E1 - Grassy Narrows Flashcards
Try to understand and not memeorize
Why doesn’t a food chain usually have more than 4 or 5 trophic levels?
Only 10% of energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next higher level. After four or five trophic levels, the energy loss is so high that there is very little useful energy left. As a result, each food chain only has 4 to 5 trophic levels.
What role do decomposers play in ecosystems? Why is this role so important?
The organisms that carry out the process of decay or break down of the dead organism are known as decomposers. With out decomposers there would be dead organisms everywhere
what is a scavenger?
Scavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators.
What kind of organism is ALWAYS the first link in a food chain? Why?
A producer. This is because other animals do not make their own food so they must eat other things in order have food. but since producers make their own food, they are first in the food chain.
Which organisms are the most affected by toxins in a food chain? Why? (FIX)
Consumers at the top of the food chain are most affected by toxins as the animals they’re eating have the largest concentration of toxins
At what trophic level is captured energy from the sun highest in a food chain? What happens to energy as it travels through the links of a food chain?
The producer has the most energy captured from the sun. as the primary consumer eats it, the sun’s energy reduces by 10%, the secondary consumer eating that will reduce THAT by 10% then the tertiary reduces that by 10 percent.
A monoculture is a practice used in agriculture in which a single crop (such as wheat, corn or rice) is grown on huge areas of land. This crop is the sole producer of the food chain. The goal of such a practice is to produce a short and simple food chain, leading directly from the producer to humans. List the pros and cons of using such a practice. Consider both the human perspective and the ecosystem perspective.
Pro: high earnings, food is produced fast
con: doesn’t provide food for other organisms, overproduction of food and alot of food waste
what is a producer
An organism that makes its own food through photosynthesis
Form the foundation of the food web.
what is tropic level?
they are feeding levels
plant –> grasshopper –> bird –> snake –> owl
List the tropic level and the type of consumer each organism is.
ex: herbivore, primary consumer
plant: 1 T.L (producer)
Grasshopper: 2 T.L (Herbivore) (primary consumer)
Bird: 3 T.L (Carnivore) (secondary consumer)
Snake: 4 T.L (Carnivore) (tertiary consumer)
Owl: 5 T.L (Carnivore) (quaternary consumer)
what is a herbivore?
an animal that feeds on plants.
What is a carnivore?
an animal that only eats flesh
what is a omnivore?
an animal that eats both plants and flesh
what is the difference between a food chain and a food web?
A food chain outlines who eats whom. A food web is all of the food chains in an ecosystem
what happens in a food chain?
in a food chain only 10% of the energy available in the food consumed is available for the next consumer.
Meaning 90% of energy is lost in every transfer
10,000kcal - 1000kcal - 100kcal - 10kcal
