5. ENERGY Flashcards
What is the source of energy for an ecosystem?
sunlight
What is the role of producers, consumers, decomposers in an ecosystem?
-producers = plants, perform photosynthesis, use light energy to make biological moleucles
- Consumers = animlas cannot make their own biological molecules, need to eat plants (primary consumers) or other animals (secondary/tertiary consumers) to obtain biological molecules
- decomposers = bacteria and fungi, perform saprobiotic decomposition, release enzyme onto dead plants/dead animals/animal waste (organic matter) breaking them down to obtain biological molecules
Why do producers (plants) need biological molecules?
- Glucose = respiration, stored as starch, makes cellulose
- Amino Acids = make proteins e.g. enzymes
- Fatty Acid & Glycerol = make triglyceride as an energy store, making phospholipid for membranes
Why do consumers (animals) need biological molecules?
- Glucose = respiration, stored as glycogen
- Amino Acids = make proteins e.g. enzymes
- Fatty Acid & Glycerol = make triglyceride as energy store and insulation/protection, making phospholipid for membranes
Why do decomposers (bacteria/fungi) need biological molecules?
- Glucose = respiration
- Amino Acids = make proteins e.g. enzymes
- Fatty Acid & Glycerol = make phospholipids for membranes
How do organisms carry energy?
- Main Source = Glucose
- Stored as Starch in plants and Glycogen in animals
- Alternative Source = Lipids/Fats/Triglycerides and Proteins
How does energy move through an ecosystem?
by the food chain, beginning with the producer and then moves on to primary consumer, then the secondary consumer, then the tertiary consumer – with decomposers occurring at each stage (trophic level)
Why is all the light energy not utilised by plants in photosynthesis?
only 2% is used in photosynthesis – of the rest, a certain part misses the chloroplast, the other parts would be reflected or the wrong wavelength
Why is energy lost along a food chain?
- not all the glucose made by producers is stored as starch or used to build biomass, as a certain part is lost in respiration (as heat)
- not all the stored energy in the plant is transferred to primary consumers as certain parts of the plant are inedible and indigestible (available to decomposers)
- of the energy the primary consumer obtains, a certain amount is used in respiration, the rest is stored as glycogen and used to build biomass
- not all this stored energy is transferred to secondary consumers due to inedible parts and indigestible parts (available to decomposers)
- only 10% of energy is transferred from producer to primary consumer
- only 20% of energy is transferred from consumer to consumer
- the losses are due to respiration, inedible parts, indigestible parts
- higher proportion is transferred from consumer to consumer because consumers are more edible and digestible, producers are made up of cellulose
- the higher consumers have the highest respiratory losses as they have increased movement (hunt for food)
Effect of energy loss on a food chain?
places a limit on the length of a food chain, those at the higher trophic levels (just quaternary consumers) would not obtain enough energy from the food it consumes
What is Productivity?
- Productivity = Amount of Glucose/Energy available to the organism
- Primary Productivity = Amount of Glucose/Energy available in Plants
- Secondary Productivity = Amount of Glucose/Energy available in Animals
- Net Productivity = Gross Productivity – Respiratory [and Faeces] Losses
- Gross Primary Productivity is the amount of glucose made by plant in photosynthesis,
- Net Primary Productivity is the amount of glucose stored as starch after respiration
- Gross Secondary Productivity is amount of glucose consumed by animal,
- Net Secondary Productivity is amount of glucose stored as glycogen after respiration in all cases, net productivity is the glucose/energy available to organisms at the next stage of food chain
- respiratory losses are higher in consumers then producers due to movement
- and respiratory losses are higher in secondary/tertiary/quaternary consumers then primary consumers as they move more to hunt for food
- and respiratory losses are higher in consumers that have to maintain a constant body temperature (endotherms)
What does a Pyramid of Number represent?
- number of each type of organism at each trophic level – the numbers decrease as we move up trophic levels due to the loss of energy (not as many individuals can be supported)
- can look inverted when it does not take into account mass (e.g. 1 oak tree or millions of fleas)
What does a Pyramid of Biomass represent?
