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Biology 109 Test #2 > Ecosystems > Flashcards

Ecosystems Flashcards

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1
Q

What does an ecosystem consist of?

A

All organisms in a community as wall as all abiotic factors in which they interact.

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2
Q

What can constitute an ecosystem?

A

Something as small as a space under a fallen log or something as large as a lake or an island.

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3
Q

Regardless of the ecosystems size, what are the two main processes that effect its dynamic?

A

Energy flow

Chemical cycling

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4
Q

What are the 1st and second laws of thermodynamics?

A
  1. Energy cant be created or destroyed
    • energy enters ecosystem as solar radiation, is transformed and conserved, then lost as heat.
  2. Every energy transformation increases entropy of the UNIVERSE
    • Energy conversions arent completely efficient in nature, some nergy is always lost as heat.
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5
Q

What does the law of conservation of mass state?

A

MATTER cannot be created nor destroyed.

  • chemicals arent continually being recycled in an ecosystem
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6
Q

Is an ecosystem an open or closed system? Describe.

A

Open

It constantly is absorbing energy and mass while releasing heat and waste products.

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7
Q

How does an autotroph build its molecules?

A

Build molecules themselves using photosynthesis or chemosynthesis as energy source.

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8
Q

How does a heterotroph build molecules?

A

Relies on the biosynthetic output of other organisms for energy and chemicals.

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9
Q

What are primary producers?

A

the autotrophs

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10
Q

What are primary consumers?

A

herbivores (eat plants and other primary producers)

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11
Q

What are secondary consumers?

A

Carnivores that eat herbivores.

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12
Q

What are tertiary consumers?

A

Carnivores that eat other carnivores and possibly herbivores.

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13
Q

What are decomposers? What is another name for them? Some examples?

A

Consumers that get their energy from detritus (nonliving organic material).

Detritivores

Earthworms, but most are prokaryotes and fungi.

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14
Q

What is detritus? Some examples?

A

nonliving organic material.

Dead animals, fallen leaves, feces, wood.

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15
Q

What are trophic levels and why are detritivores so important?

A

Trophic levels are the feeding relationships discussed in this deck (primary producer, primary consumer, etc…)

Detritivores connect all trophic levels.

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16
Q

Look at energy and nutrient dynamic picture in ppt.

A

DO IT.

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17
Q

What is primary production known as?

A

The amount of light energy converted to chemical energy by autotrophs during a given time period.

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18
Q

What sets the budget of energy for an ecosystem? What is needed in order to have a larger budget?

A

Photosynthetic production

Primary producers.

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19
Q

Describe the global energy budget and its limitations.

A

50% of solar radiation is absorbed, scattered, or reflected by clouds and dust in the atmosphere.

The other 50% that does reach the surface may not strike a photosynthetic organism (ice and soil)

The radiation that does reach the photosynthetic organism only has certain wavelengths absorbed.

only 1% of visible light that strikes a photosynthetic organism is converted into chemical energy.

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20
Q

What is the variable that defines total primary production?

A

GPP (gross primary production)

This is the conversion of chemical energy from photosynthesis per unit time.

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21
Q

How do you calculate ney primary production (NPP)? This is an equation. How can NPP be expressed?

A

NPP = GPP - Ra

Ra is the energy used by primary producers for respiration (autotrophic respiration)

energy per unit area per unit time (J/m^2 x yr)

OR

biomass added per unit area per unit time (g/m^2 x yr).

22
Q

Which value is the new biomass added in a time period that is available to consumers, GPP or NPP?

A

NPP

23
Q

It is shown that different ecosystems vary in their NPP contribution to the total NPP on earth. What are some examples of biomes that contribute more or less NPP?

A

Most productive per unit area - tropical rain forests, coral reefs, estuaries

Least productive per unit area - Marine (But contribute a lot to earths total NPP due to their large size)

24
Q

What is NEP and how do you calculate it? What is its ultimate purpose?

A

NEP = the total biomass accumulation during a given period

NEP = GPP - Rt

Rt = total respiration of ALL organisms (producers and consumers) in an ecosystem

This is estimated by measuring the flux of CO2 and O2 entering or leaving the ecosystem. This can tell us if organisms are gaining or losing carbon over time. If more CO2 enters than leaves then the system is storing carbon, if this is the case the system will also be giving off O2.

25
Q

What are two things that control primary production in a MARINE and FRESHWATER ecosystem?

A

Light limitation - depth of light penetration in the photic zone.

Nutrient limitation - most commonly nitrogen (phytoplankton in long island) and phosphate, the limiting nutrient in these environment is a must have for production to increase. Iron (sargasso sea in atlantic) is also an example.

Nutrient limitation

26
Q

What is upwelling and what is its impact?

A

This is the circulation of deep and nutrient-rich water of the ocean to the surface which increases primary production.

27
Q

What does sewage runoff cause in lakes?

A

Eutrophication - sewage runoff adds many nutrients to the water that promotes the growth of primary producers, but, when they all die the detritivores decompose them and take nearly all of the O2 from the water, this in turn kills many fish species.

28
Q

What does the addition of phosphorus (this organophosphate pesticides) to lakes do to the ecosystem?

A

This limits cyanobacterial growth, limiting primary production. BAD.

this has led to the use of phophate-free detergents.

29
Q

What are two things that control primary production in TERRESTRIAL ecosystems?

A

temperature - warm = good, hot or cold = not so good

moisture - moist = good, dry = not so good

30
Q

What is evapotranspiration? What is its importance?

