Chapter 13 Flashcards
Ecosystem
All living and non-living components
primary producer
organism that make their own glucose
primary consumers
feed on producers
secondary producers
feed on primary consumers
tertiary producer
feed on secondary producers
biomass
the mass of living material of the organism or tissue
the chemical energy that is stored within the organism or tissue
how is biomass measured
-dry mass of an organism/tissue
-mass of carbon that organism contains
Calorimetry
can be used to estimate the chemical energy stored in dry biomass
gross primary production
the amount of chemical energy stored in the carbohydrates within plants (during photosynthesis)
gross primary productivity
the rate at which plants are able to store chemical energy via photosynthesis is referred to as gross primary productivity
Net primary production
refers to the amount of energy available to herbivores in the plants biomass after plant respiratory losses
NPP equation
NPP= GPP-R
trophic levels
describe the position of an organism in a food chain ,web or pyramid
Ammonification
ammonia produced from nitrogenous compounds
Nitrification
conversion of ammonia to nitrite ions and then to nitrate ions
Nitrogen fixation
conversion of nitrogen gas into nitrogen containing compounds by bacteria
Denitrification
bacteria convert nitrates in soil into nitrogen gas with anaerobic conditions
Mycorrhizae
fungi that grows in association with plant roots, and improve the plants uptake of water and inorganic ions
Saprobionts
decomposers that releases phosphate, ammonia, and ammonium ions
Nitrifying bacteria
bacteria that oxidize ammonium ions to nitrites, and nitrites to nitrates
Denitrifying bacteria
use nitrates to respire anaerobically and release nitrogen gas
Leaching
excess ions can be washed into rivers and waterways causing pollution
Eutrophication
nitrates in water cause rapid growth, plants block light to the river bed causing plants to die and decompose which uses oxygen
