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Vocab
Chapter 3 vocab
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| autotroph | an organism that is able to form nutritional organic substances from simple inorganic substances such as carbon dioxide. |
| primary producer | The base of the food train. |
| photosynthesis | the process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water. Photosynthesis in plants generally involves the green pigment chlorophyll and generates oxygen as a byproduct. |
| chemosynthesis | the synthesis of organic compounds by bacteria or other living organisms using energy derived from reactions involving inorganic chemicals, typically in the absence of sunlight. |
| heterotroph | an organism deriving its nutritional requirements from complex organic substances. |
| consumer | a person or thing that eats or uses something. |
| carnivore | A meat eating animal. |
| herbivore | a plant eating animal. |
| scavenger | an animal that feeds on carrion, dead plant material, or refuse |
| omnivore | An animal that eats both meat and plants |
| decomposer | an organism that decomposes organic material. |
| detritivore | an animal that feeds on dead organic material. |
| food chain | a hierarchical series of organisms each dependent on the next as a source of food |
| phytoplankton | plankton consisting of microscopic plants |
| food web | a system of interlocking and interdependent food chains. |
| zooplankton | plankton consisting of small animals and the immature stages of larger animals. |
| trophic level | 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 |
| ecological pyramid | a graphical representation designed to show the biomass or bio productivity at each trophic level in a given ecosystem. |
| biomass | |
| biogeochemical cycle | a pathway by which a chemical substance moves through both biotic (biosphere) and abiotic (lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere) compartments of Earth. |
| nutrient | a substance that provides nourishment essential for growth and the maintenance of life |
| nitrogen fixation | the chemical processes by which atmospheric nitrogen is assimilated into organic compounds, especially by certain microorganisms as part of the nitrogen cycle. |
| denitrification | a microbially facilitated process of nitrate reduction (performed by a large group of heterotrophic facultative anaerobic bacteria) that may ultimately produce molecular nitrogen (N2) through a series of intermediate gaseous nitrogen oxide products. |
| limiting nutrient | at any given time, one or the other of these nutrients may be the hardest nutrient for a plant to acquire and therefore be the only nutrient that is limiting the plant's growth. |
Created by:
Charliemonster
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