Environmental Science: Chapter 5

Long-term carbon cycle

-Some carbon is converted into carbonates and stored in limestone. -Remains of organisms containing carbon accumulate to form fossil fuels.

Food chain

A sequence in which energy is transferred from one organism to the next as each organism eats another organism.

Producers/autotrophs

An organism that makes its own food (energy DIRECTLY from sun). Ex: Grasses, ferns, algae, flowering, plants, trees.

Short-term carbon cycle

Atmospheric CO2 ---> producers (photosynthesis produces glucose) ---> consumers eat producers ---> consumers release CO2 as a result of cellular respiration.

Chemosynthesis

Bacteria (producers) convert hydrogen sulfide to food.

Secondary Consumers

Carnivores that eat herbivores.

Decomposers

Consumers that get their food by breaking down dead organisms. Ex: Fungi, bacteria.

Energy is used to carry out daily activities

Digestion, respiration, and locomotion.

Omnivores

Eat BOTH producers (plants) and consumers (meat). Ex: Humans, bears.

Carnivores

Eat other consumers. MEAT eaters only. Ex: Wolves, lions.

Tertiary Consumers

Eats carnivores.

Herbivores

Eats producers. PLANT eaters only. Ex: Giraffe, dear, rabbit.

Energy Pyramid

Helps us visualize the loss of energy from one trophic level to the next.

Primary Consumers

Herbivores that eat algae and plants.

Photosynthesis

Light energy enters an ecosystem when a plant uses sunlight to make sugar molecules.

Law of conservation of matter

Matter is neither created nor destroyed, only changed in form.

Phosphorus cycle

Movement of phosphorus from the environment to organisms and back to the environment. *Helps to form bones and teeth.*

Consumers/heterotrophs

Organisms that get their energy by eating other organisms (energy INDIRECTLY from sun). Ex: Mice, starfish, elephants, humans, turtles, ants.

Carbon cycle

Process by which carbon is cycled between atmosphere, land, water, and organisms.

Cellular Respiration

Process of breaking down food to yield energy.

Food web

Shows the many feeding relationships that are possible in an ecosystem.

Deep-Ocean Ecosystems

Some organisms live too deep in the ocean for sunlight to reach them.

Organisms use light energy to make

Sugar.

Calorie

The energy content of food.

Trophic energy

The energy transferred from one level to the next in a food chain or food web. *Each time energy is transferred, some energy is lost.*

Nitrogen fixing bacteria

The only organisms that can convert atmospheric nitrogen into a usable form.

Sun

The ultimate source of energy for most organisms.