Environment/Ecosystems

• Environment - All living and non-living things
• Ecosystem - how biotic and abiotic things interact(Includes rocks)
• Indicator species - Extremely tolerant to pollution(Misquitos)
• Pedosphere - Soil-sphere
• Chemosynthesis - Photosynthesis but with chemicals
• Heterotrophs - Organisms that consume other organisms(Herbivore/carnivore)
• Autotrophs - Make their own food, also known as producers
• Food pyramid - Lower levels have more mass and energy
• Each level of the food pyramid has 1/10th the last
• Humans are tertiary consumers
• Food chains usually have 4-5 levels
• Detritivores - feed on dead things, primary consumers
• Ecological niche - The role of a animal in an ecosystem
• Most nitrogen is in the sky as nitrite, it has to be pulled out by bacteria and converted to ammonia, then more bacteria turns it to NO
• Nitrogen fixing bacteria - Takes nitrogen(N2) from the sky and turns it into NH3
• Nitrifying bacteria - convert ammonia to NO2
• Denitrifying bacteria - Turns poop to nitrogen gas (N2)
• Symbiosis - Close relationship between two species
• Mutualism - Relationship in which both species benifit
• Commensalism - Relationship where one species benefits
• Parasitism - One species hurts the other
• Food web - Diagram of what animals eat
• Organism is singular
• Population is group of species in the same area
• Community all different types of animals interacting
• Ecosystem is the interaction of everything
• Migration is very dangerous and energy intensive
• Deaths and births will be equal at the carrying capacity
• Carrying capacity - The maximum amount of life an ecosystem can support
• Limiting factors - A factor that prevent population increases
• Genetic diversity - The amount of diversity in a species
• Habitat change - When humans make a habitat unliveable
• Habitat Fragmentation - When habitats become broken into smaller pieces
• Point source - A direct route to an issue
• Non-point source - Issue does not come from one identifiable source
• Eutrophication - Algae pop explodes -> Bacteria pop explodes -> Sun and oxegen decrease
• The loss of species can lead to feedback loops
• To determine a ecosystems health check the level of chemicals, health of life, recent changes, diversity and INDICATOR SPECIES
• Indicator species - Sensitive species who show the health of an ecosystem
• Acid rain harms nutrient cycles, stresses the ecosystem and acidifies soil