- biomass of each type of organism at each trophic level
- biomass = mass of living tissue (based on dry mass, water excluded)
- biomass includes biological molecules, organelles, cells, tissues, organs
- units for biomass (g per m2 for land based animals, g per m3 for water based animals)
- so as we move along a food chain (up trophic levels) there is a loss of energy due to respiration/inedible parts/indigestible parts, so there is less energy to build biomass, so biomass decreases
What does a Pyramid of Energy represent?
- amount of energy found at each trophic level
- as before, loss of energy occurs along a food chain (respiration, inedible parts, indigestible parts)
What are the units for energy?
kJ/m2 /year
What is photosynthesis?
- using light energy to make glucose (and other biological molecules)
- occurs in plants and algae (both have chloroplast)
Adaptation of plant for photosynthesis?
- leaf located near top of plant = closer to light
- leaf is thin and wide = large surface area for light, short diffusion distance for CO2
- has many veins = connect to xylem to bring in water
- has stomata for gas-exchange (CO2/O2)
- has air spaces to support ease of gas-exchange
- palisade cells located near top of leaf close to the light
- palisade cells are large = large surface area for light
- palisade cells have a thin cell wall = short diffusion distance for CO2
- palisade cells contain many chloroplasts (site of photosynthesis)
- palisade cells have a large vacuole = pushes chloroplast to edge of cell closer to light
Structure of chloroplast?
- site of photosynthesis
- has a double membrane (outer and inner)
- contains discs called thylakoids (contain chlorophyll)
- a stack of thylakoids = granum
- thylakoids are surrounded by a fluid material called stroma
How does photosynthesis take place?
- In 2 stages
- light dependent stage = on thylakoids, makes ATP and reduced NADP
- light independent stage = in stroma, uses the ATP and reduced NADP to make glucose
Describe the light dependent stage?
- light hits chlorophyll
- chlorophyll absorbs the light if correct wavelength
- electrons become excited and are lost from the chlorophyll (photoionisation)
- electrons enter an electron carrier system
- electrons move down the system releasing energy
- this pumps protons from stroma into thylakoid space
- protons accumulate in thylakoid space, then diffuse back into stroma
- they pass though ATP Synthase which joins ADP and Pi to make ATP (mechanism = chmeiosmosis, process = photophosphorylation)
- the electron ends up by joining with NADP to form reduced NADP
- light also hits water
- causes photolysis (breakdown of water due to light)
- forms: H+, e-, O2
- the H+ joins with the reduced NADP (now carries a hydrogen atom: H+ and e-)
- the e- replaces electrons lost from chlorophyll
- O2 given off as waste
Describe the light independent stage?
- involves the calvin cycle
- RuBP (5 carbon) joins with CO2 to make 2 lots of GP (3 carbon)
- the GP is reduced into TP (3 carbon)
- this uses energy from ATP and hydrogen atom from reduced NADP
- the TP can be used to reform RuBP (uses energy from ATP)
- the TP can also be used to form glucose (carbohydrate)
- GP can also be used to form amino acids (proteins) and fatty acids
- TP can also be used to form glycerol
- fatty acids and glycerol will form a lipid
- photosynthesis/calvin cycle = produces all the main biological molecules
What are the limiting factors for photosynthesis?
factors that limit the rate of photosynthesis, when these factors are increased – the rate of photosynthesis increases, these are Light and CO2 and Temperature
Effect of limiting Light on the calvin cycle?
- RuBP decreases – being converted into GP but not being reformed from TP (no ATP)
- GP increases – not converted into TP (no ATP/reduced NADP) but is being formed from RuBP
Effect of limiting CO2 on the calvin cycle?
- RuBP increases – not converted into GP (no CO2) but is being reformed from TP
- GP decreases – not being formed from RuBP (no CO2) but being converted into TP
What is the compensation point in plants?
- the point in the day (light intensity) when the CO2 taken in by photosynthesis equals the amount given out by respiration = no net gas exchange
- at low light intensity: rate of respiration > rate of photosynthesis [CO2 released]
- at high light intensity: rate of photosynthesis > rate of respiration [CO2 absorbed]
How to measure rate of photosynthesis?
- measure amount of CO2 used or measure amount of O2 produced, in a certain time
- one method = photosynthometer