Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Ensc > Ecosystems and Energy Lecture 4 > Flashcards

Ecosystems and Energy Lecture 4 Flashcards

1
Q

What is ecology?

A

study of interactions among and between organisms in their abiotic environment

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What is biotic?

A

living environment (includes all organisms)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What is abiotic?

A

non-living or physical environment

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What are ecologists interested in?

A

levels of life above the organism-level

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What is a species?

A

group of similar organisms who breed and make offspring

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What is a population?

A

group the same species living in the same area

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What is a community?

A

populations of different species that live in the same area

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What is an ecosystem?

A

a community and its abiotic environment

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What is a landscape?

A

several interacting ecosystems

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What does the biosphere contain?

A

earth’s communities, ecosystems, and landscapes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Where is the biosphere?

A

lies within and derives energy and elements from the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What is energy

A

ability or capacity to do work

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What are the types of energy?

A

chemical, thermal, mechanical, nuclear, electrical, radiant, solar

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What is chemical energy?

A

energy is stored in the bonds of molecules

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What is thermal energy?

A

heat that flows from an object with a higher temp to an object with a lower temp

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What is mechanical energy?

A

energy in the movement of matter

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What is nuclear energy?

A

energy stored in atomic nuclei

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

What is electrical energy?

A

energy that flows as charged particles

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

What is radiant energy?

A

energy transmitted as electromagnetic waves

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What is solar energy?

A

radiant energy from the sun

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

What is the primary energy source on earth?

A

solar radiation

22
Q

What do plants do with solar radiation?

A

turn it into chemical energy

23
Q

What is potential energy?

A

stored energy

24
Q

What is kinetic energy?

A

energy of motion

25
Q

What is thermodynamics?

A

study of energy and its transformations

26
Q

What is a closed system (rare in nature)?

A

energy is not exchanged between a closed system and its surroundings

27
Q

What is an open system (common in nature)?

A

energy is exchanged between an open system and its surroundings

28
Q

What is the first law of thermodynamics?

A

energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only change from one form to another

29
Q

What is the second law of thermodynamics?

A

when energy is converted from on form to another, some of it is degraded to heat (heat is highly disorganized)

30
Q

How does the 1st law of thermodynamics apply to ecology?

A

organisms cannot create energy for life, they must instead capture energy from the environment to do biological work

31
Q

How does the 2nd law of thermodynamics apply to ecology?

A

when organisms capture energy from the environment, most of the energy is dispersed as heat

32
Q

What is photosynthesis?

A

energy from the sun (radiant energy) is transformed into chemical energy of carbohydrate (sugar) molecules

33
Q

What is cellular respiration?

A

chemical energy is released within cells of plants and animals that is then used for biological work

34
Q

What are ecological pyramids?

A

graphically represent the relative energy value of each trophic level

35
Q

What are the three main types of ecological pyramids?

A

pyramid of…. numbers, biomass, and energy

36
Q

What is a pyramid of numbers?

A

illustrates the number of organisms at each tropic level

37
Q

What doesn’t the pyramid of numbers indicate?

A

biomass of organisms at each level and amount of energy transferred between levels

38
Q

What is a pyramid of biomass?

A

illustrates the total biomass at each successive trophic level

39
Q

What is biomass?

A

measure of the total amount of living material

40
Q

How much reduction of biomass is there through trophic levels?

A

90% reduction (100 to 10)

41
Q

What is a pyramid of energy?

A

illustrates how each energy is present at each trophic level and how much is transferred to the next level

42
Q

What is Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) - producers?

A

total amount of energy that plants capture as sugars over a period of time

43
Q

What is cellular respiration (CR)-producers?

A

Sugars are metabolized by plant to provide energy
for plant work

44
Q

What is Net Primary Productivity (NPP)-producers?

A

Plant growth per unit area per time (Only NPP is available as food to organisms)

45
Q

What is Gross Primary Productivity (GPP)- ecosystems?

A

Total amount of energy that autotrophs within an
ecosystem capture

46
Q

What is Ecosystem Respiration (ER)- ecosystems?

A

Energy loss from metabolism of both autotrophs and
heterotrophs in an ecosystem

47
Q

What is Net Ecosystem Productivity (NEP)?

A

NEP= GPP-ER

48
Q

What happens in the global carbon cycle?

A
  1. 50% of GPP is used for plant cellular respiration and the rest goes into new growth (NPP)
  2. 80% of annual NPP is returned to the atmosphere by ecosystem respirations
49
Q

What is net ecosystem production (NEP)?

A

remainder of biomass that builds up on the site after all these losses have been subtracted

50
Q

What is left after fire an other disturbances?

A

net biome production (NBP)

51
Q

What do humans consume a lot of?

A

global NPP (consumption is 30% but we only make up .5% of biomass)

Ensc (6 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions