4.2 Ecological Pyramids Flashcards
The ___________ shows how an organism may feed on multiple organisms and may fall prey to other organisms. For example, consider the web for krill. The krill feeds on phytoplankton and zooplankton. The krill falls prey to numerous marine organisms such as mackerels, tunas, and whales. The web helps visualize how biomass forms, is used, and reforms again, completing the cycle.
food web
In a marine ecosystem, plants such as kelp, algae, and phytoplankton are the producers. They form the first trophic level. They obtain energy from sunlight, and create their own food via photosynthesis.
Producers.
Organisms that depend on the producers are the primary consumers. They form the second trophic level. Animals such as zooplankton, krill, sea urchins, mussels, and shrimp are _____________.
Primary consumers.
Organisms that rely on primary consumers for food are ___________ consumers. They form the third trophic level. Organisms such as octopuses, crabs, jellyfish, and fish larvae are ______________.
Secondary consumers.
Organisms that feed on secondary consumers are __________ consumers. These consumers form the fourth trophic level. Small fishes, seals, squids, and so on are___________consumers.
Tertiary .
Organisms that feed on tertiary consumers and die without predation are _________ predators. They form the last trophic levels. Some sharks, whales, and dolphins are apex predators. Humans too are ___________.
apex predators.
Organisms that use the decayed matter of dead organisms for nutrition are decomposers, also known as _______.
Detritivores.
The process by which a substance, such as a chemical or pesticide, builds up over time in an organism.
Bioaccumulation.
the measure of the amount of energy transferred at each trophic level. A large amount of energy dissipates in the form of metabolic heat. This phenomenon is a result of entropy (disorder) occurring during energy conversion. Scientists measure TLTE to understand the available energy for successive trophic levels. Low TLTE results in a smaller number of trophic levels.
TLTE: Trophic level transfer efficiency
The efficiency of an organism to convert the available energy into biomass. Scientists measure _____ to understand how efficiently an organism can assimilate energy and provide it to the next trophic level. The higher the _____, the better the efficiency of the organism to assimilate the energy and make it available to the next trophic level. Generally, the ____ for cold-blooded animals such as fish is higher than the _____ for warm-blooded animals such as seagulls. Similarly, it also depends upon the amount of energy utilized by the organism from a given source. For example, humans do not eat the outer shell of crustaceans. Therefore, they miss out on the energy available to them present in the shells.
NPE: Net production efficiency.
This system experience input and output of energy and/or material. For example, in the ocean, the phytoplankton uses sunlight as an energy source to create food. When the herbivores consume phytoplankton, some energy dissipates as heat. This heat energy cannot be recycled back to create phytoplankton. The continuous source of sunlight helps in the growth of new phytoplankton. Therefore, it forms an _____________ in terms of energy.
Open system.
___________ Ecosystems do not experience any new input or output of energy and/or material. Considering the previous example, the phytoplankton receives minerals from the environment. The consumers receive the minerals by consuming phytoplankton. At the top of the food chain, the shark, which is the apex predator, will also receive the minerals that were once present in the phytoplankton. When the shark dies, the detritivores feed on the decaying body of the shark. During this process, they return the minerals back in an inorganic state. Thus, the minerals are recycled back into the system. Therefore, it is an example of a closed ecosystem in terms of minerals.
Closed ecosystems
Ecosystems that do not interact with other ecosystems are _________ ecosystems. Such ecosystems do not experience any energy or material transfer from other ecosystems. The energy in such ecosystems is generally conserved.
Isolated.
