productivity in ecosystems Flashcards
what is the main way energy enters an ecostyem
photosynthesis
what is biomass of plants
rest of the sugars that make other biological molecules
what is gross primary production
the chemical energy store in plant biomass , in a given area, volume in a given time
what is net primary production
the chemical energy store in plant biomass after respiratory losses to the environment
equation for NPP
npp=GPP -R
units=KJm-2yr-1
what is productivity in plants
photosynthesis and respiration art 100% efficient .The transfer of biomass and stored chemical energy from organism to consumer is not 100% efficient
whats the equation for net production of consumers
n=I-(F+R)
n=net production of consumers
I=chemical energy store in ingested food
F=chemical energy store lost to environment in faeces and urine
R-respiratory losses as heat
what a food chain
feeding (trophic) relationship from producers through consumers
what happens to energy at every trophic level
energy is lost
what is the least efficient way of energy transfer in an ecosystem
light
why is light the least efficient way of energy transfer to an organism
-light misses chloroplasts
-some light is reflecte
-some light is the wrong wavelength . Only certain wavelengths of light are used in photosynthesis
why else is energy transfer not efficient
-moat energy is transferred to environment as heat through respiration
-some parts of an organism are not consumed or digested
-loss occurs via excretory products
what else can biomass be measured by
in terms of mass of carbon dioxide or dry mass of tissue per given area per time
