6.5 Flashcards
What are the 3 components of a ecosystem?
Habitat
Population
Community
What is a habitat
The place where an organism lives
What is population
All of the organisms of one species who live in the same place at the same time who can breed together
What is community
The populations of different species who live together and who can interact
What are biotic factors
Living components of an ecosystem that affect other living organisms
What are abiotic factors
Non living components of an ecosystem that affect other living organisms
What is an ecosystem
A community of animals and plants and bacteria interrelated with the physical and chemical environment
Why are ecosystems described as dynamic
Because ecosystems change, the non-living elements change and the living elements grow and die
What are the 3 types of changes in ecosystems that affect population size
Cyclic changes
Directional changes
Unpredictable changes
What are cyclic changes
Changes in an ecosystems that repeat themselves in a rhythm like the tides
What are directional changes
Changes that go in one direction and that last longer than the lifetime of an organism within the ecosystem like erosion
What are unpredictable changes
Changes that have no rhythm or direction like the effects of lightning
what is a trophic level
the levels of a food chain
what is biomass
the combined total weight of a defined set of organisms in a region
what does a pyramid of biomass show
Indicates biomass at each trophic level
and that Area of bars is proportional to the dry mass of all organisms at that trophic level
