Trophic Levels
An organism that can make its own food
What is a producer?
Each step in a food pyramid or food web.
What is a trophic level?
the movement of carbon from the nonliving environment into living things and back
What is the carbon cycle?
part of Earth in which life exists including land, water, and air or atmosphere
What is the biosphere?
Plants use the sun's energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into sugars
What is photosynthesis?
An organism that eats consumers
What is a primary consumer?
accumulation of pollutants at successive levels of the food chain.
What is biomagnification?
the movement of water through the biosphere
What is the hydrologic cycle?
Natural situation in which heat is retained in Earth's atmosphere by carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and other gases.
What is the greenhouse effect?
Respiration that requires oxygen
What is aerobic respiration?
What is a secondary consumer?
The energy captured by producers in an ecosystem minus the energy producers respire
What is net primary productivity (NPP)?
The transfer of nitrogen from the atmosphere to the soil, to living organisms, and back to the atmosphere
What is the nitrogen cycle?
2nd layer of atmosphere; extends from 10 to 30 miles up; location of ozone layer
What is the stratosphere?
Respiration that does not require oxygen
What is anaerobic respiration?
An animal that feeds off of animal-eating animals.
what is a Tertiary consumer?
An organism that consumes both plants and animals
What is an Omnivore?
the movement and exchange of organic and inorganic matter back into the production of living matter.
What is the nutrient cycle?
0-17 km above the Earth's surface, the site of weather, and organisms, contains most atmospheric water vapor.
What is the troposphere?
Process by which cells release energy in the absence of oxygen
What is fermentation?
Diagram representing the flow of energy through each trophic level in a food chain or food web.
What is the pyramid of energy flow?
An animal that consumes animal remains and other dead matter.
What is a detrivore?
process in which elements, chemical compounds, and other forms of matter are passed from one organism to another
What is the biogeochemical cycle?
the solid part of the earth consisting of the crust and outer mantle
What is the geosphere?
The accumulation of a substance, such as a toxic chemical, in various tissues of a living organism.
What is bioaccumulation?