1. Lithosphere (land), Hydrosphere (water), Atmosphere (air), Organisms (living things)

2. Organism (individual living things), Population (group of individuals of the same species occupying a given area at the same time), Community (all populations occupying a given place), Ecosystem (community plus the physical environment in a given place and their interactions), Biome (major type of ecosystem).

3. Ecology: the scientific study of ecosystem structure and function.

4. An ecologist is a scientist studying ecosystem structure and function, whereas environmentalists are individuals interested in the environment (and may or may not be scientists).

5. Energy Source (usually sunlight), Physical Environment (non-living materials), Producers (organisms that make their own food), Consumers (organisms that eat other living things), Decomposers (organisms that eat waste matter and dead organisms).

6. Primary consumers eat producers (thus are herbivores) and a secondary consumers eat primary consumers (thus are carnivores).

7. One-Way flow of energy and matter cycling.

8. Energy: the ability to do work. Energy Quality: measure of ability to do work.

9. First Law of Thermodynamics: energy is neither created nor destroyed.
Second Law of Thermodynamics: energy quality degrades.
Application: Energy in equals energy out (1st Law), but the energy out will be of lower quality (2nd Law).

10. A series of organisms each eating or decomposing the preceding one. It is the tracing on a single unit of energy through a community.

11. A tracing of all energy (and matter) through an ecosystem.

12. Producers (make their own food), Primary Consumers (eat producers), Secondary Consumers (eat primary consumers), etc, Decomoposers (eat dead organisms and the waste products from live organisms).

13. 10% transferred, 90% escapes

14. Gross primary productivity: rate at which producers produce chemical energy (rate of photsynthesis).
Net primary productivity (NPP): rate at which producers produce chemical energy (rate of photsynthesis) minus the rate at which plants use the energy they produce (rate of plant respiration). NPP is the rate at which chemical energy is transferred from producers to consumers and decomposers.

15. Total NPP = open oceans; NPP per square mile = estuaries, wetlands, tropical rainforests.

16. Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorous, Sulfur: the major elements making up living things.

17. Photosynthesis: carbon dioxide + water + solar energy >> sugar + oxygen
Cellular respiration: sugar + oxygen >> carbon dioxide + water + chemical energy.

18. Hydrological Cycle:

• Atmosphere: in by evaporation from lithosphere, hydrosphere and organisms; out by precipitation.
• Lithosphere (soil moisture and ground water): in by precipitation (mostly); out by evaporation, uptake by organisms, and movement into hydrosphere.
• Hydrosphere: in by precipitation and movement from lithosphere; out by evaporation (mostly)
• Organisms: in by uptake from lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and organisms; out by evaporation and wastes.

19. Carbon Cycle.

• Atmosphere: in by respiration, burning fossil fuels/biomass, and volcanoes; out by photosynthesis and dissolving into oceans.
• Lithosphere: in by lack of decomposition (forms ocean sediment and fossil fuels); out by burning fossil fuels, volcanoes, and weathering of sediments..
• Hydrosphere: in by dissolving; out by uptake by organisms
• Organisms: in by photosynthesis and feeding; out by respiration, burning, and lack of decomposition

20. Nitrogen Cycle

• Out of atmosphere by nitrogen fixation (converting inorganic nitrogen to organic nitrogen) caused by nitrogen fixing bacteria mostly.
• Into atmosphere by denitrification (converting organic nitrogen to inorganic nitrogen) caused by denitrifying bacteria.

21. Whether there is a gaseous (atmospheric) phase or not and the presence and activity rate of organisms.

22. Services ecosystems do that help humans (e.g., climate control, generation and maintenance of soil, waste removal and nutrient cycling, pest and disease control, pollination, maintenance of genetic library, water purification and regulation, etc.)

23. Individuals that naturally interbreed and produce fertile offspring.

24. Habitat: an organism's place or type of place it lives and thrives. Includes food, water, cover, and space.
Microhabitat: the parts of the habitat that the organism actually uses.
Niche: what the organism does in its habitat.

25. Generalists (organisms with a generalist niche) have wider habitat/dietary/etc requirements whereas Specialists have narrower habitat/dietary/etc. requirements; therefore generalists tend to be less prone to extinction and specialists are more prone to extinction.

26. It must get there, survive there, and reproduce there.

27. Evolve there, immigrate there (range expansion), or be introduced there by humans.

28. Native species occur naturally in an area, endemic species occur only in that area, and introduced species were brought to an area by humans.

29. Range of tolerance: the range of environmental conditions an organism can survive.

30. Acclimation: physiological changes within an individual to new environmental conditions.

31. Factors outside the range of tolerance of a population/species that limit their population size.

32. Types of Interrelationships

• Mutualism: both species benefit by the interaction
• Competition: both species/individuals lose as a result of their interaction.
• Predation: the predator gains and the prey loses
• Parasitism: the parasite gains and the host loses
• Commensalism: the commensal gains and the host is unaffected

33. Homeostasis: a dynamic steady state

34. Positive feedback loops bring the system away from homeostasis (viscious cycle) and negative feedback loops help keep the system at homeostasis (counteracts change).

35. adapt, migrate, become extinct

36. Ecosystem Persistence: ability of an ecosystem to resist being altered by a disturbance
Ecosystem Resilience: ability of an ecosystem to restore itself close to the original condition following a disturbance..

37. A somewhat directional, somewhat predictable change in ecosystem structure and function following a disturbance

38. Different species require different successional stages and some require a mix of successional stages for long-term survival.