Terms : Hide Images
| 7494939343 | Biosphere | The region of our planet where life resides, the combination of all ecosystems on Earth. |  | 0 |
| 7494939344 | Producer | An organism that uses the energy of the Sun to produce usable forms of energy. Also known as an autotroph. |  | 1 |
| 7494939345 | Photosynthesis | The process by which producers use solar energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into glucose. |  | 2 |
| 7494939346 | Cellular respiration | The process by which cells unlock the energy of chemical compounds. |  | 3 |
| 7494939347 | Aerobic respiration | The process by which cells convert glucose and oxygen into energy, carbon dioxide, and water. |  | 4 |
| 7494939348 | Anaerobic respiration | The process by which cells convert glucose into energy in the absence of oxygen. |  | 5 |
| 7494939349 | Consumer | An organism that is incapable of photosynthesis and must obtain its energy by consuming other organisms. Also known as a heterotroph. |  | 6 |
| 7494939350 | Herbivore | A consumer that eats producers. Also known as a primary consumer. |  | 7 |
| 7494939351 | Carnivore | A consumer that eats other consumers. |  | 8 |
| 7494939352 | Secondary consumer | A carnivore that eats primary consumers. | | 9 |
| 7494939353 | Tertiary consumer | A carnivore that eats secondary consumers. | | 10 |
| 7494939354 | Trophic levels | The successive levels of organisms consuming one another. |  | 11 |
| 7494939355 | Food chain | The sequence of consumption from producers through tertiary consumers. |  | 12 |
| 7494939356 | Food web | A complex model of how energy and matter move between trophic levels. |  | 13 |
| 7494939357 | Scavenger | An organism that consumes dead animals. |  | 14 |
| 7494939358 | Detritivore | An organism that specializes in breaking down dead tissues and waste products into smaller particles. |  | 15 |
| 7494939359 | Decomposers | Fungi and bacteria that convert organic matter into small elements and molecules that can be recycled back into the ecosystems. |  | 16 |
| 7494939360 | Gross primary productivity (GPP) | The total amount of solar energy that producers in an ecosystem capture via photosynthesis over a given amount of time. |  | 17 |
| 7494939361 | Net primary productivity (NPP) | The energy captured by producers in an ecosystem minus the energy producers respire. |  | 18 |
| 7494939362 | Biomass | The total mass of all living matter in a specific area. |  | 19 |
| 7494939363 | Standing crop | The amount of biomass present in an ecosystem at a particular time. |  | 20 |
| 7494939364 | Ecological efficiency | The proportion of consumed energy that can be passed from one trophic level to another. |  | 21 |
| 7494939365 | Trophic pyramid | A representation of the distribution of biomass, numbers, or energy among trophic levels. |  | 22 |
| 7494939366 | Biogeochemical cycle | The movement of matter within and between ecosystems. |  | 23 |
| 7494939367 | Hydrologic cycle | The movement of water through the biosphere. |  | 24 |
| 7494939368 | Transpiration | The release of water from leaves during photosynthesis. |  | 25 |
| 7494939369 | Evapotranspiration | The combined amount of evaporation and transpiration. |  | 26 |
| 7494939370 | Runoff | Water that moves across the land surface and into streams and rivers. |  | 27 |
| 7494939371 | Carbon cycle | The movement of carbon around the biosphere. |  | 28 |
| 7494939372 | Macronutrient | One of six key elements that organisms need in relatively large amounts: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur. |  | 29 |
| 7494939373 | Limiting nutrient | A nutrient required for the growth of an organism but available in a lower quantity than other nutrients. |  | 30 |
| 7494939374 | Nitrogen cycle | The movement of nitrogen around the biosphere. |  | 31 |
| 7494939375 | Nitrogen fixation | A process by which some organisms can convert nitrogen gas molecules directly into ammonia. |  | 32 |
| 7494939376 | Nitrification | The conversion of ammonia into nitrite and then into nitrate. |  | 33 |
| 7494939377 | Assimilation | The process by which producers incorporate elements into their tissues. | 34 | |
| 7494939378 | Mineralization | The process by which fungal and bacterial decomposers break down the organic matter found in dead bodies and waste products and convert it into inorganic compounds. | 35 | |
| 7494939379 | Ammonification | The process by which fungal and bacterial decomposers break down the organic nitrogen found in dead bodies and waste products and convert it into inorganic ammonium. | 36 | |
| 7494939380 | Denitrification | The conversion of nitrate in a series of steps into the gases nitrous oxide and, eventually, nitrogen gas, which is emitted into the atmosphere |  | 37 |
| 7494939381 | Leaching | The transformation of dissolved molecules through the soil via groundwater. |  | 38 |
| 7494939382 | Phosphorus cycle | The movement of phosphorus around the biosphere. |  | 39 |
| 7494939383 | Algal boom | A rapid increase in the algal production of a waterway. |  | 40 |
| 7494939384 | Hypoxic | Low in oxygen. | 41 | |
| 7494939385 | Sulfur cycle | The movement of sulfur around the biosphere. |  | 42 |
| 7494939386 | Ecological Disturbance | An event, caused by physical, chemical, or biological agents, resulting in changes in population size or community composition. | 43 | |
| 7494939387 | Watershed | All land in a given landscape that drains into a particular stream, river, lake, or wetland. |  | 44 |
| 7494939388 | Resistance | A measure of how much a disturbance can affect flows of energy and matter in an ecosystem. | 45 | |
| 7494939389 | Resilience | The rate at which an ecosystem returns to its original state after a disturbance. |  | 46 |
| 7494939390 | Restoration ecology | The study and implementation of restoring damaged ecosystems | 47 | |
| 7494939391 | Intermediate disturbance hypothesis | The hypothesis that ecosystems experiencing intermediate levels of disturbance are more diverse than those with high or low disturbance levels. | 48 | |
| 7494939392 | omnivore | a person who eats both plants and animals |  | 49 |
| 7494939393 | percolation | the slow movement of water through the pores in soil or permeable rock. |  | 50 |
| 7494939394 | infiltration | the seepage of water into soil or rock. |  | 51 |
| 7494939395 | this cycle has no atmospheric component. | phosphorous | 52 | |
| 7494939396 | primary consumer | A consumer that eats producers. Also know as a herbivore. | 53 | |
| 7494939397 | Eutrophication | A process in which nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus lead to algal blooms and hypoxic conditions. | 54 |
