Food Webs And Ecological Pyramids Flashcards
What is: the role of a species within an ecosystem?
Ecological niche
What is a key feature of an ecosystem?
The feeding roll of each species
What is: an animal that eats plants or other producers?
Herbivore
What is: an animal that eats other animals?
Carnivore
What is: an animal that eats both plants and animals?
Omnivore
What is: an animal that feeds on the remains of other organisms?
Scavenger/Detrivore
What do food chains illustrate?
Who eats whom in an ecosystem
What do food chains show?
How energy passes through an ecosystem
What helps describe the position of an organism along a food chain?
Trophic level/feeding level
Who occupies the first trophic level?
Producers
Who occupies the second trophic level?
Herbivores
Who occupies the third and fourth trophic levels?
Carnivores
What does a food web show?
A series of interconnecting food chains
What are food webs useful to figure out?
What might happen when a species is removed from or added to an ecosystem
What displays relationships between trophic levels in an ecosystem?
Ecological pyramids
What illustrates energy loss and transfer between trophic levels?
Energy Pyramids
What does the size of each layer in the energy pyramid represent?
The amount of energy available at that trophic level
Why are populations in the highest trophic levels much smaller than species lower in the food chain?
Because species in the highest trophic levels have less energy available to them that species near the bottom (fewer predators than herbivores)
What is the total mass of all living organisms in a given area?
Biomass
What shows the number of individuals of all populations in each trophic level?
Pyramid of numbers
