(making ms parks proud) energy and ecosystems Flashcards
ecosystem what is it?
a community and it’s physical/chemical abiotic environment
what are the characteristics of an ecosystem?
matter cycles between abiotic and biotic components
energy (sun) drives ecosystems
how do the three main things ( Autotrophs, Heterotrophs, Saprophytes) work in an ecosystem?
Autotrophs: uses the suns energy and converts inorganic matter into food
Heterotrophs: feed on the autotrophs, C, P, N move consumers through autotrophs
Saprophytes: feeds on dead things, its usually a bacteria or fungi returns biotic compounds to aboitc states
what are food chains?
Simplified feeding sequences
between organisms in an ecosystem
example: algae - plankton - krill - fish - egal
what are trophic levels?
Position of an organism in
a food chain, relative to the SUN.
i.e: sun- grass- deer- wolf (this can change depending on the organisms)
what are food webs
simplified
feeding sequences showing
the relationships between
several food chains
what is an ecoligal pyrimad
if you take the ideas of the second law of thermodynamics and put it in levels you see that at different levels there are different levels of energy but only 5% to 20% of the oG energy is available this means that 80 to 95% of energy is chemical in one trophic level
why are energy levels different at different trophic levels
energy is transferred to waste prodcuts or realized into the environment as heat
what is the rule of tens?
for conveniences and the sanity of ecologist assumes that 10% of the energy at one trophic level is transferred to the next level
what are Ecological Pyramids
once named Eltonian Pyramids these are pyramids that’s are types for different ecological systems
what is the Pyramid of Numbers?
this one is linked by who many numbers of a given organism are there the high up in the pyramid the fewer numbers of one organism it shows how much or how little of energy there is at one trophic level
Inverted Pyramid of Numbers
In an inverted pyramid of numbers, organisms at a lower trophic level are fewer in number than organisms at a higher trophic level. this one is dependant on the size of the organisms
Pyramid of Biomass
A pyramid of biomass shows the relative dry mass, in grams per square metre, of living or once-living organisms in an ecosystem. this show the decrease in energy at each trophic level
Inverted Pyramid of Biomass
In an inverted pyramid of biomass, there is less biomass at the first trophic level than at the second trophic level
this one is about at which trophic level are things happening and how can they stay alive
Pyramid of Energy
this shows the energy transfer from one level to another
this also shows energy transfers up to 20%
there’s less energy at a higher trophic level there is no inverted version
