Energy Flow Among Organisms in an Ecosystem Flashcards
What is energy flow
Energy flowis theflowofenergythrough living things within anecosystem.
What is trophic level
The levels within the food chain
What are autotrophs
They are organisms (green plants and some bacteria) which can use sunlight or chemicals to manufacture their food from inorganic substances during the process of photosynthesis.
What are heterotrophs
They are organisms mainly animals, which cannot manufacture their own food but depend directly or indirectly on plants for their food
What are decomposers
Decomposers are fungi or bacteria which live saprophytically or feed on dead remains of plants, animals and organisms, leading to or breaking down organic matters to produce soluble nutrients which are absorbed by plants.
What is food chain
Food chain is defined as a feeding relationship involving the transfer of energy through food from producers to consumers.
What kind of feeding relationship is a food chain
It is a linear feeding relationship
What is a food web
Food web is a complex feeding relationship among organisms in the same environment with two or more inter-related food chains
What are ecological pyramids
Ecologicalpyramidsshow the relative amount of energy or matter
contained within each trophic level in a given food chain or food web
Types of ecological pyramids
Pyramidsof energy, biomass, and numbers.
What are pyramids of numbers
Apyramid of numbers shows the total number of individual organisms at
each level in the food chain of an ecosystem.
What are pyramids of energy
Apyramid of energyrepresents how muchenergy, initially from the sun, is
retained or stored in the form of new biomass at each trophic level in an
ecosystem.
What is the typical amount of energy transferred from one level to the next
10%
What is the pyramid of biomass
Thebiomass pyramidshows the total dry mass of organisms found at each
trophic level.
Examples of terrestrial autotrophs
Terrestrial examples of autotrophs are grasses, trees and shrubs
