Dust to Dust
An organism that can capture energy from nonliving sources and convert it into forms living cells can use is called a(n) ____________________.
Autotroph
A series of steps in an ecosystem in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten is called a(n) ________ ________.
Food Chain
Organisms that rely on the consumption of other organisms for energy and nutrients are called con______.
Consumers
An organism that obtains food by consuming other living things is called a(n) ___________________.
Heterotroph
Eats only meat
Carnivore
_____________ are elements than an organism needs to sustain life.
Nutrients
_______________ are tiny floating algae/producers that can be found in the open ocean and are mostly eaten by small animal plankton.
Phytoplankton
A(n) ___________ ____ is a network of complex interactions formed by the feeding relationships among the various organisms in an ecosystem.
Food web
The total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level is called its ____________________.
Biomass
Eats both meat and plants
omnivore
___________ is material made up of decaying bits of plants and animal material.
Detritus
______________ is a process in which chemical energy is used to produce carbohydrates.
Chemosynthesis
A(n) ________ __________ is a first producer of energy rich compounds that are later used by other organisms.
Primary Producer
Each step in a food chain or web is called a(n) ________ _________.
Trophic Level
Another name for organisms at the top of the food pyramid
Teritary Consumers
A ______________cycle is a process in which elements, chemical compounds, and other forms of matter are passed from one part of the biosphere to another.
Biochemical
_________ _________ is the process of converting nitrogen gas into nitrogen compounds that plants can absorb and use.
Nitrogen Fixation
______________ is a process used by plants and algae to harness solar energy to build living tissues.
Photosynthesis
An ecological_____________ is a model of the relative amounts of energy or matter contained within each trophic level in a given food chain or food web.
Pyramid
Occupy the second to bottom level of a trophic pyramid
Primary consumers
Some bacteria obtain energy by converting nitrates into nitrogen gas, which is released into the atmosphere in a process called _________________.
Denitrification
A single essential nutrient that limits productivity in an ecosystem is called a(n) ________ __________.
Limiting nutrient
In a food web or pyramid only ________ percent of the energy is passed on to the next organisms/level.
ten
Most energy conversions all start with the ____
Sun
List two common organisms that feed off of apex predators when they die
detritus, decomposers, worms, fungi, or scavengers