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47 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Dynamic Equilibrium |
Describes any system with constant change in which the components can adjust to the changes without disturbing the entire system |
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Biosphere |
The narrow zone around the Earth that harbours life |
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Biotic Component |
The biological or living components of the biosphere |
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Abiotic Components |
The non-living components of the biosphere. They include chemical and physical factors |
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Population |
A group of individuals of the same species occupying a given area at a certain time |
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Community |
The populations of all species that occupy a habitat |
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Ecosystem |
A community and it's physical and chemical environments |
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Biodiversity |
The number of species in an ecosystem |
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Food Chain |
A sequence linking organisms that feed on each other, starting with a food source and continuing in order with each consumer |
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Producer |
An autotroph; an organism that makes its own food |
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Consumer |
A heterotroph; an organism that must eat producers or other consumers to survive |
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Herbivore |
An animal that only eats plants |
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Carnivore |
An animal that feeds only on other animals |
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Omnivore |
An animal that eats both plants and other animals |
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Detritus |
Waste from plants and animals, including their dead remains |
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Decomposer |
An organism that feeds on detritus |
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Habitat |
A place or a type of environment with conditions suitable for the survival of an organism or population of organisms |
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Ultraviolet Radiation |
Electromagnetic Radiation from the sun that can cause burning of the skin (skin burn) and cellular mutations |
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Ozone |
An inorganic molecule. A layer of ozone found in the stratosphere helps to screen that ultraviolet radiation |
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Trophic Level |
A category of living things defined by how it gains its energy; the first trophic contains autotrophs, and each higher level contains heterotrophs |
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Autotroph |
An organism that uses the sun's energy and raw materials to make its own food, a producer |
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Primary Consumer |
In a food chain or food web, an organism that relies directly on autotrophs for its source of energy, at the second of trophic level |
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Heterotroph |
An organism that is incapable of making its own food, and so it must feed on other organisms to gain energy |
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Food web |
A representative of the feeding relationships among organisms in an ecosystem |
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Photosynthesis |
The process by which green plants and some other organisms use solar energy, carbon dioxide, and water, producing carbohydrates |
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Cellular Respiration |
The process by which cells break down glucose into carbon dioxide and water, releasing energy |
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Chemosynthesis |
The process by which non-photosynthetic organisms convert inorganic chemicals to organic compounds without solar energy |
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Chemoautotroph |
An organism that can synthesize organic compounds from inorganic chemicals without using solar energy |
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Ecological Pyramid |
A representation of energy flows in food chains and webs |
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Biomass |
The total dry mass of all the living material in an ecosystem |
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Glucose |
A sugar, sugars are used to store energy |
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Polar Molecule |
A molecule that has a positive and a negative end |
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Hydrogen Bond |
The type of bond that is formed between the positive end of one water molecule and the negative end of another water molecule |
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Hydrological cycle (water cycle) |
The movement of water through the environment from the atmosphere to Earth and back |
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Transpiration |
The loss of water through plant leaves |
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Percolation |
The movement of liquid through a porous material, such as soil particles |
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Water table |
The top level of the region below the ground that is saturated with water |
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Leaching |
The removal of soluble minerals by percolation |
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Carbon Cycle |
The cycle of matter in which carbon atoms move from an inorganic form to an organic form and then back to an inorganic form |
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Combustion |
The chemical reaction that occurs when a substance reacts very quickly with oxygen to release energy |
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Peat |
Slowly decomposing plant matter produced in low-oxygen environments such as bogs |
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Albedo |
A term used to describe the extent to which a surface can reflect light that strikes it. An albedo of 0.08 means 8% of the light is reflected |
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Nitrogen Fixation |
Two processes in which atmospheric or dissolved nitrogen is converted into nitrate ions |
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Denitrification |
The process in which nitrates are converted to nitrites and then to nitrogen gas |
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Fertilizer |
A material used to restore nutrients to plants |
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Phosphorus cycle |
The cycling of phosphorus between the biotic and abiotic components of the environment; consists of a biological and geochemical cycle |
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Nutrient |
A chemical that is essential to living things |