5-13 Energy + Ecosystems Flashcards
What is a trophic level?
The pattern of energy flow in a food chain
What is the basic food chain diagram?
Sun = Producers = Consumers
= Decomposers
What are the types of consumers?
Primary, secondary, tertiary… etc
Depends on the food chain in relation to the producers
Are plants the only type of producer?
No, algae and some bacteria are producers
Which way do arrows point in a food chain diagram?
Towards the consumer
What is biomass?
When sugars that aren’t used up by the plant are used to make biological molecules, these molecules from the biomass of the plant
How can biomass be measured?
In terms of mass of carbon or dry mass of tissue per given area
Can be estimated using calorimetry
What is ecology?
The study of how organisms interact with one another in their environment
What is a population?
A group of individuals of the same species occupying a given area at the same time
What is a community?
All the populations living in a defined area
What is a niche?
Where an organism lives and what it does there
What is an ecosystem?
A community plus all the abiotic factors
What are the limiting factors in aquatic environments?
Salinity, dissolved oxygen content, light, temperature
How much of the sun’s energy do plants convert into organic molecules?
1 - 3%
Why is so little of the sun’s energy converted into organic molecules by plants?
Misses chloroplasts
Is reflected
Not all waves of light can be absorbed
CO2 becomes limiting
