ecosystem Flashcards
(19 cards)
the process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water.
photosynthesis
an organism deriving its nutritional requirements from complex organic substances
Heterotrophs
an animal that feeds on plants
Herbivores
an animal that feeds on flesh
carnivores
an organism that can create its own food, typically through photosynthesis using sunlight
producer
an organism that regularly consumes a variety of material, including plants, animals, algae, and fungi.
omnivores
an organism that breaks down dead or decaying organic material
decomposers
a series of organisms that eat one another so that energy and nutrients flow from one to the next.
food chain
(in green plant cells) a plastid that contains chlorophyll and in which photosynthesis takes place.
chloroplast
a green pigment, present in all green plants and in cyanobacteria, responsible for the absorption of light to provide energy for photosynthesis
Chlorophyll
a diagram that shows how organisms in an ecosystem are connected by feeding relationships
food web
the food chain and the same nutritional relationship to the primary sources of energy.
trophic level
an organism that can produce its own food, using energy from sunlight (photosynthesis)
autotroph
an organism that cannot produce its own food and must eat other organisms (plants or animals) to obtain energy
consumers
describe one way consumers
depends on producers; cows need to eat grass to get energy
list two types of consumers
primary consumer (cow) and secondary consumer (lion)
how is energy transferred
plant uses energy from sunlight to make sugar and then passes on to consumers
omnivores
eaters of everything
cellular respiration
process where organisms use oxygen to break down food (sugar) to produce energy
