How Ecosystems Work ( Holt Environmental Science Chapter 5)

Transcription

1 How Ecosystems Work ( Holt Environmental Science Chapter 5) Study online at quizlet.com/_i2rl5 1. AUTOTROPH OR PRODUCER Organism that makes its own food by photosynthesis 2. Biodiversity When an ecosystem has many varieties of plants and animals. 3. Carbon Cycle The organic circulation of carbon from the atmosphere into organisms and back again. 11. CONSUMER OR HETEROTROPH Organisms that obtain energy by feeding on other organisms 12. DECOMPOSER Organism that breaks down wastes and dead organisms (bacteria and fungus) 13. Decomposer 4. Carbon Dioxide A heavy odorless colorless gas formed during respiration and by the decomposition of organic substances. 5. Carbon Sink A forest, ocean, or other natural environment viewed in terms of its ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. 6. CARNIVORE Animal that eats only other animals. 7. Carnivore an organism that gets energy by feeding on dead materials and wastes 14. Decomposition The organic phenomenon of rotting. 15. DETRITIVORE an animal that eats other animals 8. Cellular Respiration 9. Climax Community The metabolic processes whereby certain organisms obtain energy from organic molecules. 16. Ecological Organism that feeds on decomposing plant and animal remains and other dead matter 10. Consumer The last stage of succession when an ecosystem has regained its equilibrium, and is now both stable and balanced. Occurs when an ecosystem becomes unstable; It is a gradual and natural change in an ecosystem over hundreds or thousands of years. 17. ECOSYSTEM Biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment. an organism that gets energy by eating other organisms 18. Ecosystem An ecological community made up of all the living populations in an area along with the nonliving parts of that environment. 19. Energy The ability to do work or produce change.

2 20. ENERGY PYRAMID 21. Energy pyramid A model that illustrates the biomass productivity at multiple trophic levels in a given ecosystem. 27. Food web 22. Flow of Energy 23. FOOD CHAIN 24. Food chain a diagram that shows the amount of energy that flows from producers to consumers. Producer --> Consumer --> Decomposer Series of levels in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten overlapping food chains with different pathways for the flow of food energy in an ecosystems 28. Fossil Fuels A nonrenewable energy resource that forms in the Earth's crust for millions of years. 29. Glucose The sugar that is formed during photosynthesis and is broken down during cellular respiration. 30. HERBIVORE Consumer that eats only plants. 31. Herbivore 25. food chain the path of food energy from one organism to another in an ecosystem an animal that eats only plants or plant products 32. How can populations change naturally in an ecosystem? They can change as the amount of resources change. 26. FOOD WEB the transfer of energy from one organism to another by eating or being eaten Complex arrangement of interrelated food chains illustrating flow of energy between interdependent organisms. 33. How do humans impact the phosphorus cycle?how do humans add excess Phosphorus to the environment? using fertilizer,detergents,livestock farming, human waste; This may lead to algal blooms.

3 34. How does the flow of energy through the food chain happen? 35. How Phosphorus is Cycled? it happens in one direction; Energy is not recycled 39. NINETY PERCENT 36. In an ecosystem, what can be eaten by more than one kind of organism? 37. In nature do consumers only eat one thing to survive? 38. Lichens Animals consume it from plants or animals then deposit it elsewhere as waste. Phosphorus returns to the soil,and eventually becomes rock where it is eroded and plants can uptake it. producers and consumers No, animals eat many different types of plants and animals to survive. Amount of energy that is transferred into the environment by metabolic heat or used by an organism to operate its systems 40. Nutrients a substance that an organism needs in order to survive and grow 41. OMNIVORE Animal that eats both plants and animals 42. Omnivore 43. Pioneer Species an animal that eats both plants and animals A tiny organism that often is both algae and fungi that help to break down the bare rock into soil particles during primary succession. The first organisms to grow in a bare area such as a rock. Examples include mossess and lichens. 44. PREDATOR Animal that hunts other animals for food

4 45. Predator 49. Primary Stages 46. Prey an animal that hunts, catches, and eats another animal 50. Producer Bare rock; Pioneer species (soil); Moss; Grasses; Flowers and shrubs, Climax community (forest). an organism that makes its own food 47. PRIMARY CONSUMER 48. Primary an animal that is hunted, caught, and eaten by another animal Herbivore: organism in the trophic level of an ecosystem that eats plants or algae 51. The role of Fungus and Bacteria in the environment SECONDARY CONSUMER 53. Secondary Decomposers. Member of a trophic level of an ecosystem consisting of carnivores that eat herbivores. Begins in an area without soil; or in an area of newly exposed rock, sand, or lava; or any area that has not been occupied previously by a living community. 54. Secondary Stages Occurs when a stable and balanced ecosystem (climax community) is disturbed. This disturbance could be in the form a forest fire, flood, change in climate, volcanic eruption, or another disaster. Disturbance; grasses; shrubs; trees (climax community).

5 55. TEN PERCENT 62. What does the base of the pyramid show? 56. TERTIARY CONSUMERS 57. TROPHIC LEVEL Amount of energy transferred to each trophic level in an ecosystem Carnivores that eat secondary consumers Position in a food chain or ecological pyramid occupied by a group of organisms with similar feeding mode. 58. Weathering The breaking down of rocks and other materials on the Earth's surface. 59. what are the bacteria that "activate" the nitrogen in the soil called?. 60. What can happen to energy stored by producers? nitrogen fixing bacteria; These are typically found in legumes. 63. What does the food chain always begin with? 64. What happens when the population is too large for the resources available? 65. What happens when the population starts to die? 66. What part of the energy pyramid is the widest? It shows the energy in producers it starts to die energy from sunlight It causes the resources to increase which causes the population to increase again. This is a cycle. It can be transferred along the food chain 61. What causes populations to increase? plentiful resources 67. Where does large amount of Phosphorus exist? The base Rocks

6 68. Why are decomposers important in our food web? Decomposers add nutrients back to the soil. Producers need nutrients to grow. 69. Why does the pyramid get narrow at the upper levels? Because less energy flows upward