Envi Sci Chapter 3 Vocab

Ecosystem

System of abiotic and biotic factors that exchange energy and resources

Autotroph

An organism that creates it’s own through bodily processes

Photosynthesis

Light, Carbon Dioxide and Water are processed in order to create Glucose Oxygen and heat

Cellular Respiration

Organisms convert Glucose and Oxygen into Carbon Dioxide, Water and energy

Heterotroph

Organisms that consume other organisms for energy and nutrients

Primary Consumer

First trophic level after producers that consume producers

Secondary Consumer

Consumes primary consumers

Tertiary Consumer

Consumes secondary consumers

Trophic Level

Level on the food web/pyramid of which organisms consume each other

Scavengers

Organisms that eat at any trophic level based on convenience

Detrivore

Organisms that consume recently deceased carcasses

Decomposers

Organisms that break down carcasses and return their nutrients to abiotic components

GPP (Net Primary Productivity)

Total amount of energy created through photosynthesis

NPP (Net Primary Productivity)

The amount of energy gained minus the loss of respiration

Biomass

Mass in terms of organisms

Standing Crop

Total biomass in a given environment

Ecological Efficiency

Energy that is passed through each trophic level

Biosphere

All living organisms on earth

Biogeochemical Cycles

Cycles that pass nutrients throughout the earth and living things

Hydrologic Cycle

Evaporation - Condensation - Precipitation - Infiltration/Runoff

Condensation

Water Vapor turns into clouds

Precipitation

Water falls from clouds back to Earth

Transpiration

Water moves through a plant

Evapotranspiration

Sum of all processes which move water through the hydrologic cycle

Runoff

Water that persists as a liquids going downhill

Carbon Cycle

Air - Organism - Underground - Combustion

Macronutrients

Multi molecule compounds required by organisms

Limiting Factor

Factor in an ecosystem that limits the amount of biomass it can support

Nitrogen Cycle

Gas State - Nitrogen Fixation - Ammonification - Assimilation - Nitrification - Denitrification

Nitrogen Fixation

Bacteria fixate Nitrogen into Ammonia

Ammonification

Bacteria turn Ammonia into Ammonium

Assimilation

Plants absorb ammonium or nitrates through their roots to be turned into macronutrients

Denitrification

Bacteria turn nitrate into nitrogen gas

Nitrification

Bacteria turn ammonia into nitrate

Leaching

Water dissolves substances on its coast

Disturbance

An event or thing that disrupts the balance of systems in an ecosystem

Watershed

Where water drains into a body of water

Resistance

Ecosystem’s ability to prevent damage

Resilience

Ecosystem’s ability to recover

Restoration Ecology

Discipline of ecology that specializes in restoring ecosystems

Instrumental Value

Material value to humans from an ecosystem (economic)

Intrinsic Value

Value that is unquantifiable

Provisions

Goods and Services that an ecosystem provides

Biomass Pyramid

Pyramid that displays where biomass is held at each trophic level

Energy Pyramid

Pyramid that displays where energy is concentrated at each level

Numbers Pyramid

Number of individuals at each trophic level

Chemosynthesis

Turning carbon abiotic molecules into organic material