| Term | Definition |
|---|
| biosphere | all organisms found on Earth as well as the soil, air, and water surrounding them |
| biome | a group of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar dominant communities |
| ecosystem | a community and its physical environment |
| community | Assemblages of different populations that live together in a defined area |
| population | a group of individuals of the same type that interbreed and live in a particular area |
| species | a group of organisms so similar to one another that they can interbreed and produce fertile offspring |
| environment | everything the surrounds and affects an organism |
| biotic factor | living |
| abiotic factor | non-living |
| carrying capacity | the greatest number of individuals that a space can support indefinitely without degrading the environment |
| dispersal | ability of populations of living things to spread from a central place into others |
| biodiversity | the number of different types of organisms that live on Earth |
| autotrophs | organisms that use energy from the environment to fuel the assembly of simple, inorganic compounds into complex organic molecules. |
| producers | organisms that make their own food |
| photosynthesis | when autotrophs use light energy to power chemical reactions that convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and energy-rich carbs such as sugars and starches |
| chemosythesis | when organisms use chemical energy to produce carbohydrates |
| heterotrophs (aka) consumers | organisms that rely on other organisms for their energy and food supply |
| herbivores | plant eaters |
| carnivores | meat eaters |
| omnivores | plant and meat eaters |
| detritivores | organisms that consume decaying organisms |
| decomposers | organisms that break down organic matter |
| food chain | a series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten |
| food web | when feeding relationships among the various organisms in an ecosystem form a network of complex interactions |
| ecological pyramid | a diagram that shows the relative amounts of energy or matter contained within each tropis level in a food chain or food web |
| energy pyramid | 10% of the energy is transferred between tropic levels |
| biomass pyramid | the total amount of living tissue within a given tropic level |
| trophic level | each step in a food chain or in a food web |
| ecological succession | a series of predictable changes that occur in a community over time |
| primary succession | succession that occurs on surfaces where no soil exists |
| secondary succession | a disturbance which changes a community without removing the soil |
| pioneer species | the first species to populate an area |
| biogeochemical cycles | elements, chemical compounds, and other forms of matter are passed from one organism to another, and from one part of the biosphere to another |
| evaporation | the process by which water changes from liquid form to an atmospheric gas. |
| transpiration | water which enters the atmosphere by evaporating from the leaves of plants |
| condesation | warm, moist air rises and cools, then condenses into tiny droplets, forming clouds |
| precipitation | water droplets present in clouds condense further and fall to the Earth's surface in the form of rain, snow, sleet, of hail |
| nitrogen fixation | when bacteria in the soils convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia |
| denitrification | different types of bacteria convert nitrates into nitrogen gas, which is released into the atmosphere |
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