Ecology, Biomes, Ecosystems, and Biodiversity

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards generated from lecture notes covering ecosystem roles, energy flow, biogeochemical cycles, terrestrial biomes, aquatic ecosystems, and human impacts on biodiversity.

Producer

An organism that uses photosynthesis to make food and oxygen using sunlight.

Consumer

An organism that gets food by feeding on other organisms.

Herbivore

A consumer that eats only plants.

Carnivore

A consumer that eats only animals.

Omnivore

A consumer that eats both plants and animals.

Scavenger

A consumer that feeds on dead organisms.

Decomposer

An organism that breaks down biotic waste and dead organisms, returning raw materials to the ecosystem.

Energy Flow

The movement of energy through an ecosystem when one organism eats another.

Food Chain

A single, straight series of events in which one organism eats another to obtain energy.

Food Web

A combination of many overlapping food chains that provides a more realistic view of energy flow in an ecosystem.

Energy Pyramid

A diagram that shows how energy moves from one organism to another in a food web.

10% Rule

The rule stating that only $10\%$ of energy is transferred to the next level in an energy pyramid.

Evaporation

The process where liquid water absorbs heat energy from the sun and changes into a gas (water vapor).

Condensation

The process where water vapor cools as it rises and changes back into liquid droplets, forming clouds.

Precipitation

Water drops in clouds that grow heavy and fall to Earth as rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

Respiration

The process in which producers and consumers break down food for energy, releasing carbon dioxide gas back into the air.

Free Nitrogen

Nitrogen gas that makes up $78\%$ of the air, which living things cannot use directly.

Nitrogen Fixation

The process where bacteria on plant roots change free nitrogen into a usable form for plants.

Biome

A group of ecosystems with similar climates or organisms.

Climate

Yearly temperature and rain conditions that decide what plants grow, which in turn decide what animals live there.

Desert

A biome receiving less than $25\,\text{cm}$ of rain per year that undergoes large daily temperature shifts or year-round freezing temperatures.

Temperate Rain Forest

A biome with moderate temperatures that receives over $300\,\text{cm}$ of rain per year, supporting huge trees like redwoods.

Tropical Rain Forest

A biome located near the equator that is warm and humid year-round, home to more plant and animal species than all other biomes combined.

Grassland

A biome populated mostly by grasses and nonwoody plants that receives $25\text{ to }75\,\text{cm}$ of rain per year.

Savanna

Grasslands located closer to the equator receiving up to $120\,\text{cm}$ of rain per year and supporting large grazing herbivores.

Deciduous Forest

A biome containing trees that shed their leaves each year, receiving at least $50\,\text{cm}$ of rain per year with a $5\text{ to }6$ month growing season.

Boreal Forest (Taiga)

Dense northern forests filled with coniferous trees that have waxy needles to prevent water loss.

Tundra

An extremely cold and dry biome receiving no more precipitation than a desert, characterized by permafrost.

Permafrost

Soil in the tundra that remains frozen all year long.

Phytoplankton

Floating algae in water ecosystems that perform photosynthesis and produce half of all oxygen on Earth.

Estuary

An aquatic environment where freshwater from a river meets the saltwater of an ocean, functioning as a breeding ground and nursery for crab and fish.

Intertidal Zone

The shoreline area between the highest high-tide line and lowest low-tide line.

Neritic Zone

Shallow water region below the low-tide line extending over the continental shelf.

Surface Zone (Open Ocean)

The top layer of open ocean going from the surface down to $200\,\text{m}$, where sunlight allows floating phytoplankton to perform photosynthesis.

Deep Zone (Open Ocean)

The ocean layer extending below $200\,\text{m}$ to the ocean floor in complete darkness.

Biodiversity

The number of different species (types of living things) in an area.

Keystone Species

A super important species that helps many other species survive in an ecosystem.

Extinction

The event when every single member of a species dies out completely.

Endangered Species

A species in danger of disappearing very soon.

Threatened Species

A species that could be endangered in the near future.

Habitat Destruction & Fragmentation

The destroying or breaking up of living spaces, which is the number one cause of extinction.

Poaching

The illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals and plants.

Exotic Species

Non-native plants or animals brought into an ecosystem where they take over.

Captive Breeding

Raising young animals in zoos or preserves and releasing them back into nature.

Habitat Preservation

Protecting entire natural areas like parks and refuges to save species.