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What branch of science studies the origin, structure, and function of living things?
Ecolology
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Anything that has or once had all the characteristics of life.
Organisms
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Process that results in mass being added to an organism; may include formation of new cells and new structures
Growth
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Group of organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring
Species
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Relatively thin layer of Earth and its atmosphere that supports life.
Biosphere
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Any living factor in an organism's environment.
Biotic Factor
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Biological community and all the nonliving.
Ecosystem
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An organism that produces its own food supply. They also supply others with food energy.
Autotroph
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An organism that cannot make its own food.
Heterotroph
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A heterotroph that decomposes organic material and returns the nutrients to soil, air, and water, making the nutrients available to other organisms.
Detritivore
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Each step in food chain or food web.
Trophic level
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Simplified model that shows a single path for energy flow through an ecosystem.
Food chain
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Model that shows many interconnected food chains and pathways in which energy and matter flow through an ecosystem.
Food web
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Total mass of living matter at each trophic level.
Biomass
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Anything that takes up space and has mass
Matter
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Chemical substance that living organisms obtain from the enviornment to carry out life processes and sustain life
Nutrient.
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Process in which nitrogen gas is captured and converted into a form plants can use.
Nitrogen fixation
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Process in which fixed nitrogen compounds are converted back into nitrogen gas and returned to the atmosphere
Denitrification
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Distance of a point on Earth's surface north or south of the equator.
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Treeles biome with permantently frozen soil under the surface and average yearly precipitation of 15 - 25 cm.
Tundra
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Biome south of the tundra with dense evergreen forests and long, cold, dry winters.
Boreal forest.
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Biome characterized by small trees and mixed shrub communties
Woodland
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Biome characterized by grasses and scattered trees, and herd animals such as zebras and antelopes.
Tropical savanna
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Material deposited by water, wind, or glaciers.
Sediment
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Area of a lake or pond closest to the shore
Littoral zone
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