B17 - Organising Ecosystems Flashcards
Producers
Start of the food web and produce biomass from the sun
Biomass sustains all other organisms in a food chain
Biomass - the dry mass of a living organism
Primary consumers
Organisms that consumer producers
Secondary consumers
Consume primary consumers
Tertiary consumers
Consume the secondary consumers
What do arrows in a food chain?
• arrows show the direction of energy
Food Web
Shows the energy transfer of all consumers that are linked
Why are the lines in a predator/prey graph out of sync?
It takes time for populations to respond
What can decayed food be used for?
• can be used for compost (minerals )
What is decomposition?
•microorganisms feeding off the nutrients of the food
Intraspecific competition
Competition between animals of the same species
Interspecific competition
Competition between animals of different species
Detritivores
Small organisms that feed on plants and dead material (detritus) to break them into smaller pieces
Decomposers
Micro-organisms such as bacteria and fungi that decompose dead material
What are the three processes in the carbon cycle?
Photosynthesis
Respiration
Conbustion
Where is carbon found?
Glucose, proteins, fats, thymine (a base in our DNA)
What increases the carbon in our atmosphere?
As the population increases, so does the levels of carbon in the atmosphere
• more respiration taking place, more CO2 released
• more demand for transport - emitting CO2 as a result of combustion of fuels
• less photosynthesis
Carbon cycle
