Chapter 1-3 Vocab Review APES

Biosphere

The combination of all ecosystems on Earth.

Producer

Plants, algae, and some bacteria that use the sun’s energy to produce usable forms of energy

Autotroph

Organism that makes its own food using light, water, carbon dioxide, or other chemicals

photosynthesis

Process by green plants, algae, and bacteria convert light into chemical energy to make their own food.

Cellular respiration

Metabolic process cells use to convert the chemical energy from food (like glucose) into usable energy called ATP.

Also, releasing waste products like carbon dioxide and water.

Aerobic Respiration

the process cells use to turn food into energy using oxygen

Anaerobic Respiration

the process cells use to turn food into energy WITHOUT using oxygen.

Consumer

Something that eats (consumes) other living things.

Heterotroph

an organism that cannot make its own food

herbivore

organism that gains its energy solely from plants and algae

Primary consumer

Consumer that eats producers

Carnivore

Organisms that solely eat meat

Secondary Consumer

Consume the primary consumer

Tertiary Consumers

Consume the Secondary consumers.

Trophic Levels

Specific position an organism occupies in a food chain or food web.

Food chain

Linear sequence that shows exactly who consumes whom in an ecosystem

Food Web

complex network of interconnected food chains in an ecosystem.

Scavenger

animal that eats dead organisms that it did not hunt or kill itself.

Detritivore

An organism that feeds on detritus, a dead organic matter, debris, and animal waste (feces).

decomposers

organisms that break down dead organic material and waste at a microscopic chemical level.

Gross Primary Productivity (GPP)

Total rate photosynthetic organisms convert energy

Net primary Productivity (NPP)

the amount of solar energy that plants capture and store as biomass (minus the energy they use to stay alive)

Biomass

total weight/mass of living biological organisms

standing crop

total amount of biomass present in an ecosystem

ecological efficiency

percentage of energy that is successfully transferred from one trophic level to the next.

Trophic Pyramid

Graphical model that shows energy, biomass, or numbers of organisms are distributed across the different levels of a food chain.

Biogeochemical cycle

pathway that a chemical element or molecule takes as it moves through both the living and non living earth.

Hydrologic Cycle

The continuous movement of water as it evaporates from earths surface, rises into air, cools/condenses into clouds, and back down onto the ground

transpiration

process where water travels through a plant from its roots and evaporates into the air as water vapor

evapotranspiration

combined process of water moving from the surface into the atmosphere through soil and water evaporation and plant transpiration.

Runoff

the part of precipitation that does not soak into the ground or evaporate but flows across the land surface into lakes, rivers, and oceans

Carbon cycle

The continuous movement of carbon atoms between the earth’s atmosphere, oceans, soil, rocks, and living things.

Macronutrient

Nutrients the body needs large amounts of to produce energy (protein, Carbohydrates)

limiting nutrient

A nutrient the plant or ecosystem NEEDS to grow but is in short supply.

nitrogen cycle

A biochemical process that circulates nitrogen throughout the atmosphere

nitrogen fixation

a chemical process that converts inert atmospheric nitrogen gas into usable compounds like ammonia or nitrates

nitrification

Bacteria converts ammonia into nitrates

assimilation

Process where plants and animals absorb nitrogen compounds and build them in their bodies

mineralization

Recycling step of nitrogen cycle.

Decomposers break down dead matter which puts organic nitrogen back into the soil

Ammonification

Recycling step of nitrogen cycle.

Decomposers break down dead matter which puts organic nitrogen back into the soil (Same as mineralization)

denitrification

Turns soil nitrates back into nitrogen gas and released in the atmosphere

Last step in nitrogen cycle

leaching

a natural process where water dissolves soluble nutrients (like nitrates) from the soil and washes them down deep into the ground, far out of reach from plant roots.

phosphorus Cycle

Biographical process where phosphorus travels through the lithosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere.

NONE of this process includes air/gas (atmosphere)

Algal bloom

Rapid increase in algae population in a lake, ocean, or river.

hypoxic

Having an extremely low level of oxygen (hard for plants to grow in these conditions)

dead zone

a large area in an ocean or lake where the water has so little oxygen that most marine life cannot survive, causing animals to flee or suffocate

sulfur cycle

the biogeochemical process by which sulfur moves through the air, rocks, water, and living organisms.

disturbance

Temporary change in the environmental conditions that causes a pronounced change in the ecosystem.

resilience

The ability of an ecosystem to recover and bounce back after a major disturbance

restoration ecology

the scientific study and practice of repairing ecosystems that have been damaged, degraded, or completely destroyed by human activities or severe natural disasters.

watershed

an area of land where all the water that falls on it—such as rain or melted snow—drains, trickles, and flows into a single, common water body

Intermediate disturbance hypothesis

explains how a moderate amount of environmental chaos actually creates the highest amount of biodiversity

Resistance

the ability of an ecosystem to remain stable and completely unchanged when a major disturbance

Fracking

industrial method of extracting oil and natural gas from underground rock formations

environment

collection of all living things and non-living things that surround an organism or place

ecosystem

community where living organisms interact with each other and their non-living environment

environmental indicatior

measurable value or characteristic that provides simple/ actionable information about the health, condition, or trends of an ecosystem.

biodiversity

Variety of all living life forms on earth/genes/ecosystems they build.

Genetic diversity

the total number of genetic characteristics within the genetic makeup of a species

speciation

evolutionary process by which new, distinct biological species emerge from existing populations.

Background extinction rate

baseline pace at which species naturally go extinct because of competition, environmental forces, or normal evolution.

Anthropogenic

any change, effect, or object that is caused, created, or influenced by human activity

biophilia

genetic tendency of humans to seek connections with nature and other life forms.

Precision

consistency

Null hypothesis

default statement or assumption that there is no significant effect, relationship, or difference between the variables being tested.

Littoral zone

light reaches bottom — highly productive/ a lot of photosynthesis

limmetic Zone

Possible photosynthesis — open water with light, phytoplankton — SOME productivity

Profundal Zone

open water — NO light — NO productivity

Benthic Zone

Bottom - nutrient rich — NO light

intertidal zone

High/Low tide — Organisms where the sea starts

Photic Zone

Open water — WITH light and photosynthesis

Aphotic Zone

Open water — NO light, NO productivity