Interdependence within Environmental Systems

These flashcards cover key concepts regarding interdependence within environmental systems, including energy flows, ecological relationships, and cycles within ecosystems.

Producer

An organism that makes its own food.

Consumer

An organism that gets energy from other organisms.

Herbivore

A consumer that gets its food from plants.

Carnivore

A consumer that gets its food from animals.

Omnivore

A consumer that gets food from both plants and animals.

Decomposer

An organism that gets food from breaking down dead organisms or waste.

Food Chain

A visual representation of an ecosystem that tracks the flow of energy starting with the sun.

Food Web

A network of overlapping food chains in an ecosystem.

Ecological Succession

A gradual change in an ecosystem that ultimately leads to a more complex system of organisms with higher biodiversity.

Primary Succession

Builds a new ecosystem upon bare rock like that after a glacier or volcano.

Secondary Succession

Rebuilds an ecosystem after a disruption of a community like a forest fire or tornado.

Pioneer Species

The first simple organisms that inhabit an ecosystem during primary or secondary succession.

Energy Loss

Only 10% of the available energy is passed from one trophic level to the next, losing 90%.

Mutualism

A relationship where two organisms benefit from the interaction.

Predation

One organism (the predator) captures and feeds on another organism (the prey).

Competition

Two organisms that occupy the same niche or need the same resources.

Parasitism

One organism benefits while another (the host) is harmed.

Commensalism

One organism benefits while the other is neither helped nor harmed.

Ecosystem

The combination of all biotic (living) and abiotic (nonliving) things in an area and their interactions.

Population

The group of organisms of the same species in an area.

Adaptation

A trait that enables an organism to survive in its environment.

Extinct Species

Species that are no longer present on earth due to failure to adapt.

Endangered Species

A species that faces an increased threat to its existence.

Exponential Growth

A J-shaped curve depicting rapid growth.

Logistic Growth

An S-shaped curve that shows growth until it hits carrying capacity.

Limiting Factors

Elements in an environment that restrict population growth.

Carrying Capacity

The total number of organisms that an environment can sustainably support.

Nitrogen Cycle

The process where bacteria convert N2 from dead matter into a form (nitrate) usable by plants.

Water Cycle

The continuous movement of water through evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and transpiration.

Carbon Cycle

The movement of carbon through the environment involving photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition, and volcanic eruptions.