the movement of an element from the nonliving environment (air) into living things and back, involves photosynthesis and respiration to a high degree
What is the carbon cycle?
100
a species that colonizes an uninhabited area and that starts an ecological cycle in which many other species become established
What is pioneer species?
100
an organism that eats other organisms or organic matter instead of producing its own nutrients or obtaining nutrients from inorganic sources
What is a consumer ?
100
one of the steps in a food chain or food pyramid; examples include producers and primary, secondary, and tertiary consumers
What is a trophic level?
100
fertilizer containing nitrogen and phosphorus runoff from the land causing algal blooms
What is the effect of over fertilizing?
200
the process in which nitrogen circulates among the air, soil, water, plants, and animals in an ecosystem. and bacteria are needed to "fix" this element into a usable compound from the air.
What is the nitrogen cycle?
200
A final, stable community in equilibrium with the environment
What is a climax community?
200
an organism that feeds by breaking down organic matter from dead organisms; examples include bacteria and fungi
What is a decomposer?
200
the approximate amount of enrgy passed on from one trophic level to the next
What is 10%?
200
burning too much fossil fuels and deforestation
What can cause too much CO2 in the atmosphere?
300
the cyclic movement of this element in different chemical forms from the environment (rocks and soil only) to organisms and then back to the environment, sometimes the long-term part is millions of years.
What is the phosphorus cycle?
300
a gradual process of change and replacement in a
community
What is ecological succession?
300
the pathway of energy (linear) transfer through various stages as a result of the feeding patterns of a series of organisms
What is a food chain?
300
another name for an organisms that can make organic molecules from inorganic molecules; a photosynthetic or chemosynthetic producer that serves as the basic
food source in an ecosystem
What is an autotroph?
300
the effects of sulfur and nitrogen compounds mixing with water in the atmosphere
What is acid rain (deposition)?
400
These bacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia and eventually fertilizer for plants
What are nitrogen-fixing bacteria?
400
The process by which one community replaces another community that has been partially or totally destroyed, such as a farmer's field after its plowed but not used.
What is secondary succession?
400
a diagram that shows the feeding relationships between organisms in an ecosystem
What is a food web?
400
the approximate amount of energy lost between trophic levels
What is 90%?
400
the results are fish and other organisms die due to reduced oxygen levels
What an algal bloom?
500
a compound needed for all life which does not need the biotic part to help it cycle.
What is the water cycle?
500
Succession that begins in an area that previously did not
support life, such as a new volcanic island
What is primary succession?
500
an organism that can make organic molecules from inorganic molecules; a photosynthetic or chemosynthetic autotroph that serves as the basic food source in an ecosystem
What is a producer (or autotroph)?
500
there are only a few organisms at the top of any energy pyramid
What is the result of energy loss between trophic levels?
500
By burning too much fossil fuels, these compounds cause acid deposition
What are sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide?