Science: Chapter 1 Ecology

Includes all of the interacting parts of a biological community and its environment.

E.g Forest, pond, arctic, sea, tundra, rain forest

Abiotic and Biotic things interacting

Terms related: sustainable ecosystem

A ecosystem that can withstand pressure and can support a variety of organisms

E.g Islands, forests, etc.

Related terms: Ecosystem

The living parts of an ecosystem

E.g Animals, plants, bacteria, etc.

Related terms: Abiotic

The non living parts of an ecosystem

E.g Air, soil, rock, water etc.

Related terms: biotic

The hard part of the Earth's surface. One of the four spheres

Related terms:

All the water found on Earth. One of the four spheres

E.g Rivers, oceans, lakes, ponds, ground water etc.

Related terms:

The layer of gases above the Earth's surface

The atmosphere has greenhouse gas like carbon dioxide, but it also has oxygen which is not a greenhouse gas.

Related terms:

The area of the Earth where living organisms exist

The biosphere is a sphere that only Earth has. All of the other three spheres are part of the biosphere


Related terms:

A chemical that is essential to living things and is cycled through ecosystems.

Related term: eutrophication

A process in which nutrient levels in aquatic ecosystems increase, leading to an increase in the populations of primary producers.

Related terms: nutrients

A process that changes solar energy into chemical energy. Only plants can do this because they have chlorophyll.

The process makes oxygen as a waste product, and makes glucose (food) during the process.

• Formula: 6CO₂ + 6H₂O -----light energy-----> C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂

Are categories of organisms defined by how the organisms gain energy

-Primary producers etc.

The total mass of living organisms in a defined group or area

-E.g Leaves, stems, wood, roots, and flowers

-Related terms: trophic efficiency

A measure of the amount of energy or biomass transferred from one trophic level to the next higher level.

-Percentage always less than 100%

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A process in which materials, especially toxins, are ingested by an organism at a greater rate than they are eliminated.

-E.g Monarch butterflies are poisonous to eat but they don't make their own poison. As a caterpillar it feeds on milkweed. Which is poisonous and harmful.

Biomagnification is the sequence of processes in an ecosystem by which higher concentrations of a particular chemical, such as the pesticide DDT, are reached in organisms higher up the food chain.

- The example is DDT, a pesticide which was banned in the early 70s when it was found that it became concentrated (magnified) in higher trophic levels, poisoning the animals that were at or near the top of the food chain.

Related terms: bioaccumulation

A process that release energy from organic molecules (carbohydrates), in presence of oxygen.

An example of this is taking sugar and breaking it down to water and carbon dioxide and in the process making ATP

A process that release energy from organic molecules (carbohydrates), in absence of oxygen.

-fungi use fermentation to release the energy in glucose.

Related terms: Cellular respiration

Atmospheric gases which trap some of the heat from leaving the atmosphere, thus the temperature of the atmosphere is increasing.

-global warming

-E.g carbon dioxide, burning fossil fuels

Related terms: Greenhouse effect

The warming of the Earth as a result of greenhouse gases, which trap some of the energy that would otherwise leave Earth

-Climate change

Related terms: greenhouse gases

Any form of precipitation, including rain, snow, hail, fog, or dew, that is high in acid pollutants, especially sulphuric and nitric acid.

-Acid rain

-E.g contaminates bodies of water