1.
algal bloom: an immediate increase in the amount of algae and other producers that results from a large input of a limiting nutrient
2.
autotroph: an organism that makes its own food
3.
biogeochemical cycles: The pathways by which chemicals circulate through ecosystems that involve both living (biotic) and nonliving (geological) components.
4.
biomass: total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level
5.
biomass pyramid: represents the amount of living tissue in each trophic level in an ecosystem
6.
biosphere: part of Earth in which life exists including land, water, and air or atmosphere
7.
carbon cycle: the movement of carbon from the nonliving environment into living things and back
8.
carnivore: a consumer that eats only animals
9.
chemosythesis: using chemicals to obtain or create food, aka bacteria
10.
community: all the different populations that live together in an area
11.
condensation: the process by which atmospheric water vapor changes to a liquid (clouds).
12.
consumer: organism that relies on other organisms for its energy and food supply; also called a heterotroph
13.
decomposer: organisms, such as fungi and bacteria, that break down and absorb nutrients from dead organisms
14.
denitrification: conversion of nitrates in the soil by bacteria into nitrogen gas
15.
detritivore: organism that feeds on animal and plant remains that it did not capture; scavenger
16.
ecosystem: community of living things plus the nonliving features of the environment that support them
17.
energy pyramid: a diagram that shows the amount of energy that moves from one feeding level to another in a food web
18.
evaporation: the process by which water changes from liquid form to an atmospheric gas
19.
food chain: a series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten
20.
food web: A network of interconnecting food chains
21.
herbivore: organism that obtains energy by eating only plants
22.
heterotroph: organism that obtains energy from the foods it consumes; also called a consumer
23.
limiting nutrient: when an ecosystem is limited by a single nutrient that is scarce or cycles very slowly
24.
nitrogen cycle: the transfer of nitrogen from the atmosphere to the soil, to living organisms, and back to the atmosphere
25.
nitrogen fixation: process by which certain bacteria convert nitrogen gas to ammonia in soil which plants can use.
26.
nutrient: chemical substance that an organism requires to live
27.
omnivore: organism that obtains energy by eating both plants and animals
28.
phosphorus cycle: the movement of phosphorus atoms from rocks through the biosphere and hydrosphere and back to rocks
29.
photosynthesis: process by which plants use the sun's energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into sugars
30.
population: group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area
31.
precipitation: the falling to earth of any form of water (rain or snow or hail or sleet or mist)
32.
primary productivity: rate at which organic matter is created by producers in an ecosystem
33.
producer: organism that can capture energy from sunlight or chemicals and use it to produce food from inorganic compounds; also called an autotroph
34.
transpiration: evaporation of water from a plant's leaves
35.
trophic level: each step in a food chain or food web
36.
water cycle: the continuous process by which water moves from Earth's surface to the atmosphere and back
