Chapter 53 Flashcards
what are the primary producer
autotrophs- can synthesize own food from inorganic sources
what do primary producers do to energy
transform energy into chemical energy
how do primary producers use chemical energy
- cellular respiration
- growth and reprodcution
why is net primary productivity important
it is the amount of energy available via primary producers to other organisms
how does energy flow
when one organism eats another
how is chemical energy lost
as heat, but nutrients continue to cycle
how can you tell if an organism is in the same trophic level
if they obtained energy from the same type of source
what does a food chain focus on
on one possible pathway of energy flow among trophic levels
what pattern is followed in ecosystems pertaining to biomass
total biomass produced each year declines from lower trophic levels up to higher levels
what does productivity measure
- rate
- biomass produced by growth and reproduction
what does efficiency measure
fraction of biomass transferred from one trophic level to the next
the efficiency of biomass transfer from one trophic level to the next is…
10%
what happens to the biomass that is not transferred
released as carbon dioxide and wastes
why are large mammals more efficient at producing biomass
smaller surface-area-to volume ratio and lose less heat
is biomass production more efficient in ectotherms or endotherms
ectotherms because they devote less energy to cellular respiration
biomagnification
increase in concentration of heavy molecules as they are passed up a food chain
when is biomagnification of pollutants higher
the more trophic levels there are