2.2 Ecosystems Flashcards
Ecosystems
Community of independent organisms and their abiotic environment
Photosynthesis
Plants use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to transform it into oxygen and glucose
Respiration
Opposite of photosynthesis where oxygen is transformed into carbon dioxide
Producers
Organisms that can convert light energy into chemical energy and produce their own food
consumer
Organisms that feeds on other organisms
Decomposer
Organisms that feed on dead material and cycle them into the ecosystems
Trophic level
Position in the food chain or web where organisms share the same nutritional relationship to the primary sources of energy
Pyramid of numbers
Counts the number of organisms at every trophic level
Pyramid of biomass
Counts biomass at every trophic level
Pyramid of productivity
Shows how much energy is transfered to the next trophic level
What does the pyramid of productivity look like?
Only 10% of the energy is transferred to the next trophic level, so the energy decreases exponentially and the top level is just a vertical line
Pyramid of numbers pros
Quick overview; good to compare populations
Pyramid of numbers cons
No account for size
Pyramid of biomass pros
Takes size into account which solves some of the problems with pyramids of number that do not always look like pyramids
Pyramid of biomass cons
Difficult to measure; season variation cause inverted pyramid
