Plants use sunlight to make sugar molecules in a process called

Glucose is a(n) _____________________________

an organism that makes its own food.

get their energy by eating other organisms

eat only producers.

eat both producers and consumers.

break down dead organisms in an ecosystem and return nutrients to soil, water, and air.

The process of breaking down food to yield energy is called

During cellular respiration, cells absorb ___________________ and use it to release energy from food.

The equation for cellular respiration is essentially the opposite of the equation for

is a sequence in which energy is transferred from one organism to the next

shows many feeding relationships that are possible in an ecosystem.

Each step in the transfer of energy through a food web in an ecosystem is known as a

percent of all the available energy is lost in each trophic level.

form the base of most energy pyramids.

There will be far __________________ organisms at each higher trophic level.

is an essential component of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, which makes up all organisms.

In Short term carbon cycling, producers, such as plants, convert ________ in the atmosphere into carbohydrates during photosynthesis.

Carbon may be converted into ____________________, which make up the hard parts of shells.

Limestone deposits are one of the largest ______________________, or carbon reservoirs, on Earth.

fuels are essentially stored carbon left over from bodies of plants or animals that died millions of years ago.

Around ______ billion metric tons of carbon a year are released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.

All organisms need _________________ to build DNA, which are used to build new cells.

Nitrogen makes up ______ percent of the gases in the atmosphere, but most organisms cannot use atmospheric nitrogen.

include beans, peas, and clover.

are essential to the nitrogen cycle because they break down wastes, such as urine and dung.

After waste is broken down, the vast majority of the nitrogen in the waste is returned to the __________________, where it is available for plants to use in cell growth.

is an element that is a part of many molecules that make up the cells of living organisms. For example, it is needed to form bones and teeth in animals.

The phosphorus cycle is ____________ because it does not normally occur in the atmosphere due to phosphorus not occurring as a gas.

Humans often apply ___________________ to stimulate and maximize plant growth.

Excess fertilizer can enter aquatic ecosystems through

is a gradual process of change and replacement of the types of species in a community.

Each new community that arises often makes it ________________ for the previous community to survive.

succession is a type of succession that occurs on a surface where NO ecosystem existed before.

succession occurs on a surface where an ecosystem has previously existed.

The first organisms to colonize any newly available area and begin the process of ecological succession is called a _________________________ species.

A climax community is the final stable community that is the result of ecological succession.

succession occurs when farmland is abandoned.

a producer that grows on rocks, and is actually composed of two different species.