Earth's Spheres
All of Earth’s water (rivers, glaciers, the ocean) makes up this sphere.
What is the hydrosphere?
In most food chains, energy starts with this group of organisms.
What are producers?
This term describes the maximum number of individuals an environment can support sustainably.
What is carrying capacity?
When individuals move into a population, this process occurs.
What is immigration?
Plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen during this process.
What is photosynthesis?
This sphere includes all the solid parts of Earth, from mountains to the crust beneath our feet.
What is the geosphere?
An animal that eats only plants falls under this consumer category.
What is a herbivore?
When a population keeps growing until food, space, or water runs low, these things are acting as what?
What are limiting factors?
When individuals leave a population to live elsewhere, this process takes place.
What is emigration?
This term describes any resource that can be replaced naturally over a short period of time, like sunlight or wind.
What is a renewable resource?
All living organisms are part of this sphere.
What is the biosphere?
This organism sits at the top of a food chain with no natural predators.
What is an apex predator?
Lack of shelter during winter is an example of this type of limiting factor.
What is an abiotic limiting factor?
This population measurement tells you how many individuals die in a given time period.
What is death rate?
This type of pollution occurs when too many nutrients enter a body of water, causing algae to grow like it’s throwing a party it can’t handle.
What is eutrophication?
This Earth sphere includes your lungs when you breathe, your water bottle when it’s full, and the ground under your feet—all at the same time.
None of them alone. Those items belong to multiple spheres interacting, not just one!
This term describes a complex network of feeding relationships among organisms.
What is a food web?
Competition for mates or territory is an example of this kind of limiting factor.
What is a biotic limiting factor?
The movement of organisms from one habitat to another can increase genetic diversity through this action.
What is immigration?
These species, when introduced to a new environment, can outcompete native species and throw the ecosystem into chaos.
What are invasive species?
The layer of gases surrounding Earth belongs to this sphere.
What is the atmosphere?
Organisms like fungi and bacteria that break down dead matter have this ecological role.
What are decomposers?
This happens when more individuals enter a population than leave it.
What is population growth?
This term describes how many new individuals are added to a population through reproduction.
What is birth rate?
This ecological concept describes the variety of genes, species, and ecosystems in an area — and losing it makes environments way less resilient.
What is biodiversity?