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Xavier's Biologys
Biology
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| ecology | the study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment, or surroundings |
| biosphere | contains the combined portions of the planet in which all of life exists, including land, water, and air, or atmosphere. |
| species | is a group of organisms so similar to one another that they can breed and produce fertile offspring. |
| populations | groups of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area. |
| communities | assemblages of different populations that live together in a defined area |
| ecosystem | a collection of all the organisms that live in a particular place, together with their nonliving, or physical environment. |
| biome | a group of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar dominant communities. |
| autotrophs | use energy from the environment to fuel the assembly of simple inorganic compounds into complex organic molecules |
| producers | those that capture energy from sunlight chemical energy |
| photosynthesis | autotroph that uses light energy to power chemical reactions that convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and energy-rich carbohydrates such as sugars and starches |
| chemosynthesis | when organisms use chemical energy to produce carbohydrates |
| heterotrophs | organisms that rely on other organisms for energy and a food supply |
| consumer | heterotroph |
| herbivores | plant eater |
| carnivore | meat eater |
| omnivore | plant and meat eater |
| detritivore | feeds on dead matter (different from decomposer, think dead animal) |
| decomposers | break down dead organic material (think dead plants) |
| food chain | a series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten |
| food web | a web that links all the food chains in an ecosystem together |
| trophic level | a step in a food chain or web |
| ecological pyramid | a diagram that shows the relative amounts of energy or matter contained within each trophic level in a food chain or web |
| biomass | usually expressed in terms of grams of organic matter per unit area |
| biogeochemical cycles | connects biological, geological, and chemical aspects of the biosphere. |
| evaporation | the process where water changes from liquid to gas in the atmosphere |
| transpiration | the evaporation of water from leaves or plants |
| nutrients | the chemical substances that an organism needs to sustain life |
| nitrogen fixation | the conversion of nitrogen to ammonia |
| denitrification | the conversion of nitrates to nitrogen |
| primary productivity | the rate at which organic matter is created by producers |
| limiting nutrients | when an ecosystem is limited by a single nutrient that is scarce or cycles slowly |
| algal bloom | when an ecosystem receives a large input of a limiting nutrient, and a large amount of algae grows (it gets the seed of life in its beautiful watery pond) |
Created by:
xrantz
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