A

This is the water that is transpired by plants and evaporated from a landscape.

It is affected by precipitation, temperature, and solar energy.

REALATED TO NPP, look at graph that correlates precipitation to NPP.

31
Q

What is a more local limiting factor of primary production? What is a common example of this?

A

SOIL NUTRIENT

NITROGEN, phosphorus can also be one in older soils especially.

32
Q

What adaptation have allowed plants to have access to the limiting soil nutrient?

A

mutualism with nitrogen fixing bacteria

mychorrhizal fungi supply plants with phosphorus and other elements

root hairs increase surface area for more absorption

plants release enzymes that increase availability of nutrients

33
Q

What is secondary production and how is production efficiency calculated?

A

This is the amount of chemical energy in food that is converted to new biomass during a given period of time. (will be a percentage)

Production efficiency = net secondary production x 100/ assimilation of primary production.

LOOK AT CATERPILLAR SLIDE AND LEARN TO CALCULATE THIS

Note that whatever is used for cellular respiration is not secondary production, or that is made into feces, this is taken out of the dnominator value (not assimilated)

34
Q

In an endothermic organism (birds or mammal), what would you expect the production efficiency to be, high or low?

A

Low - due to endothermy

35
Q

What is trophic efficiency? What is its usual value? What does it tend to range from?

WILL BE A PERCENTAGE.

A

the percentage of production transferred from one trophic level to the next.

usually is 10%, ranges from 5-20%

36
Q

Based on the trophic efficiency and the picture shown in the powerpoint, what percentage of chemical energy made by primary producers reaches the tertiary consumer?

A

Approximately 0.1%

due to the very low trophic efficiency of tertiary consumers this is why we dont tend to go beyond tertiary consumers

37
Q

Look at the pyramid of net production the shows the trophic efficiency at each trophic level.

A

DO IT

38
Q

How much energy from sunlight is converted to chemical energy by primary consumers according to the pyramid of net production? (will be percentage)

A

1%

39
Q

What is the difference between a pyramid of net production and a biomass pyramid?

A

They are essentially of the same makup except the pyramid of net production is in joules and the biomass pyramid uses g/m^2

So one represents chemical energy the other represents dry mass.

40
Q

Most ecosystems show a biomass pyramid similar to the pyramid of net production, but, some ecosystems have an inverted pyramid. What is an example of this?

A

some aquatic ecosystems have producers that are eaten so fast that they are outweighed by the consumers.

41
Q

What is a biogeochemical cycle?

A

Nutrient cycles in the ecosystem that involves both biotic and abiotic components.

THESE ARE HOW CHEMICAL ELEMENTS ARE RECYCLED

42
Q

What are some of the mobile chemicals that cycle globally in the atmosphere?

A

gaseous carbon, oxygen, sulfur, and nitrogen

43
Q

What are some less mobile elements that cycle locally (more broadly when dissolved in water)?

A

phosphorus, potassium, and calcium

44
Q

What are the 4 things to study when looking at the 4 biogeochemical cycles in this chapter?

A
  1. biological importance
  2. Forms of chemical available for organisms to use
  3. major reservoirs of chemical
  4. key processes driving movement through the cycle
45
Q

Describe the water cycle (4 things needed to study).

A
  1. biological importance - Essential to all organisms
  2. Forms of chemical available for organisms to use - liquid phase
  3. major reservoirs of chemical - oceans (97%), glaciers and ice caps (2%), lakes, rivers, ground water (1%)
  4. key processes driving movement through the cycle - evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, movement through surface of groundwater
46
Q

Describe the 4 components to study of the carbon cycle.

A
  1. biological importance - carbon-based organic molecules essential to all organisms. photosynthesis converts
  2. Forms of chemical available for organisms to use - CO2 to organic molecules used by heterotrophs.
  3. major reservoirs of chemical - fossil fuels, soils and sediments, solutes in oceans, plant and animal biomass, atmosphere, sedimentary rocks.
  4. key processes driving movement through the cycle - CO2 taken up by photosynthesis and released via respiration, volcanoes and burning of fossil fuels release CO2 to atmosphere as well.
47
Q

Describe the 4 study components for the phosphorus cycle.

A
  1. biological importance - Major constituent of nucleic acids and ATP.
  2. forms of chemical available for organisms to use - PO4(3-) most important inorganic form, not found as single element in ecosystem
  3. major reservoirs of chemical - marine sedimentary rocks, oceans, organisms
  4. key processes driving movement through cycle - binds with soil particles, movement often localized.
48
Q

Describe the 4 components of the nitrogen cycle.

A
  1. biological importance - component of amino acids, proteins, and nucleic acids
  2. forms of chemical available for organisms to use - NH4 or NO3 for uptake by plants
  3. major reservoirs of chemical - N2 in atmosphere (80% of gas in air is nitrogen), must be converted to NH4 or NO3 to be used
  4. key processes driving movement through cycle - nitrogen fixation - conversion of N2 to useable form (bacteria, lightning, and volcanic activity)
49
Q

What is the difference between a nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria?

A

nitrifying - converts ammonium (NH4) to nitrate (NO3)

denitrifying - converts nitrate (NO3) to nitrogen gas (N2)

50
Q

LOOK AT PICTURES OF CHEMICAL CYCLES AT THE END OF THE POWERPOINT.

A

DO IT

51
Q

What is ammonification?

A

The conversion of organic remains to ammonium (NH4)

Biology 109 Test #2 (7 decks)

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