Chapter 55: Ecosystems and Restoration Ecology Flashcards
Ecosystem
- All the organisms in a given area as well as the abiotic factors with which they interact
- One or more communities and the physical environment around them
Law of Conservation of Mass
- Matter cannot be created or destroyed
- Allows amount of a chemical element gained / lost or cycled by an ecosystem to be determined
Primary Producers
Autotrophs in the trophic level that ultimately supports all others
Primary Consumers
- Herbivores
- Eat plants & other primary producers
Secondary Consumers
Carnivores that eat herbivores / primary consumers
Tertiary Consumers
Carnivores that eat other carnivores
Detritivores / Decomposers
Consumers that get energy from detritus
Detritus
Nonliving organic material (i.e. remains of dead organisms, feces, fallen leaves, wood)
Primary Production
Amount of light energy converted to chemical energy (form of inorganic compounds) by autotrophs during a given time period
Gross Primary Production (GPP)
Amount of energy from light (or chemicals in chemoautotrophic systems) converted to the chemical energy of organic molecules per unit time
Net Primary Production (NPP)
- Equal to gross primary production minus energy used by producers for their “autotrophic respiration”
- NPP = GPP - R3
- About 1/2 GPP on average
Net Ecosystem Production (NEP)
- Measure of total biomass accumulation in a time frame
- NEP = GPP - RT
- RT = Total respiration of all organisms in the system
Limiting Nutrient
An element that must be added for production to increase in a particular area
Eutrophication
- Ecological impacts of detritivores depleting the water of a lot of its oxygen through decomposition of dead primary producers
- Includes loss of many fish species in lakes
Secondary Production
Amount of chemical energy in consumers’ food
