Ecology - Matter and Energy Flow in Ecosystems - High School

If you want a solid understanding of matter and energy flow in ecosystems, review this vocabulary list. Learn about food chains and food webs, autotrophs and heterotrophs, the carbon cycle and the water cycle, and much more. Just go with the flow!
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. aerobic
    depending on free oxygen or air
  2. algae
    primitive chlorophyll-containing aquatic organisms
  3. anaerobic
    not using or dependent on oxygen
  4. atmosphere
    the mass of air surrounding the Earth
  5. atom
    the smallest component of an element
  6. ATP
    a nucleotide derived from adenosine that occurs in muscle tissue; the major source of energy for cellular reactions
  7. autotroph
    an organism capable of synthesizing its own food
  8. bacteria
    single-celled organisms that can cause disease
  9. biodiversity
    the variety of plant and animal life in a habitat
  10. biomass
    the total amount of living matter in a given unit area
  11. biosphere
    the regions of the Earth where living organisms exist
  12. biotic
    of or relating to living organisms
  13. carbon
    an abundant nonmetallic element in all organic compounds
  14. carbon cycle
    the organic circulation of carbon from the atmosphere into organisms and back again
  15. carnivore
    a terrestrial or aquatic flesh-eating mammal
  16. cellular respiration
    the metabolic processes whereby certain organisms obtain energy from organic molecules; processes that take place in the cells and tissues during which energy is released and carbon dioxide is produced and absorbed by the blood to be transported to the lungs
  17. chemical energy
    that part of the energy in a substance that can be released by a chemical reaction
  18. chemical reaction
    a process in which substances are changed into others
  19. condensation
    atmospheric moisture that has changed from a gas
  20. cycle
    a periodically repeated sequence of events
  21. decay
    the organic phenomenon of rotting
  22. denitrify
    remove nitrogen from
  23. energy
    any source of usable power
  24. environment
    the area in which something exists or lives
  25. evaporation
    the process of becoming a suspension of particles in the air
  26. food chain
    community of organisms where each member is eaten by another
  27. food web
    community of organisms with several interrelated food chains
  28. fungus
    a spore-producing organism that lacks chlorophyll
  29. gas
    state of matter distinguished from solid and liquid states
  30. geosphere
    the solid part of the Earth
  31. greenhouse effect
    warming due to solar radiation trapped by the atmosphere
  32. herbivore
    any animal that feeds chiefly on grass and other plants
  33. heterotroph
    an organism that cannot make its own food supply
  34. hydrogen
    a colorless, odorless gas; the lightest chemical element
  35. hydrosphere
    the watery layer of the earth's surface
  36. interdependence
    a relation between entities that rely on each other
  37. law of conservation of energy
    the fundamental principle of physics that the total energy of an isolated system is constant despite internal changes
  38. law of conservation of matter
    a fundamental principle of classical physics that matter cannot be created or destroyed in an isolated system
  39. liquid
    fluid matter having no fixed shape but a fixed volume
  40. matter
    that which has mass and occupies space
  41. microbe
    a minute life form, especially one that causes disease
  42. microorganism
    any living thing that is too small to be seen with the naked eye
  43. molecule
    the simplest structural unit of an element or compound
  44. nitrogen
    a common nonmetallic element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless inert diatomic gas; constitutes 78 percent of the atmosphere by volume; a constituent of all living tissues
  45. nitrogen cycle
    the circulation of nitrogen
  46. nitrogen fixation
    the assimilation of atmospheric nitrogen by soil bacteria and its release for plant use on the death of the bacteria
  47. nutrient
    any substance that can be metabolized to give energy
  48. omnivore
    an animal that feeds on both animal and vegetable substances
  49. organism
    a living thing that can act or function independently
  50. oxygen
    a colorless, odorless gas that is essential for respiration
  51. photosynthesis
    formation of compounds in plants aided by radiant energy
  52. phytoplankton
    photosynthetic or plant constituent of plankton
  53. precipitation
    the falling to earth of any form of water
  54. predator
    any animal that lives by preying on other animals
  55. prey
    animal hunted or caught for food
  56. recycle
    use again after processing
  57. runoff
    the occurrence of surplus liquid exceeding capacity
  58. scavenger
    any animal that feeds on refuse and other decaying matter
  59. solid
    matter with definite shape at room temperature and pressure
  60. species
    taxonomic group whose members can interbreed
  61. state of matter
    (chemistry) the three traditional states of matter are solids (fixed shape and volume) and liquids (fixed volume and shaped by the container) and gases (filling the container)
  62. succession
    the gradual and orderly process of change in an ecosystem
  63. waste
    any materials unused and rejected as worthless or unwanted
Created on Thu Feb 09 11:47:57 EST 2017 (updated Thu Apr 06 12:18:35 EDT 2017)

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