Chapter 20 Part 2 Flashcards
Ecosystem
A community of living organisms and their interactions within their abiotic environment
All of the organisms in the area and their non-biological environment
Food chain
A linear sequence of trophic relationships of producers, consumers, and higher level consumers in an ecosystem
Biosphere
All of the ecosystems on the planet
Trophic levels
An organism’s position in the food chain or food web
Defined by what it eats
Food web
A graphical representation of the flow of energy through an ecosystem
Essentially who eats whom
Trophic pyramids
The amount of energy in each trophic level decreases with energy
Trophic conversion
Energy is lost when heat is released from metabolism
Apex consumer
An organism at the top of the food chain
Heterotroph
Obtain their food by eating other organisms
Autotroph
An organism capable of making its own food
Biogeochemical cycling
Plant nutrients (chemical elements) cycle through food webs and the physical environment as parts of different molecules
Carbon moves through the ecosystem? Photosynthesis? Respiration? Burning fossil fuels?
Photosynthesis: requires carbon to make sugars
Respiration: breaks down sugars to extract chemical energy, and gives off carbon as a waste product
Burning: releases carbon
Biomagnification
The increasing concentration of persistent, toxic substances in organism/ animals at higher levels of a food chain
Eutrophication
The process whereby nutrient runoff causes the excess growth of bacteria that depleted oxygen from water
Caused by pollution
Why is eating lower on the food chain more efficient and better ?
It decreases the rate of habitat destruction because is less meat and dairy
Converting wild seas to agricultural production is a major cause of habitat loss so eating lower in the food chain means less agriculture
