B1.5 & 1.6 Energy And Biomass In Food Chains & Waste Materials From Plants And Animals Flashcards
Draw an example of a food chain:
•Grass–>grasshopper–>mouse–>snake–>bird
What do the arrows of a food chain represent?
•The direction in which food energy is transferred.
What are the food chain levels called?
•Trophic levels, a feeding level.
What do food chains start with?
•Producers.
What are food chains?
•A diagram to represent feeding relationships between organisms, showing direction of energy flow from one organism to the next.
How are food chains made more efficient?
•Reducing the number of stages.
•Limit an animal’s movement.
•Keeping the organism warm.
E.g. Battery farms.
How is energy transfer lost?
- Respiration.
- Heat.
- Waste- faeces, urine.
- Reproduction.
Why are the amounts of material and energy contained in the biomass of organisms reduced at each successive stage in a food chain?
Energy is lost through... •Organisms' waste materials. •Respiration- it supplies all the energy needed for living process. •Movement. •Heat to the surroundings.
In a food chain, as you move up a trophic level…
•There’s less energy, less biomass and fewer organisms.
How does energy transfer work in green plants and algae?
- They capture a small part of the solar energy which reaches them.
- Energy from the sun is used to make food during photosynthesis.
- Energy is stored in the substances which make up the cells of plants.
- The energy works its way through the food chain as animals eat them and each other.
The mass of living material (biomass) at each stage in a food chain is…
•Less than it was at the previous stage.
What is energy transfer needed for?
- Growth
* Reproduction
What are pyramids of biomass?
- The biomass at each stage can be drawn to scale.
* The bars at the different stages show the biomass of the organism.
What is biomass?
- Mass of living material.
- Chemical energy stored in food.
- Chemical energy stored as animal tissue (biomass) can be transferred to the carnivore via their food.
What is energy transfer?
•Radiation from the Sun is the source of energy for most communities of living organisms.
What is respiration?
- Supplies the energy for all life processes including movement.
- A chemical process that releases energy from glucose in all living cells, so that all the other chemical processes needed for life can happen.
What is decay?
- An essential life process, which helps to digest food and recycle materials.
- When dead animals and plants break down- important elements return to the soil ready to be put back into the food chain.
- The state or process of rotting or decomposition.
How is energy lost through respiration?
- Energy used for life processes.
- Energy lost by heat to the surroundings. (Especially in birds and mammals as their bodies must be kept at a constant temperature, which is usually higher than the surroundings).
What are the key factors of decay?
- Temperature.
- Amount of oxygen.
- Amount of water.
- Presence of microorganisms.
- Food.
What is decay?
- An essential life process, which helps to digest food and recycle materials.
- When dead animals and plants break down.
- The state or process of rotting or decomposition.
Describe the seven stages/features of the carbon cycle:
1). Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere by green plants and algae to make carbohydrates, fats and proteins.
2). The carbon dioxide moves through the food chain.
3). Carbon dioxide is released in the atmosphere when animals respire.
4). Carbon dioxide is released in the atmosphere when plants, algae and animals die
5). Animals produce waste and it is broken by microorganisms and detritus feeders.
•Compounds in the waste are taken up by the soil by plants as nutrients and are put in the food chain again.
6). Plant and animals products (e.g. fossil rules and wood) are burnt are burnt (combustion).
•Carbon dioxide is released back into the atmosphere.
7). The carbon dioxide is constantly recycled.
Describe the seven stages/features of the carbon cycle:
1). Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere by green plants and algae to make carbohydrates, fats and proteins.
2). When plants respire, carbon dioxide is released or when plants are consumed by animals carbon dioxide becomes apart of fats and proteins.
•The carbon dioxide moves through the food chain.
3). Carbon dioxide is released in the atmosphere when animals respire.
4). When plants, algae and animals die, microorganisms break down the remains.
•Carbon dioxide is released in the atmosphere when they die.
5). Animals produce waste and it is broken by microorganisms and detritus feeders.
•Compounds in the waste are taken up by the soil by plants as nutrients and are put in the food chain again.
6). Plant and animals products are burnt (e.g. fossil rules and wood) are burnt (combustion).
•Carbon dioxide is released back into the atmosphere.
7). The carbon dioxide is constantly recycled.
What conditions do microorganisms work best in?
- Warm, moist conditions.
- High oxygen levels.
- Compost bins create this environment.
Why are there usually no more than 5 trophic levels of a food chain?
•So much energy is lost at each stage and there’s not enough energy left to support more organisms at further stages.
What are the main groups of decomposers?
•Bacteria and fungi.
How do microorganisms (bacteria and fungi) decay materials?
•They release enzymes to break down compounds, so that they can absorb the nutrients.
How is carbon dioxide returned back into the atmosphere?
- When organisms respire.
- Combustion.
- When organisms die.
- Waste products.
- Feeding-the food energy is transferred.
What is the carbon cycle?
The constant cycling of carbon in ecosystems.
What are detritus feeders?
•Other animals
What is the carbon cycle powered by?
•Photosynthesis
What is the respiration word equation?
glucose + oxygen –> energy + water + carbon dioxide
What is the respiration word equation?
glucose + oxygen –> energy (ATP) + water + carbon dioxide
How do plants and algae use carbon dioxide?
•To make nutrients, proteins, fats and carbohydrates during photosynthesis.
What is photosynthesis?
•The chemical process which uses light energy to form glucose, its food source.
When is carbon dioxide released?
- When organisms respire.
* When plants are consumed by animals carbon dioxide becomes apart of fats and proteins.
What is the word equation for photosynthesis?
carbon dioxide + water –(sunlight chlorophyll)–> glucose + oxygen
Why do carnivores release more energy in respiration than herbivores?
•They move more.
What is the word equation for combustion?
•Fuel + oxygen –> carbon dioxide + water
When plants algae and animals die, what breaks down the remains?
•Microorganisms.
How is carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere?
•By green plants and algae during photosynthesis.
Why are farm animals kept indoors?
- Less energy is transferred to the environment, more energy is available for growth.
- Reduces risks of diseases.
What is combustion?
•The process of burning something.
Why is deforestation occurring?
- More food is needed, forests are cleared for agricultural land.
- Wood is need for items.
- Wood is needed for energy.
Why is it necessary to open and close air vents of a nest at different times of the day?
- Oxygen is allowed in.
* Microorganisms respire and carbon dioxide is released.
How does deforestation cause a change to amount of different gases in the atmosphere?
- Trees capture carbon dioxide by taking it into their cells through photosynthesis. (Some carbon is release through respiration).
- The net effect is tremendous carbon storage.
- When trees are burned, the stored carbon is released.
What regulations are used to conserve fish stocks?
- Setting fish quotas of limiting the amount of fish caught.
- Limiting the sizes of nets.
How does decay of dead plants help keep eggs in a nest warm?
•Microorganisms respire- the decaying process releases energy.
What are complex compounds of plants made up of?
- Carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen from the soil and the air.
- Complex compounds include carbohydrates, proteins and fats which make up living organisms and pass through the food chain.
