Ecology - Matter and Energy Flow in Ecosystems- Introductory

If you want a solid understanding of matter and energy flow in ecosystems, review this vocabulary list. Learn about food chains and food webs, herbivores and carnivores, the carbon cycle and the water cycle, and much more. Just go with the flow!
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. atmosphere
    the mass of air surrounding the Earth
  2. biodiversity
    the variety of plant and animal life in a habitat
  3. biosphere
    the regions of the Earth where living organisms exist
  4. carbon
    an abundant nonmetallic element in all organic compounds
  5. carbon cycle
    the organic circulation of carbon from the atmosphere into organisms and back again
  6. carnivore
    a terrestrial or aquatic flesh-eating mammal
  7. condensation
    atmospheric moisture that has changed from a gas
  8. cycle
    a periodically repeated sequence of events
  9. decay
    the organic phenomenon of rotting
  10. energy
    any source of usable power
  11. environment
    the area in which something exists or lives
  12. evaporation
    the process of becoming a suspension of particles in the air
  13. food chain
    community of organisms where each member is eaten by another
  14. food web
    community of organisms with several interrelated food chains
  15. gas
    state of matter distinguished from solid and liquid states
  16. geosphere
    the solid part of the Earth
  17. greenhouse effect
    warming due to solar radiation trapped by the atmosphere
  18. herbivore
    any animal that feeds chiefly on grass and other plants
  19. hydrosphere
    the watery layer of the earth's surface
  20. interdependence
    a relation between entities that rely on each other
  21. law of conservation of energy
    the fundamental principle of physics that the total energy of an isolated system is constant despite internal changes
  22. law of conservation of matter
    a fundamental principle of classical physics that matter cannot be created or destroyed in an isolated system
  23. liquid
    fluid matter having no fixed shape but a fixed volume
  24. matter
    that which has mass and occupies space
  25. microorganism
    any living thing that is too small to be seen with the naked eye
  26. molecule
    the simplest structural unit of an element or compound
  27. nutrient
    any substance that can be metabolized to give energy
  28. omnivore
    an animal that feeds on both animal and vegetable substances
  29. organism
    a living thing that can act or function independently
  30. oxygen
    a colorless, odorless gas that is essential for respiration
  31. precipitation
    the falling to earth of any form of water
  32. predator
    any animal that lives by preying on other animals
  33. prey
    animal hunted or caught for food
  34. recycle
    use again after processing
  35. runoff
    the occurrence of surplus liquid exceeding capacity
  36. scavenger
    any animal that feeds on refuse and other decaying matter
  37. solid
    matter with definite shape at room temperature and pressure
  38. species
    taxonomic group whose members can interbreed
  39. state of matter
    (chemistry) the three traditional states of matter are solids (fixed shape and volume) and liquids (fixed volume and shaped by the container) and gases (filling the container)
  40. waste
    any materials unused and rejected as worthless or unwanted
Created on Thu Feb 09 12:04:35 EST 2017 (updated Thu Apr 06 12:09:52 EDT 2017)

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