Ecology Intro Flashcards
Population
A group of organisms of the same species that occupy a particular space at a particular time that can potentially interbreed
Community
Populations of all the different species in an area
Ecosystem
The community of a given area as well as the non living components of this area in the environment
What do foodwebs show?
The transfer of energy from one species to the next using arrows
Aka if one species eats another, the energy flow points to consumer
Trophic level
Each stage of the foodweb which represents one species
What do arrows show in foodwebs?
The direction of energy flow aka points to the consumer
Producer
Makes its own organic compounds using light energy from sun in photosynthesis
Primary consumer
Eats the producer
Secondary consumer
Eats the primary consumer
Tertiary consumer
Eats the secondary consumern
What are photoautotrophs?
Producers that can produce their own organic compounds from light energy in photosynthesis
What do the consumers eat of the previous trophic level?
The REMAINING biomass of the previous tropic level, that is organic substance of the consumer used to store energy in tissue
What is biomass?
The mass of carbon per given area
Or the dry mass of tissue per given area
That can be passed on to next trophic level as the energy used in these carbon containing molecules are used up
How does biomass occur in a plant?
Synthesise own organic substances from light energy, contains carbon and stores ENERGY
Some used in respiration
Rest is used for growth of stored
GPP stands for..?
Gross Primary Production
What is GPP?
The CHEMICAL ENERGY store in plant biomass in a given area or volume
A measure of photosynthesis as it’s a measure of energy that enters the ecosystem system from a plant by synthesising organic compounds that stores energy
NPP stands for…?
Net Primary Production
What is NPP?
The chemical energy store in plant biomass in a given area or volume AFTER RESPIRATORY LOSSES have been taken into account
So a measure of the energy stored in biomass of the plant as this can be passed on to next trophic level
How does biomass occur in an animal?
Consumes previous trophic level’s biomass
Some uses energy stored in this dry tissue in respiration to release energy in form of ATP and some lost in excretion + egestion
Left forms the biomass
Equation for NPP
GPP - R = NPP
R = respiratory losses
What is NPP a measure of?
The chemical energy stored in plant biomass (measure of glucose) taking the energy lost in respiration into account that can be passed on to consumers
Net production of consumers
The energy stored in a consumers biomass in a given area taking into account respiratory and faeces/urine losses after consuming biomass from previous trophic level
The rates of production
Used to compare productivity (amount of energy that enters ecosystem) in a given area and time
Units of rates of production
J/KJ
In a given area
In a given time
Why do we need to compare productivity per given area?
To allow for fair comparison by standardising the size of area we are looking at: some habitats vary in size
Why do we compare productivity in a given time eg year?
Some ecosystems vary in effect of seasons so will account for impact of season’s temperature, weather humidity etc by standardising it
