53 Ecosystems and Global Ecology

Ecosystem

A community of interacting species and their abiotic environment, linked by the flow of energy and nutrients.

Biosphere

The thin layer of soil, water, and atmosphere surrounding Earth where all life exists.

Provisioning services

Ecosystem services that provide resources such as food, water, and raw materials.

Regulating services

Ecosystem services that moderate natural phenomena, such as climate regulation and flood control.

Cultural services

Ecosystem services that provide non-material benefits, such as recreational, aesthetic, and spiritual enrichment.

Gross primary productivity (GPP)

The total amount of chemical energy produced in a given area and time period by primary producers.

Net primary productivity (NPP)

The amount of chemical energy that is stored in organic material, available to other organisms in the ecosystem.

Trophic levels

Hierarchical levels in an ecosystem, comprising primary producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, and so on.

Food chain

A simplified model that focuses on a single pathway of energy flow through various trophic levels.

Food web

A complex network of feeding interactions among organisms in an ecosystem.

Biogeochemical cycle

The path an element takes as it moves through the biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems.

Nitrogen fixation

The process by which nitrogen gas (N2) is converted into ammonia (NH4+) or other usable forms for organisms.

Eutrophication

A process where nutrient runoff into water bodies causes excessive growth of algae, leading to oxygen depletion.

Biomagnification

The increase in concentration of pollutants in the tissues of organisms at successively higher levels in a food chain.

Greenhouse effect

The warming of Earth's atmosphere caused by greenhouse gases trapping heat.

Climate change

Long-term alterations in temperature, precipitation, and other atmospheric conditions due to human activities.

Decomposers

Organisms that obtain energy by breaking down dead organisms and waste products.

Cellular respiration

The process in which cells convert the chemical energy stored in sugars into usable energy (ATP).

Anthromes

Human-altered biomes that have been shaped by human actions and interventions.

Secondary productivity

The generation of biomass by heterotrophic organisms (consumers) through the consumption of organic matter.

Thermodynamics

The branch of physics that deals with the relationships between heat and other forms of energy.

Sustainable future

A future in which human activities are conducted in a way that does not deplete Earth's resources or harm ecological systems.