Openstax Biology - Chapter 46 - Ecosystems

Front 1

acid rain

Back 1

corrosive rain caused by rainwater falling to the ground through sulfur dioxide gas, turning it into weak sulfuric acid; can damage structures and ecosystems

Front 2

analytical model

Back 2

ecosystem model that is created with mathematical formulas to predict the effects of environmental disturbances on ecosystem structure and dynamics

Front 3

apex consumer

Back 3

organism at the top of the food chain

Front 4

assimilation

Back 4

biomass consumed and assimilated from the previous trophic level after accounting for the energy lost due to incomplete ingestion of food, energy used for respiration, and energy lost as waste

Front 5

biogeochemical cycle

Back 5

cycling of mineral nutrients through ecosystems and through the non-living world

Front 6

biomagnification

Back 6

increasing concentrations of persistent, toxic substances in organisms at each trophic level, from the primary producers to the apex consumers

Front 7

biomass

Back 7

total weight, at the time of measurement, of living or previously living organisms in a unit area within a trophic level

Front 8

chemoautotroph

Back 8

organism capable of synthesizing its own food using energy from inorganic molecules

Front 9

conceptual model

Back 9

ecosystem model that consists of flow charts that show the interactions of different compartments of the living and non-living components of the ecosystem; also compartment model

Front 10

dead zone

Back 10

area within an ecosystem in lakes and near the mouths of rivers where large areas of ecosystems are depleted of their normal flora and fauna; these zones can be caused by eutrophication, oil spills, dumping of toxic chemicals, and other human activities

Front 11

detrital food web

Back 11

type of food web in which the primary consumers consist of decomposers; these are often associated with grazing food webs within the same ecosystem

Front 12

ecological pyramid

Back 12

graphical representation of different trophic levels in an ecosystem based on organism numbers, biomass, or energy content; also known as Eltonian pyramid

Front 13

ecosystem

Back 13

community of living organisms and their interactions with their abiotic environment

Front 14

ecosystem dynamics

Back 14

study of the changes in ecosystem structure caused by changes in the environment or internal forces

Front 15

equilibrium

Back 15

steady state of an ecosystem where all organisms are in balance with their environment and each other

Front 16

eutrophication

Back 16

process whereby nutrient runoff causes the excess growth of microorganisms, depleting dissolved oxygen levels and killing ecosystem fauna

Front 17

fallout

Back 17

direct deposit of solid minerals on land or in the ocean from the atmosphere

Front 18

food chain

Back 18

linear representation of a chain of primary producers, primary consumers, and higher-level consumers used to describe ecosystem structure and dynamics

Front 19

food web

Back 19

graphic representation of a holistic, non-linear web of primary producers, primary consumers, and higher-level consumers used to describe ecosystem structure and dynamics

Front 20

grazing food web

Back 20

type of food web in which the primary producers are either plants on land or phytoplankton in the water; often associated with a detrital food web within the same ecosystem

Front 21

gross primary productivity

Back 21

rate at which photosynthetic primary producers incorporate energy from the sun

Front 22

holistic ecosystem model

Back 22

study that attempts to quantify the composition, interactions, and dynamics of entire ecosystems; often limited by economic and logistical difficulties, depending on the ecosystem

Front 23

hydrosphere

Back 23

area of the Earth where water movement and storage occurs

Front 24

mesocosm

Back 24

portion of a natural ecosystem to be used for experiments

Front 25

microcosm

Back 25

re-creation of natural ecosystems entirely in a laboratory environment to be used for experiments

Front 26

net consumer productivity

Back 26

energy content available to the organisms of the next trophic level

Front 27

net production efficiency

Back 27

measure of the ability of a trophic level to convert the energy itreceives from the previous trophic level into biomas; also known as NPE

Front 28

non-renewable resource

Back 28

resource, such as fossil fuel, that is either regenerated very slowly or not at all

Front 29

primary consumer

Back 29

trophic level that obtains its energy from the primary producers of an ecosystem

Front 30

primary producer

Back 30

trophic level that obtains its energy from sunlight, inorganic chemicals, or dead and/or decaying organic material

Front 31

residence

Back 31

time measure of the average time an individual water molecule stays in a particular reservoir

Front 32

resilience

Back 32

speed at which an ecosystem recovers equilibrium after being disturbed

Front 33

resistance

Back 33

ability of an ecosystem to remain at equilibrium in spite of disturbances secondary consumer usually a carnivore that eat primary consumers

Front 34

simulation model

Back 34

ecosystem model that is created with computer programs to holistically model ecosystems and to predict the effects of environmental disturbances on ecosystem structure and dynamics

Front 35

subduction

Back 35

movement of one tectonic plate beneath another

Front 36

tertiary consumer

Back 36

carnivore that eats other carnivores

Front 37

trophic level

Back 37

position of a species or group of species in a food chain or a food web

Front 38

trophic level transfer efficiency

Back 38

energy transfer efficiency between two successive trophic levels; also known as TLTE

Front 39

net primary productivity

Back 39

energy that remains in the primary producers after accounting for the organisms’ respiration and heat loss