Ecosystems
All living organisms in an area
What is a community?
The plants & animals found in a region; based on yearly temp. + precipitation (climate)
What is a Biome?
How much salt there is in a body of water, determines which species can survive & usability for drinking
What is Salinity?
Plants & animals taking N in and incorporating it into their body
What is Assimilation?
Animals that eat secondary consumers or carnivores & omnivores (aka - top/apex predators)
What is Tertiary Consumers?
The plants and animals found in a given region (determined by climate)
What is a Biome?
nutrient-poor soil (high competition from so many diff. plant species)
What is Tropical RF?
Influences how much sunlight can penetrate and reach plants below the surface for photosynthesis
What is Depth?
Soil bacteria, microbes & decomposers converting waste & dead biomass back into NH3 and returning it to soil
What is Ammonification?
Animals that eat primary consumers or herbivores (aka - carnivores & omnivores)
What are Secondary Consumers?
Relationship that benefits both organisms (coral reef)
What is Mutualism?
nutrient-poor soil (low temp. & low decomp. rate of dead org. matter)
What is Boreal Forest?
Determines which plants & organisms can survive, how much O2 can dissolve into water
What is Flow?
Conversion of NH4 into nitrite (NO2-) & then nitrate (NO3) by soil bacteria
What is Nitrification?
Animals that eat plants (herbivores)
What are Primary Consumers?
One organism using another for energy source (hunters, parasites, even herbivores)
What is Predation?
nutrient-rich soil (lots of dead org. matter - leaves & warm temp/moisture for decomp.)
What is a temp forest?
Area with soil submerged/saturated in water for at least part of the year, but shallow enough for emergent plants
What is Wetland?
Conversion of soil N (NO3) into nitrous oxide (N2O) gas which returns to atmosphere
What is Denitrification?
(plants) “produce”- really convert sun’s light energy into chemical energy (glucose)
What are Producers?
Relationship that benefits one organism & doesn’t impact the other (birds nest in trees)
What is Commensalism?
(distance from eq) determines temp. & precip.
What is Latitude?
Areas where rivers empty into the ocean
What are Estuaries?
Excess fertilizer use can lead to NH3 gas entering atm.
What is Ammonia volatilization?
Since energy is needed for growth & only 10% of energy transfers from one level to the next, only 10% of the biomass can be grown/supported
What is the 10% rule?