Intro: Food Chains + Energy Transfers

Question 1

How many groups can organisms be divide into? What are these groups based on? What are the groups called?

Answer 1

Organisms can be split into three groups according to how they obtain their energy and nutrients. The three groups: producers, consumers and saprobionts

Question 2

What are producers?

Answer 2

Producers are photosynthetic organisms that manufacture organic substances using light energy, water, carbon dioxide and mineral ions

Question 3

What are consumers?

Answer 3

Consumers are organisms that obtain their energy by feeding on (consuming) other organisms rather than using the energy of sunlight directly

Question 4

What are the four types of consumers?

Answer 4

1. Primary consumers
2. Secondary consumers
3. Tertiary consumers
4. Quaternary consumers

Question 5

What are primary consumers?
What are secondary consumers?
What are tertiary consumers?

Answer 5

Primary consumer = those that directly eat producers

Secondary consumers = those that eat primary consumers

Tertiary consumers = those that eat secondary consumers

Question 6

What are saprobionts?

Answer 6

They are a group of organisms that break down the complex molecules in dead organisms into simple ones

Question 7

Once saprobionts have broken down dead organisms, what do they release?

Answer 7

Saprobionts release valuable minerals and elements in a form that can be absorbed by plants, contributing to recycling

Question 8

What are food chains?

Answer 8

Food chains describe the feeding relationship in which producers are eaten by primary consumers, these in turn are eaten by secondary consumers, which are then consumed by tertiary structures

Question 9

In a long food chain, what can be different?

Answer 9

In a long food chain, tertiary consumers may be eaten by further consumers called quaternary consumers

Question 10

What is each stage in a food chain referred to as?

Answer 10

A trophic level

Question 11

What do the arrows in a food chain show?

Answer 11

The direction of energy flow

Question 12

How do plants use the sugars from photosynthesis?

Answer 12

Primarily the sugars are used as respiratory substrates. The remainder is used to synthesise (make) other biological molecules (like cellulose)

Question 13

What forms biomass?

Answer 13

The biological molecules from the remainder of the synthesised sugar are used to form biomass

Question 14

What is biomass?

Answer 14

The total mass of living matter in a specific area at a given time

Question 15

What are the units of biomass when measuring an area (on land)? What are the units of biomass when measuring an volume (in a body of water)?

Answer 15

Area: gm to the power of minus 2

Volume: gm to the power of minus 3