AP®︎ Environmental Science: Topic 1.9 Flashcards

An organism’s feeding position in a pathway of energy and matter transfer, numbered upward from producers

An organism that makes organic compounds from inorganic materials and occupies the first trophic level

A producer that uses sunlight to make energy-rich organic compounds through photosynthesis

A producer that uses energy from inorganic chemical reactions rather than sunlight to make organic compounds

An organism that eats producers and occupies the second trophic level

An organism that eats primary consumers and occupies the third trophic level

An organism that eats secondary consumers and occupies the fourth trophic level in that feeding pathway

A predator at the top of a particular food pathway or web with few or no natural predators there

Energy requires continuous input, flows one way through trophic levels, and is ultimately dispersed as heat; matter is conserved and cycles between organisms and the environment

Atoms are neither created nor destroyed in ordinary ecosystem processes but are rearranged and transferred

The repeated movement of matter between organisms and abiotic reservoirs such as air, water, soil, rocks, and sediments

Dead organisms, shed tissue, and wastes that provide organic matter and energy to detrital feeders and decomposers

An organism that consumes relatively large pieces of dead organisms

An organism that ingests and fragments dead organic material and waste

An organism, especially a fungus or bacterium, that chemically breaks down organic matter and releases simpler substances

The transfer of energy and matter from dead material and waste through scavengers, detritivores, and decomposers

A diagram with producers at the broad base and consumers in higher tiers, representing decreasing available energy at higher trophic levels

Arrows point from the organism or material being consumed toward the consumer, showing the direction of energy and matter transfer

An organism that obtains chemical energy and organic matter by consuming producers or other consumers