Pre-AP Ch. 3

7556535	ecology	scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment
7556536	biosphere	part of Earth in which life exists including land, water, and air
7556537	species	group of similar organisms that can breed and produce similar offspring
7556538	population	group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area
7556539	community	assemblage of different populations that live together in a defined area
7556540	ecosystem	collection of all the organisms that live in a particular place; together with their nonliving environment
7556541	biome	group of ecosystems that have the same climate and and dominant communities
7556542	autotroph	organism that can capture energy from sunlight or chemicals and use it to produce its own food from inorganic compounds; also called a producer
7556543	producer	organism that can capture energy from sunlight or chemicals and use it to produce its own food from inorganic compounds; also called an autotroph
7556544	photosynthesis	process by which plants and some other organisms use light energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and sugars
7556545	chemosynthesis	process by which some bacteria use chemical energy to produce carbohydrates
7556546	heterotroph	organism that obtains energy from the food it consumes; also called a consumer
7556547	consumer	organism that relies on other organisms for its energy and food supply; also called a heterotroph
7556548	herbivore	organism that obtains energy by only eating plants
7556549	carnivore	organism that obtains energy by eating animals
7556550	omnivore	organism that obtains energy by eating both plants and animals
7556551	detritivore	organism that feeds on plant and animal remains ad other dead matter
7556552	decomposer	organism that breaks down and obtains energy from dead organic matter
7556553	food chain	series of steps in an ecosystem in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten
7556554	food web	network of complex interactions formed by the feeding relationships among the various organisms in an ecosystem
7556555	trophic level	step in a food chain or food web
7556556	ecological pyramid	diagram that shows the relative amounts of energy or matter within each trophic level in a food chain or food web
7556557	biomass	total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level
7556558	biogeochemical cycle	process in which elements, compounds, or other forms of matter are passed from one organism to another and from one part of the biosphere to another
7556559	evaporation	process by which water changes from a liquid into an atmospheric gas
7556560	transpiration	loss of water from a plant through its leaves
7556561	nutrient	chemical substance that an organism requires to live
7556562	nitrogen fixation	process of converting nitrogen gas into ammonia
7556563	denitrification	conversion of nitrates into nitrogen gas
7556564	primary productivity	rate at which organic matter is created by producers in an ecosystem
7556565	limiting nutrient	single nutrient that either is scarce or cycles very slowly, limiting the growth of organisms in an ecosystem
7556566	algal bloom	an immediate increase in the amount of algae and other producers that results from a large input of a limiting nutrient