthesize new organic matter.

Net Primary Productivity (NPP)

The energy available to the next trophic level after accounting for the energy used by primary producers for their own metabolism.

Nitrogen fixation

The process by which nitrogen gas is converted into ammonia, making it accessible to plants.

Decomposition

The breakdown of dead organic matter, which releases nutrients back into the ecosystem.

Limiting nutrient

A nutrient that is in short supply relative to the needs for it by the plants and algae.

Trophic cascade

A phenomenon where changes at the top of the food chain affect multiple lower levels in the ecosystem.

Aquifer

A permeable underground layer of rock that holds groundwater.

Carbon fixation

The process by which carbon dioxide is converted into organic compounds by photosynthetic organisms.

Transpiration

The process by which water vapor is released from plant surfaces into the atmosphere.

Energy flow

The transfer of energy through an ecosystem from one trophic level to another.

Secondary productivity

The productivity of heterotrophs in an ecosystem.