| A | B |
|---|
| decomposers | bacteria that recycle existing organic nitrogen |
| Carboniferous Period | a time 300 million years B.C.E.when much fossil fuel was formed |
| nitrogen fixing bacteria | bacteria that convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia |
| nitrifying bacteria | bateria that convert ammonia into nitrate/nitrite |
| denitrifying bacteria | bacteria that convert nitrates into atmospheric nitrogen |
| mycorrhizal fungi | fungi that live in or on roots of plants helping plants draw nutrients from soil |
| acid precipitation | rain and snow that contain higher than normal levels of acid |
| eutrophication | a water system that has been enriched with nutrients causing an increase in bacterial grwoth and alga blooms |
| algal bloom | population explosion of algae due to increased levels of nutrients in a water system |
| biodiversity | variety of living organisms that inhabit an ecosystem |
| sustainability | ability of to meet needs of present generation without compromising the needs of future generations |
| sustainable development | use of renewable resources in a way that does not harm the environment |
| crop rotation | a natural method of fertilizing farm fields by plantin legumes on alternate years |
| Rhizobia | bacterium that lives in root nodules of legume plants and can fix nitrogen |
| legumes | peas or beans for example |
| products of photosynthesis | sugar and oxygen |
| products of respiration or reactants for photosynthesis | water and carbon dioxide |
| reactants of respiration or products for photosynthesis | sugar and oxygen |
| reactants for respiration | sugar and oxygen |
| Haber | discovered how to make ammonia & nitrates artificially |
| leeching | loss of soil nutrients washed away due to increased acid levels |
| nitrogen overload | overwhelming amounts of nitrogen compounds added to an ecosystem due to human activity |
| dead zone | a huge area of oxygen depleted seawater in the Gulf of Mexico 18 000 sqare km in size |
| carbohydrate | long chained molecule made up of sugar units |
| hydrocarbon | molecule made up of long carbon chains with hydrogens attached |
