Vocab from chapter 1 out of the Living in the Environment textbook
Terms : Hide Images
| 233396798 | Cell | smallest and most fundamental units, in both structure and function | |
| 233396799 | Cell Theory | idea that all living things are composed of cells, most accepted theory | |
| 233396800 | Eukaryotic Cell | a type of cell that is surrounded by a membrane and has a nucleus and other internal parts (organelles) which are surrounded by individual membranes | |
| 233396801 | Prokaryotic Cell | a type of cell surrounded by a membrane, but no distinct internal parts or nucleus | |
| 233396802 | Species | a set of individuals that can mate and produce fertile offspring | |
| 233396803 | Ecology | the study of how organisms interact with their abiotic and biotic environments | |
| 233396804 | Population | a group of individuals of the same species that live in the same place at the same time | |
| 233396805 | Genetic Diversity | why individuals in a population are slightly different from one another | |
| 233396806 | Habitat | the place where an individual or a population normally lives | |
| 233396807 | Community | populations of different species living in a particular place, and potentially interacting | |
| 233396808 | Ecosystem | a community of different species interacting with each other and their biotic and abiotic environments, have no clear boundaries | |
| 233396809 | Atmosphere | thin spherical envelope of gases surrounding the earth's surface | |
| 233396810 | Trophosphere | lower part of the atmosphere, contains nitrogen, weather and greenhouse gases | |
| 233396811 | Greenhouse Gases | trap heat, located in trophosphere, include water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane | |
| 233396812 | Stratosphere | second layer of the atmosphere, contains the ozone layer | |
| 233396813 | Hydrosphere | all of the water on or near the earth's surface | |
| 233396814 | Geosphere | consists of the core, the mantle, and the crust | |
| 233396815 | Biosphere | the parts of the atmosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere where life exists | |
| 233396816 | Biomes | large regions with distinct climates and certain species adapted to them | |
| 233396817 | Aquatic Life Zones | biomes in water, can be freshwater or marine | |
| 233396818 | Abiotic | nonliving components of the biosphere | |
| 233396819 | Biotic | living and once living components in the biosphere | |
| 233396820 | One Way Flow of High Quality Energy | comes from the sun, goes down to earth, through living things, is dispersed into water or air, and goes into space, is not recycled | |
| 233396821 | Cycling of Nutrients | fixed supply of matter on earth, necessary to organisms to survive, must be recycled | |
| 233396822 | Gravity | allows the earth to keep its atmosphere in place and helps to cycle chemicals | |
| 233396823 | Range of Tolerance | the range of conditions that populations can survive in, individuals may have different ranges than the population | |
| 233396824 | Limiting Factor | abiotic factors that limit population growth | |
| 233396825 | Limiting Factor Principle | too much or too little of any abiotic factor can limit or prevent growth of a population, even if all other factors are at or near optimal range of tolerance | |
| 233396826 | Trophic Level | feeding level of organisms in an ecosystem | |
| 233592629 | Producers | organisms that make the nutrients they need from compounds and energy from their environment, also called autotrophs | |
| 233592630 | Phytoplankton | producers, microorganisms that float or drift in water | |
| 233592631 | Photosynthesis | a chemical process that converts energy from the sun into glucose | |
| 233592632 | Chemosynthesis | a chemical process that a few producers use to convert compounds from their environment into nutrients, without using sunlight | |
| 233592633 | Heterotrophs | consumers; cannot produce the nutrients they need through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis, must get their nutrients by eating producers or other consumers | |
| 233592634 | Primary Consumers | herbivores, eat producers | |
| 233592635 | Secondary Consumers | carnivores, eat herbivores | |
| 233592636 | Third Consumers | carnivores, eat other carnivores | |
| 233592637 | Omnivore | eat both plants and animals | |
| 233592638 | Decomposers | consumers that release nutrients from the dead bodies of plants and animals and return them to the soil, water, etc | |
| 233592639 | Detrius Feeders | consumers that feed on the wastes or dead bodies of plant or animals, but do not return nutrients to the environment | |
| 233592640 | Aerobic Respiration | a chemical reaction that gives producers, consumers, and decomposers energy by using oxygen to convert glucose back into carbon dioxide and water, opposite of photosynthesis | |
| 233592641 | Anaerobic Respiration | a chemical reaction that gives decomposers energy by breaking down glucose without oxygen. the end products are not carbon dioxide and water, are different compounds | |
| 233592642 | Food Chain | a sequence of organisms that serves as energy for the next | |
| 233592643 | Food Web | interconnected food chains | |
| 233592644 | Biomass | dry weight of all organic matter contained in an organism | |
| 233592645 | Ecological Efficiency | percentage of usable chemical energy transferred as biomass from one trophic level to the next | |
| 233592646 | Gross Primary Productivity | the rate at which an ecosystem's producers convert solar energy into chemical energy | |
| 233592647 | Net Primary Productivity | the rate at which producers produce and store chemical energy minus the rate that they use for life processes | |
| 233592648 | Biogeochemical Cycles | nutrient cycles | |
| 233592649 | Hydrologic Cycle | collects, purifys and distributes the earth's fixed supply of water | |
| 233592650 | Transpiration | water evaporates from the surface of plants | |
| 233592651 | Carbon Cycle | the way carbon cycles through the biosphere, and depends on photosynthesis and aerobic respiration | |
| 233592652 | Nitrogen Gas | N₂ | |
| 233592653 | Ammonia | NH₃ | |
| 233592654 | Ammonium Ions | NH₄⁺ | |
| 233592655 | Nitrate Ions | NO₃⁻ | |
| 233592656 | Nitrous Oxide Gas | N₂O | |
| 233592657 | Nitrogen Fixation | specialized bacteria in soil and algae in water combine nitrogen gas with hydrogen to make ammonia | |
| 234726201 | Nitrification | specialized soil bacteria convert ammonia and ammonia ions in the soil into nitrates, which are taken up by plants and cycled through the food web | |
| 234726202 | Ammonification | after the nitrates and nitrogen compounds are cycled through the food web, speciallized bacteria convert the waste into ammonia and ammonium ions | |
| 234726203 | Denitrification | specialized bacteria convert ammonia and ammonium ions into nitrite and nitrate ions, and then into nitrogen gas and nitrous oxide gas | |
| 234726204 | Phosphorus Cycle | the cycling of phosphorus through the earth's crust, living organisms, and water | |
| 234726205 | Sulfur Cycle | the cycling of sulfur through the biosphere | |
| 234726206 | Geographic Information System | software that allows scientists to capture, store, analyze, and display geographically based information | |
| 234726207 | Laboratory Research | a supplement to field research that allows scientists to observe ecosystems under laboratory conditions |
