Energy and Matter Exchange in the Biosphere Flashcards
Biosphere
Where living organisms are found
Stratosphere
Ozone layer
Qualitative
Quality
Quantitative
How much of something
Extinct
Species that ceases to exist anywhere
Endangered
Close to extinction in all or significant large area
Extirpated
No longer exists in one part of country but exists in another
Threatened
Likely to become endangered due to certain factors
Of special concern
Any species that is at risk of low or declining numbers in areas of it’s range
Indicator Species
A species sensitive to small changes in environment, Ex. lichens
Keystone Species
A species that has a disproportionately large effect on the environment relative to it’s abundance, Ex. sea otters
Direct Rays
Energy from sun is concentrated and covers less surface area
Indirect Rays
Energy from sun is less concentrated and is spread out over more surface are
Insolation
Amount of solar energy recieved by the surface of a region is dependent on latitude, composition of spheres, and earth’s surface
Inclination
Degree by which earth’s poles are tilted from perpendicular
Equinox
Hemispheres recieve equal amounts of day and night
Solstice
Hemishpere recieves most and least hours of daylight
Orbit
Earth travels around the sun
Rotation
Earth spinning on it’s axis
Trophic Levels
A category of living things defined by how it gains energy
Autotrophs
First trophic level - “self feeders” - produces their own nutrients from radiant energy and abiotic factors (producers)
Photosynthetic Autotrophs
An organism that is capable of using light energy to synthesize sugars from CO2, Ex. green plants, algae, cyanobacteria
Chemosynthetic Autotrophs
Uses the energy released by the chemical reactions from photosynthetic autotrophs to make sugar
Heterotrophs
“Other feeders” - consumes organic molecules from other organisms (consumers)
Herbivores
Organisms that feed on plants, primary consumers, second trophic level
Carnivores
Organisms that feed on meat, secondary consumers, third trophic level
Omnivore
organisms that feed on both plants and animals
Decomposers
Organisms that break down dead or decaying matter, can’t be put on trophic level
Food Chain
A step by step sequence linking organisms that feed on other organisms, ecosystems are more complex as organisms depend on several other organisms (arrows show diection of energey transfer)
Food web
Interconnecting food chains, shows the complexity of an ecosystem (arrows show direction of energy transfer)
First law of thermodynamics
Energy is not created nor destroyed but transferred from one ecosystem to another
Second law of thermodynamics
As energy is tranferred, it loses thermal energy to it’s surroundings
Energy ______
Flows
Matter ______
Cycles
Earth is a …
Closed system - elements are in limited quantity before they are reused
Ecological Pyramids
Represents interactions of trophic levels in an ecosystem
Loss of energy in ecological pyramids
- Growth and metabolism in each tier (thermal energy loss)
- Incomplete digestion of material in previous tier
- Not all matter is consumed from previous tier
Rule of 10%
In ecological pyramids, only about 10% of energy available passes to next trophic level
Pymaid of numbers (type of ecological pyramid)
Measures the number of organisms at each trophic level
Pyramid of energy (type of ecological pyramid)
Measures the amount of energy at each trophic level
Pyramid of biomass (type of ecological pyramid)
Measures the amount of biomass of the organism at each trophic level
Biogeochemical Cycles
Moves matter through the biotic and abiotic world
Hydrological Cycle (water cycle)
evaporation - condensation - precipitation - infiltration - runoff - transpiration - water table - storage (in atmosphere, ice, snow,freshwater, oceans)
Infiltration
Water from surface entering soil
Percolation
Movement of water through soil
What is different about the phosphorous cycle compared to other cycles?
The phosphorous cycle does not include the atmosphere
Biomagnifaction / bioamplifacation
The increase in concentration of a substance (pollutant) that occurs in the food chain from one link to the next
Bioaccumulation
The increase in concentration of a substance (pollutant) in tissues of an organism
Eutrophication
Characterized by excessive plant and algal growth due to increased availability of one or more limiting factors, Ex. plant nutrients
Biochemical Cycles
- water cycle
- carbon cycle
- nitrogen cycle
- phosphorus cycle