Environmental Science - Chapter 3

troposphere

innermost layer of atmosphere

stratosphere

atmospheric layer above the troposphere

geosphere

contains the earth's rocks, minerals, and soil

greenhouse effect

the process of warming the troposphere

Nutrients

chemicals that organisms need to sur vive

trophic level

the process where ecologists assign each organism in an ecosystem to a feeding level

Producers

organisms, such as green plants, that make the nutrients they need from compounds and energy obtained from their environment

photosynthesis

plants capture solar energy that falls on their leaves and use it to combine carbon dioxide and water to form carbohydrates, such as glucose

biosphere

the regions of the surface and atmosphere of the earth or another planet occupied by living organisms

communities

study of the organization and functioning of communities, which are assemblages of interacting populations of the species living within a particular area or habitat

populations

defined as a group of individuals of the same species living in a fixed area

Decomposers

are consumers that get their nutrients by breaking down (decomposing) the wastes or remains of plants and animals

detritus feeders/detritivores

get their nutrients by feeding on the wastes or dead bodies (detritus) of other organisms.

aerobic respiration

uses oxygen to convert glucose and other organic compounds back into carbon dioxide and water

soil

complex mixture of rock pieces and particles, mineral nutrients, decaying organic matter, water, air, and living organisms that support plant life

food web

organisms in most ecosystems form a complex network of interconnected food chains

Gross primary productivity

rate at which an ecosystem's producers (such as plants and phytoplankton) convert solar energy into chemical energy, which they store as compounds in their bodies.

Net primary productivity

rate at which producers use photosynthesis to produce and store chemical energy minus the rate at which they use some of this stored chemical energy through aerobic respiration

surface runoff

precipitation falling on terrestrial ecosystems

nitrogen cycle

The transfer of nitrogen from the atmosphere to the soil, to living organisms, and back to the atmosphere

phosphorus cycle

The movement of phosphorus atoms from rocks through the biosphere and hydrosphere and back to rocks.