Ecosystem: What are they and how do they work? Flashcards
key component of environmental science
ecology
science that focuses on how organisms interact with one another and with their nonliving environment of matter and energy
ecology
community of organisms that interact with each other and non-living components
ecosystem
all the ecosystems present on Earth combined
ecosystem
Ecosystem are divided into:
Terrestrial, Aquatic
living components of an ecosystem
biotic
non-living components of an ecosystem
abiotic
ecosystem maintained or created artificially by man
Artificial Ecosystem
These ecosystems operate by themselves under natural conditions
Natural Ecosystem
Structure of Ecosystem
composition of biological community, quantity and distribution of non-living material, rage of condition of existence
structural aspect of ecosystem
inorganic and organic, climatic regimes, producer and consumers
functional aspect of ecosystem
energy cycle, food chains, diversity-interlink ages between organism and evolution
physical and chemical factors that directly or indirectly affect the living components
non-living components (Abiotic)
either producer or consumer
living components (Biotic)
Biotic Components
Producer, Consumer, Decomposers or Detritivores
Four Types of Consumer
Primary Consumer, Secondary Consumer, Tertiary Consumer, Quaternary Consumer
Categories of Producer
Photoautotrophs, Chemotrophs
organism capable of synthesizing its own food from inorganic substances using light as an energy source
Photoautotrophs
organisms that obtain energy by the oxidation of electron donors in their environments; can be organic (chemoorganotrophs) or inorganic (chemolithotrophs)
Chemotrophs
The flow of energy in the ecosystem
unidirectional and non-cyclic
takes place in a unidirectional manner through a single channel of producers to herbivores or carnivores
Single Channel Energy Flow Model
interconnected, interlocking pattern of food chain
Food Web
process through which ecosystems tend to change over a period of time
ecological succession
phenomenon by which community progressively transforms itself until a stable community is formed
ecological succession
Two Types of Succession
Primary Succession, Secondary Succession
area where life starts from scratch
Primary Succession
life starts at a place after the area has lost all the life form existing there
Secondary Succession
developed a descripted theory of succession and advanced it as a general ecological concept
F.E. Clement
Phases of Clement’s Theory of Succession
Nudation, Migration, Ecesis, Competition, Reaction, Stabilization
begins with the development of a bare site
Nudation
arrivals of propagules
Migration
involves establishment and initial growth of vegetation
Ecesis
as vegetation established, grew, and spread, various species began to compete for space, light, and nutrients
Competition
during this phase, autogenic changes affect the habitat resulting in replacement of one plant to community by another
Reaction
development of a climax community
Stabilization
