Science Unit One Chapter One Cards

A biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.

A capacity of ecosystems to maintain their essential functions and processes, and retain their biodiversity in full measure over the long-term.

Of, relating to, or resulting from living things, especially in their ecological relations.

Physical rather than biological, inorganic

The rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle.

All the waters on the earth's surface.

The gases surrounding the earth or another planet.

The living part of the Earth.

A substance that provides nourishment essential for growth and the maintenance of life.

Excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water, frequently due to runoff from the land, which causes a dense growth of plant life and death of animal life from lack of oxygen.

The process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water. Photosynthesis in plants involves the green pigment chlorophyll and generates oxygen as a byproduct.

Each of several hierarchical levels in an ecosystem, comprising organisms that share the same function in the food chain and the same nutritional relationship to the primary sources of energy.

• The total mass of organisms in a given area or volume.
• Organic matter used as a fuel, especially in a power station for the generation of electricity.

Trophic efficiency describes the efficiency with which energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next.

Bioaccumulation refers to the accumulation of substances, especially toxins, in an organism. Bioaccumulation occurs when an organism absorbs a substance at a rate greater than that at which the substance is lost.

The increase of concentration of a substance as it moves up the trophic levels

Cellular respiration is a process that takes place in the cells of organisms to convert biomass into energy, and then release waste products.

The chemical breakdown of a substance by bacteria, yeasts, or other microorganisms in an anaerobic environment.

A gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect by absorbing infrared radiation, e.g., carbon dioxide and chlorofluorocarbons.

The trapping of the sun's warmth in a planet's lower atmosphere due to the greater transparency of the atmosphere to visible radiation from the sun than to infrared radiation emitted from the planet's surface.

Acid precipitation is unusually acidic, meaning that it possesses elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). It can have harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals and infrastructure.