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KevinPopa
on FreezingBlue Flashcards.
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Ecosystem:
All interacting parts of a biological community and that community's environment.
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Sustainable Ecosystem:
An ecosystem that is capable of withstanding pressure and giving support to multiple organisms.
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Biotic:
All of the living or recently living parts of the ecosystem.
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Abiotic:
The non living parts of an ecosystem that organisms need to survive.
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Lithosphere:
The hard part of the Earth's surface including rock and soil.
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Hydrosphere:
The liquid part of the Earth's surface including; salt water oceans, fresh water lakes, and rivers.
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Atmosphere:
Layer of gases above Earth's surface includes air.
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Biosphere
The living part of the Earth's surface; not separate from the other abiotic spheres: includes life in water, air, and soil.
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Nutrients:
These are chemicals that are needed by living organisms to survive.
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Eutrophication
This is the process of adding nitrogen or phosphorus to an ecosystem that pushes it beyond the normal nutrient cycle and beyond sustainability.
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Photosynthesis
This is the conversion of solar energy to chemical energy to be used as "food".
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Trophic Levels
Categories of organisms defined by how the organism gains energy.
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Biomass:
The total mass of living organisms in a defined group or area.
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Trophic Efficiency:
A measure of the amount of energy or biomass that is transferred from one trophic level to the next.
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Bioaccumulation:
A process in which materials, especially toxins, are ingested by an organism at a rate greater than they are eliminated.
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Biomagnification:
This is the increase in the concentration of a toxin as it moves from one trophic level to the next.
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Cellular Respiration:
A process that releases energy from organic molecules in the presence of oxygen. Carbohydrates mostly. Used by most living organisms and is essential to life.
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Fermentation:
This is a process that releases energy from organic molecules in the lack of oxygen. Organisms such as bacteria and some fungi use fermentation to release the energy in glucose.
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Greenhouse Gases:
These are atmospheric gases that prevent heat from leaving the atmosphere, thus increasing the temperature of the atmosphere.
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Greenhouse Effect:
The warming of earth as a result of greenhouse gases, which trap some of the energy that would otherwise leave the earth.
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Acid Precipitation:
Rain, snow,or fog that is unnaturally acidic due to gases in the atmosphere that react with water to form acids.
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