Ecosystems and Environmental Physics Review

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering ecosystems, habitats, adaptations, environmental science, and fundamental physics concepts including force, motion, and pressure.

Ecosystem

An area where organisms interact with one another as well as with the nonliving parts of the environment.

Organism

Any single individual living thing, such as one camel, one oak tree, or one frog.

Species

A group of similar organisms that can mate together to produce healthy, fertile offspring.

Population

All the individuals of the same species living in one area at the same time.

Community

All the different living populations sharing the same habitat.

Habitat

The natural home or address where an organism lives and finds food, water, and shelter.

Niche

The special job or role an organism performs in its home, including what it eats and when it sleeps.

Biome

A giant regional ecosystem characterized by its own special climate, plants, and animals.

Abiotic factors

The physical and chemical non-living parts of the surroundings, such as sunlight, temperature, water, and soil type.

Biotic factors

All the living organisms in an environment and how they affect one another through activities like hunting, competition, and pollination.

Producers

Green plants and algae that capture sunlight to make their own food through photosynthesis.

Decomposers

Microorganisms like bacteria and fungi that break down dead bodies and waste, returning minerals to the soil.

10% Energy Rule

The principle that only about $10\%$ of energy is stored in an organism's body after eating, while $90\%$ is lost as heat, movement, and undigested waste.

Pneumatophores

Snorkel roots that grow straight up out of oxygen-free mud into the air to take in oxygen for mangrove trees.

Vivipary

A reproductive strategy where seeds sprout and grow into baby plants while still hanging on the parent tree.

Permafrost

Ground in polar regions that remains frozen rock-hard year-round underneath the surface soil.

Albedo Effect

The measurement of how much sunlight a surface bounces back; white ice has high reflectivity while dark water absorbs most heat.

Invasive Species

An introduced species that escapes into the wild, multiplies rapidly, and harms local wildlife and plants.

Bioaccumulation

The slow build-up of a poison inside the body of a single animal over its lifetime because the intake rate exceeds the excretion rate.

Biomagnification

The increase in toxin concentration at each higher step of a food chain as predators eat many contaminated prey.

Atmospheric Pressure

The pressure exerted by the mass of air in the atmosphere as it is attracted by Earth's gravity.

Pascal (Pa)

The SI unit for pressure, representing force per unit area.

Force

Any push or pull that could cause a change in motion, measured in Newtons ($N$).

Balanced Forces

Forces that are equal in size and opposite in direction, resulting in a net force of $0\,N$ and no change in motion.

Unbalanced Forces

Forces that produce a net force that is not $0\,N$, causing a change in the object's motion.

Speed

A scalar quantity defined as the distance traveled per unit of time, calculated as $s = \frac{d}{t}$.

Velocity

A vector quantity that refers to the speed of an object along with its specific direction of movement.

Acceleration

A vector quantity defined as the rate at which an object changes its velocity, which can include slowing down or changing direction.

Terminal Velocity

The steady speed reached by a falling object when the upward drag force equals the downward weight.

Moment

The turning effect of a force, defined as $\text{force} \times \text{perpendicular distance from the pivot}$, measured in $Nm$.

Archimedes Principle

The principle stating that the upward buoyant force on an object is equal to the weight of the fluid that the object displaces.

Diffusion

The movement of molecules from a region of high concentration to a region of lower concentration until they are spread out evenly.

Osmosis

The movement of a solvent (usually water) across a semipermeable membrane from high to low solvent concentration.