Ecology and Earth's Spheres Lecture Review

This set of 60 vocabulary flashcards covers key ecological terms, Earth's spheres, chemical cycles, and biological relationships as described in the lecture notes.

Abiotic factor

Nonliving, physical, and chemical components of an ecosystem such as the atmosphere.

Atmosphere

The layer of gases surrounding Earth, made up of $78\%$ nitrogen gas, $21\%$ oxygen gas, and <1\% include argon, water vapour, and carbon dioxide.

Biodiversity

The total variety of life on Earth, encompassing all living organisms, their interactions, and the ecosystems they form.

Biomass Pyramid

A graphical representation showing the total dry mass of living or organic matter present at different trophic levels in an ecosystem.

Biosphere

The zone or locations on Earth where life can exist within the atmosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere.

Biotic factor

Living things, their remains after they are dead, and products or wastes associated with their activities.

Carbon cycle

The exchange of carbon occurring primarily between $CO_2$ in the atmosphere or dissolved water and photosynthesizing organisms through photosynthesis and cellular respiration.

Carbon Sinks (Deposits)

Reservoirs such as fossil fuels, plant tissue, and dissolved carbon dioxide in oceans where carbon is stored for varies periods of time.

Carbon dioxide ($CO_2$)

A colorless, odorless inorganic gas formed by one carbon atom covalently bonded to two oxygen atoms.

Carnivore

An animal that eats other animals.

Carrying capacity

The maximum population size of a particular species that a particular ecosystem can functionally sustain.

Cellular respiration

A process in which the products of photosynthesis are converted into ATP, carbon dioxide, and water.

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP)

The usable energy produced during cellular respiration needed for activities carried out by cells.

Commensalism

A relationship where one organism benefits while the other is unaffected.

Community

An interacting group of various species populations sharing a common, specific geographical area and time.

Competition

An interaction between organisms striving for limited resources such as food, water, territory, or mates.

Condensation

The process where water vapour moves through the atmosphere and turns into rain or ice crystals.

Consumer

An organism that feeds on other organisms; categories include herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, scavengers, detritivores, and decomposers.

Decomposer

Organisms that break down organic matter.

Denitrification

A biological process where specialized facultative anaerobic bacteria convert nitrate ($NO_3^-$) back into nitrogen gas ($N_2$).

Ecological niche

The function a species serves in its ecosystem, including its diet, what eats it, and its behavior.

Ecosystem

All the living organisms that share a region and interact with each other and their nonliving environment.

Energy Pyramid

A representation of energy transfer in an ecosystem where only $10\%$ of energy is passed on to the next level.

Evaporation

The process where liquid water turns into water vapour.

Evapotranspiration

The combined process of water falling to land, being absorbed by plants, and then being released back into the atmosphere.

Food chain

A sequence of organisms, each feeding on the next, showing how energy is transferred through an ecosystem.

Food web

A highly complex representation of feeding relationships within a community that better reflects nature than a simple food chain.

Fossil fuels

Natural, combustible hydrocarbon-containing materials including coal, petroleum, and natural gas formed from decomposed marine organisms.

Glucose ($C_6H_{12}O_6$)

A simple monosaccharide sugar and the primary source of energy for living cells produced via photosynthesis.

Herbivore

An animal that eats plants or other producers.

Hydrosphere

All of Earth’s water in solid, liquid, and gas form, including oceans, lakes, ice, groundwater, and clouds.

Infiltration

The process of gradually passing into or permeating a substance or area.

Light energy

A form of electromagnetic radiation that behaves as particles called photons and waves to drive physiological processes.

Limiting factor

Abiotic or biotic factors that place an upper limit on the population size of a particular species.

Lithosphere

Earth’s solid outer layer, ranging from $50-150\,km$ in thickness, containing minerals and making up mountains and ocean floors.

Mutualism

A relationship where both organisms benefit.

Nitrification

A two-step oxidation process where bacteria convert reduced ammonia ($NH_3$) or ammonium ($NH_4^+$) into nitrite ($NO_2^-$) and then into nitrate ($NO_3^-$).

Nitrogen fixation

The process where certain bacteria take nitrogen from the atmosphere and convert it into compounds usable for plants.

Nitrates ($NO_3$)

A nitrogen compound usable by plants that can be produced by bacteria or by lightning during thunderstorms.

Numbers Pyramid

An ecological pyramid that represents the number of individual organisms at each trophic level.

Omnivore

An animal that eats both plants/producers and other animals.

Organism

Any individual living entity exhibiting metabolism, growth, reproduction, and homeostasis.

Oxygen gas ($O_2$)

A colorless, odorless, tasteless diatomic molecule essential for most life on Earth.

Parasitism

A relationship where one organism benefits at the cost of the host.

Percolation

The slow movement of liquid through a porous substance like soil or rock under gravity.

Photosynthesis

The process where light energy is absorbed by chloroplasts and converted into sugar (usable energy).

Producer (Autotroph)

An organism that creates its own energy-rich food using sunlight.

Population

A group of individuals of the same species living in the same geographic area at the same time and interbreeding.

Precipitation

Condensed water that falls back to the Earth from the atmosphere.

Primary Consumer

An organism that feeds directly on producers such as plants, algae, or bacteria.

Scavenger

An animal that eats the remains of another organism.

Secondary consumer

Organisms that obtain energy by feeding on primary consumers.

Surface Runoff

Water that moves across the surface of the earth to enter lakes, rivers, and oceans.

Sustainability

The ability to maintain an ecological balance or equilibrium through natural processes.

Tertiary consumer

A high-level carnivore that feeds on secondary consumers in a food chain.

Tolerance range

The specific minimum and maximum limits of abiotic factors within which a species can survive and reproduce.

Top predator

A carnivore at the highest trophic level with no natural predators of its own.

Transpiration

The release of water from plants back into the atmosphere.

Trophic levels

A term used to describe the feeding level and position an organism has in a food chain.

Gaia Hypothesis

A theory proposed by James Lovelock in the 1960s suggesting Earth behaves like a living organism through sphere interactions.