Chapter 3 - Ecosystem Ecology Flashcards
Discuss the deforestation of Haiti.
Haiti was deforested to produce energy. Mango trees were planted. Benefitted economy by providing more food sources for less money and revived some of the forest.
Define ecosystem.
A particular location on earth distinguished by a mix of abiotic and biotic components.
Define producers and autotrophs. How does photosynthesis relate?
Organisms that use the suns energy to produce usable forms of energy. To do this, producers and autotrophs go through the process of photosynthesis, using solar energy to convert CO2 and H2O into glucose and O2.
Define cellular repsiration. For plants or animals?
A process that unlocks chemical energy stored in the cells of organism.
Both plants and animals respire.
Define consumers and heterotrophs.
Organisms that are incapable of photosynthesis and obtain energy by consuming other organisms.
Define primary consumers.
Heterotrophs that consume producers (herbivores).
Define secondary consumers.
Carnivores that eat primary consumers.
Define tertiary consumers.
Carnivores that eat secondary consumers.
Define tropic levels.
Successive levels of organism consuming one another.
Differentiate between food chain and food web.
Food chain- sequence of consumption from producers through tertiary consumers.
Food web- non linear, complex and more realistic idea of the food chain.
Define scavengers.
Carnivores that consume dead animals.
Define detritivores.
Organisms that specialize in breaking down dead tissues and waste products.
Define decomposers.
Fungi and bacteria that complete the breakdown process by recycling the nutrients from dead tissues and wastes back into the ecosystem.
Differentiate between Gpp and npp.
Gross primary productivity is the total amount of solar energy that producers catch via photosynthesis.
Net primary productivity is the energy captures minus the energy respired by producers.
Define biomass.
The total mass of all loving matter in a specific area.
Define standing crop.
Amoun of biomass present in a particular time.
Define ecological efficiency.
The proportion of consumed energy that can be passed from one tropic level to another.
Define tropic pyramid.
The representation of the distribution of biomass among tropic levels.
Define biosphere.
The combination if all ecosystems in earth.
Define biogeochemical cycle.
The movement of matter within an between ecosystems involve biological, geological, and chemical processes.
Define hydrologic cycle.
The movement of water through the biosphere.
Define transpiration.
A process during photosynthesis in which plants release water from their leaves into the atmosphere
Define evapotranspiration.
The combined amount of evaporation and transpiration in the atmosphere.
Define runoff.
Water moving across the land and eventually reaching the ocean.
Define macronutrients and limiting nutrients.
Macronutrients- 6 key elements that organisms need in relatively large amounts.
Limiting nutrient constrains the growth of the organism, usually is nitrogen.
Define nitrogen fixation.
Converting N2 gas directly into ammonia.
Define leaching.
Nitrate being transported through the soil with water.
Define denitrification.
Conversion into atmospheric N2.
