9.1 Ecosystems Flashcards
define ecosystem
all the living things (biotic components)
together with all the non-living things (abiotic
components) in an area.
define population
all the organisms that belong to that same species living in a defined area at the same time
Community:
a group of populations of different species that live together in an area and interact with each other.
define habitat
the place within an ecosystem in which a particular species of organisms lives
define niche
the role of a species within the ecosystem.
define biotic and give examples biotic (living) components of an ecosystem
living things-
producers, primary, secondary and
tertiary consumers, decomposers
Define abiotic and give examples of abiotic (non-
living) components of an ecosystem
Non-living things
components of the environment:
temperature, humidity, water, oxygen,
salinity, light, pH
Producers
organisms within an ecosystem that can
carry out
photosynthesis.
Primary consumers:
organisms within an ecosystem
that derive
their food from producers.
Secondary consumers:
organisms within an ecosystem that derive their food from primary consumers.
Tertiary consumers:
Tertiary consumers: organisms within an ecosystem
that derive
their food from secondary consumers
Decomposers
organisms within an ecosystem that
derive their
food from the bodies of dead organisms.
biotic interactions (3)
competition, predation and pollination
competition
Habitats have limited amounts of the resources needed by living organisms.
Organisms must compete with others in order to get enough of these resources to survive. If they are unsuccessful and cannot move to another habitat, they will die.
Predation
when one animal eats another.
Pollination
the transfer of pollen grains from the anther to the stigma for it to fuse with the ovule
describe the step of photosynthesis
The steps of photosynthesis
• Step 1: chlorophyll in the chloroplast of leave absorb sunlight which is converted to chemical energy during photosynthesis.
• Step 2: Carbon dioxide is diffuse through the stomata of the leaves and water is absorb through osmosis from the root of plants.
• Step 3: the carbon dioxide and water combine in the presence of sunlight and chlorophyll to produce glucose and waste product oxygen.
photosynthesis word equation
sunlight
Carbon dioxide + water —> Glucose + oxygen
chlorophyll
Importance of Chlorophyll
- trap light energy
- Converts light energy into chemical energy
Food Chain
a chart showing the flow of energy (food) from one organism to the next beginning with a producer
What does the arrow repersent in a food chain
Arrows represent the flow of energy …Not Who Eats Who.
trophic level
- Each level in the transfer of energy
or - The position an organism occuy in an food chain or web
The 1st Trophic Level
- Consists of primary producers
2nd Trophic Level
- Consists of primary consumers
The 3rd and Any Higher Trophic Leve
Consists of consumers.
Food Web
A food web represents many interconnected food chains describing various paths that energy
takes through an ecosystem.
what is are ecological Pyramids?
- Models that show how energy flows through ecosystems.
- Pyramids can show the relative amounts of energy, biomass, or numbers of organisms at
- each trophic level in an ecosystem.
- The base of the pyramid represents producers
types of ecological pyramids
numbers and energy
Pyramid of numbers:
- a diagram that represents the number of organisms at each trophic level in an ecosystem by a horizontal bar whose lenth (wideness) is proportional to the numbers at that level.
- doesnt always have a pyramid shape
Tree(1)–> insects(1000+)–> birds(400)
Energy pyramids
- compare energy used by producers and other organisms on trophic levels
- Between each tier of an energy pyramid, up to 90 percent of the energy is lost
- Only 10 percent of the energy at each tier is transferred from one trophic level to the next
- as the trophic level increases the amount of energy transferred decreases
how is energy lost at each trophic level?
- as heat to the environment
- cellular respiration
- growth
Why cant food chains have more than 4 or 5 trophic levels?
there’s not enough energy to pass on
Respiration
process by which living organisms break down glucose in presence of oxygen to release
CO2 , water and energy to carry out process of life such as movement
word equation of aerobic respiration
Glucose+oxygen-> carbon dioxdie+water
the carbon cycle process
- Carbon present in the atmosphere is absorbed by plants for photosynthesis
- These plants are then consumed by animals and carbon gets bio accumulated into their bodies
- It is returned by respiration; in plants, in animals and in decomposing
microorganisms - released to the atmosphere through the combustion of fuels containing carbon
