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32.1: Key Terms

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    115168

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    acid rain
    corrosive rain caused by rainwater falling to the ground through sulfur dioxide gas, turning it into weak sulfuric acid; can damage structures and ecosystems
    analytical model
    ecosystem model that is created with mathematical formulas to predict the effects of environmental disturbances on ecosystem structure and dynamics
    apex consumer
    organism at the top of the food chain
    assimilation
    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
    biogeochemical cycle
    cycling of mineral nutrients through ecosystems and through the nonliving world
    biomagnification
    increasing concentrations of persistent, toxic substances in organisms at each trophic level, from the primary producers to the apex consumers
    biomass
    total weight, at the time of measurement, of living or previously living organisms in a unit area within a trophic level
    chemoautotroph
    organism capable of synthesizing its own food using energy from inorganic molecules
    conceptual model
    (also, compartment model) ecosystem model that consists of flow charts that show the interactions of different compartments of the living and nonliving components of the ecosystem
    dead zone
    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
    detrital food web
    type of food web in which the primary consumers consist of decomposers; these are often associated with grazing food webs within the same ecosystem
    ecological pyramid
    (also, Eltonian pyramid) graphical representation of different trophic levels in an ecosystem based of organism numbers, biomass, or energy content
    ecosystem
    community of living organisms and their interactions with their abiotic environment
    ecosystem dynamics
    study of the changes in ecosystem structure caused by changes in the environment or internal forces
    equilibrium
    steady state of an ecosystem where all organisms are in balance with their environment and each other
    eutrophication
    process whereby nutrient runoff causes the excess growth of microorganisms, depleting dissolved oxygen levels and killing ecosystem fauna
    fallout
    direct deposit of solid minerals on land or in the ocean from the atmosphere
    food chain
    linear representation of a chain of primary producers, primary consumers, and higher-level consumers used to describe ecosystem structure and dynamics
    food web
    graphic representation of a holistic, nonlinear web of primary producers, primary consumers, and higher-level consumers used to describe ecosystem structure and dynamics
    grazing food web
    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
    gross primary productivity
    rate at which photosynthetic primary producers incorporate energy from the sun
    holistic ecosystem model
    study that attempts to quantify the composition, interactions, and dynamics of entire ecosystems; often limited by economic and logistical difficulties, depending on the ecosystem
    hydrosphere
    area of the Earth where water movement and storage occurs
    mesocosm
    portion of a natural ecosystem to be used for experiments
    microcosm
    re-creation of natural ecosystems entirely in a laboratory environment to be used for experiments
    net consumer productivity
    energy content available to the organisms of the next trophic level
    net primary productivity
    energy that remains in the primary producers after accounting for the organisms’ respiration and heat loss
    net production efficiency (NPE)
    measure of the ability of a trophic level to convert the energy it receives from the previous trophic level into biomass
    nonrenewable resource
    resource, such as fossil fuel, that is either regenerated very slowly or not at all
    primary consumer
    trophic level that obtains its energy from the primary producers of an ecosystem
    primary producer
    trophic level that obtains its energy from sunlight, inorganic chemicals, or dead and/or decaying organic material
    residence time
    measure of the average time an individual water molecule stays in a particular reservoir
    resilience (ecological)
    speed at which an ecosystem recovers equilibrium after being disturbed
    resistance (ecological)
    ability of an ecosystem to remain at equilibrium in spite of disturbances
    secondary consumer
    usually a carnivore that eats primary consumers
    simulation model
    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
    subduction
    movement of one tectonic plate beneath another
    tertiary consumer
    carnivore that eats other carnivores
    trophic level
    position of a species or group of species in a food chain or a food web
    trophic level transfer efficiency (TLTE)
    energy transfer efficiency between two successive trophic levels

    This page titled 32.1: Key Terms is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by OpenStax via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.