Vocab
warming liquid changing into a vapor
evaporation
What two gases comprise carbon dioxide?
carbon and oxygen
What process has plants using water, carbon dioxide, and light energy to form sugar molecules and oxygen?
photosynthesis
Name two natural stresses on the ecosystem.
drought, flood, fire, ....
cooling vapor changing back to a liquid
condensation
What is the opposite of photosynthesis?
respiration
What changes most nitrogen into a usable compound?
bacteria
How can fires be beneficial to an ecosystem?
They get rid of dead trees, etc. They all cause nutrients to be recycled into the soil.
water droplets falling to the earth
precipitation
What are winds that change direction with the seasons, controlling the wet and dry seasons in some areas?
monsoons
Other than bacteria, what is a "shocking" way to change nitrogen into a usable form?
lightning
How can floods be beneficial to an ecosystem?
They can distribute fertile soil and seeds.
precipitation soaked into and stored in the ground
ground water
What happens to dead organisms to break down their bodies and release carbon back into the air as carbon dioxide?
decomposition
What process has organisms using sugar molecules and oxygen to produce energy, carbon dioxide, and water?
respiration
How is a drought different from other natural disasters?
They do not have a definite beginning or ending.
stress
What do nitrogen compounds help plants do?
grow and make proteins
What process allows plants to release water vapor into the air?
transpiration
After a stress occurs, ecosystems often gradually change in populations or organisms. What is that called?
succession