Miller and Levine Biology Chapter 3 Vocab Flashcards

490673469	biosphere	part of Earth in which life exists including land, water, and air or atmosphere	0
490673470	species	group of similar organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring	1
490673471	population	group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area	2
490673472	community	assemblage of different populations that live together in a defined area	3
490673473	ecology	scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment	4
490673474	ecosystem	all the organisms that live in a place, together with their nonliving environment	5
490673475	biome	group of land ecosystems with similar climates and typical organisms	6
490673476	biotic factor	any living part of the environment with which an organism might interact	7
490673477	abiotic factor	physical, or nonliving, factor that shapes an ecosystem	8
490673478	autotroph	organism that can capture energy from sunlight or chemicals and use it to produce its own food from inorganic compounds	9
490673479	primary producer	first producer of energy-rich compounds that are later used by other organisms	10
490673480	photosynthesis	process used plants and other autotrophs to capture light energy and use it to power chemical reactions that convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and energy-rich carbohydrates such as sugars and starches	11
490673481	chemosynthesis	process in which chemical energy is used to produce carbohydrates	12
490673482	heterotroph	organism that obtains food by consuming other organisms	13
490673483	consumer	organism that relies on other organisms for its energy and food supply	14
490673484	carnivore	organism that obtains energy by eating animals	15
490673485	herbivore	organism that obtains energy by eating only plants	16
490673486	scavenger	animal that consumes the carcasses of other animals	17
490673487	omnivore	organism that obtains energy by eating both plants and animals	18
490673488	decomposer	organism that breaks down and obtains energy from dead organic matter	19
490673489	detritivore	organism that feeds on plant and animal remains and other dead matter	20
490673490	food chain	series of steps in an ecosystem in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten	21
490673491	phytoplankton	photosynthetic algae found near the surface of the ocean	22
490673492	food web	network of complex interactions formed by the feeding relationships among the various organisms in an ecosystem	23
490673493	trophic level	each step in a food chain or food web	24
490673494	zooplankton	small free-floating animals that form part of plankton	25
490673495	ecological pyramid	illustration of the relative amounts of energy or matter contained within each trophic level in a given food chain or food web	26
490673496	biomass	total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level	27
490673497	biogeochemical cycle	process in which elements, chemical compounds, and other forms of matter are passed from one organism to another and from one part of the biosphere to another	28
490673498	limiting nutrient	single essential nutrient that limits productivity in an ecosystem	29
490673499	nutrient	chemical substance that an organism needs to sustain life	30
490673500	nitrogen fixation	process of converting nitrogen gas into nitrogen compounds that plants can absorb and use	31
490673501	denitrification	process by which bacteria convert nitrates into nitrogen gas	32