Autotrophs- An organism that produces its own food from inorganic compounds and a

source of energy. There are photoautotrophs and chemical autotrophs.

biological production- The capture of usable energy from the environment to produce
organic compounds in which that energy is stored.
Biomass- The amount of living material, or the amount of organic material contained in
living organisms, both as live and dead material, as in the leaves (live) and stem wood
(dead) of trees.
Bog- An open body of water with surface inlets - usually small streams - but no surface
outlet.
Carnivores- Organisms that feed on other live organisms; usually applied to animals
that eat other animals.
Chemoautotrophs- Autotrophic bacteria that can derive energy from chemical reactions
of simple inorganic compounds.
chronic patchiness- A situation where ecological succession does not occur. One
species may replace another, or an individual of the first species may replace it, but no
overall general temporal pattern is established. Characteristic of harsh environments
such as deserts.
community effect- When the interaction between two species leads to changes in the
presence or absence of other species or to a large change in abundance of other
species, then a community effect is said to have occurred.
Decomposers- Organisms that feed on dead organic matter.
early- successional species- Species that occur only or primarily during early stages of
succession.
ecological community- This term has two meanings. (1) A conceptual/ functional
meaning: a set of interacting species that occur in the same place (sometimes extended
to mean a set that interacts in a way to sustain life.) (2) An operational meaning: a set of
species found in an area, whether they are interacting.
ecological succession- The process of the development of an ecological community or
ecosystem, usually viewed as a series of stages- early, middle, late, mature (or climax),
and sometimes post climax. Primary succession is an original establishment; secondary
succession is a reestablishment.
Ecosystem- An ecological community and its local, non-biological community. An
ecosystem is the minimum system that includes and sustains life. It must include at
least an autotroph, a decomposer, a liquid medium, a source and sink of energy, and all
the chemical elements required by the autotroph and the decomposer.
ecosystem energy flow- The flow of energy through an ecosystem- from the external
environment through a series of organisms and back to the external environment.
energy efficiency- Refers to both first- law efficiency and second law efficiency, where
first- law efficiency is the ratio of the actual amount of energy delivered to the amount of
energy supplied to meet a particular need, and second law efficiency is the ratio of the
maximum available work needed to perform a particular task to the actual work used to
perform that task.
Entropy- A measure in a system of the amount of energy that is unavailable for useful
work. As the disorder of a system increases, the entropy in a system also increases.
first law of thermodynamics- The principle that energy may not be created or destroyed
but is always conserved.
food chains- The linkage of who feeds on whom.
food webs- A network of who feeds on whom or a diagram showing who feeds on
whom. It is synonymous with food chain.
gross production- Production before respiration losses are subtracted.
Herbivores- An organism that feeds on an autotroph.
Heterotrophs- Organisms that cannot make their own food from inorganic chemicals
and a source of energy and therefore live by feeding on other organisms.
keystone species- A species, such as the sea otter, that has a large effect on its
community or ecosystem so that its removal or addition to the community leads to major
changes in the abundances of many or all other species.
late- successional species- Species that occur only or primarily in, or are dominant in,
late stages in succession.
middle- successional species- Species that occur in between early or late successional
species.
net production- The production that remains after utilization. In a population, net
production is sometimes measured as the net change in the numbers of individuals. It is
also measured as the net change in biomass or in stored energy. In terms of energy, it
is equal to the gross production minus the energy used in respiration.
Omnivores- Organisms that eat both plants and animals.
pelagic ecosystem- An ecosystem that occurs in the floating part of an ocean or sea,
without any physical connections to the bottom of the ocean or sea.
Photosynthesis- Synthesis of sugars from carbon dioxide and water by living organisms
using light as energy. Oxygen is given off as a by- product.
primary production- The production of raw materials for industry.
primary succession- The initial establishment and development of an ecosystem.
secondary production- Sometimes defined to only include consumption of primary
producers by herbivorous consumers (with tertiary production referring to carnivorous
consumers) but is more commonly defined to include all biomass generation by
heterotrophs.
secondary succession- The reestablishment of an ecosystem where there are remnants
of a previous biological community.
second law of thermodynamics- The law of thermodynamics which states that no use of
energy in the real (not theoretical) world can ever be 100% efficient.
Succession- The process of establishment and development of an ecosystem.
trophic level- In an ecological community, all the organisms that are the same number of
food- chain steps from the primary source of energy. For example, in a grassland the
green grasses are on the first trophic level, grasshoppers are on the second, birds that
feed on grasshoppers are on the third, and so forth.
Watershed- An area of land that forms the drainage of a stream or river. If a drop of rain
falls anywhere within a watershed, it can flow out only through that same stream or
river.