TOPIC 12 Ecosystem Energetics

Question 1

what is the Anthropocene

Answer 1

the period of the past 500 years where there has been a large increase in size of the human population that has led to a lot of destruction

Question 2

what organisms are in the first tropic level

Answer 2

primary producers, photoautotrophs

Question 3

what organisms are in the second trophic level

Answer 3

primary consumers, herbivores

Question 4

what organisms are in the third trophic level

Answer 4

secondary consumers

Question 5

what organisms are in the fourth tropic level

Answer 5

tertiary consumers

Question 6

what organisms can be part of either the second, third, and fourth trophic level?

Answer 6

omnivores

Question 7

the rate at which energy is fixed is called what

Answer 7

primary productivity

Question 8

why are detrivores necessary for primary producers?

Answer 8

they reduce organic material to small inorganic molecules for producers to assimilate

Question 9

the rate at which producers convert solar energy into chemical energy in an ecosystem

Answer 9

gross primary productivity (GPP)