unit 1 Flashcards
what are producers
organisms that are able to use the sun’s energy to produce food for themselves
consumers (heterotrophs)
organisms that are not able to make their own food, must obtain these molecules by consuming other organisms
how much sun energy reaches earths surface
10^22 Joules each day
three outcomes for radiant energy
30% - reflected back to space by clouds, particles in the atmosphere or from land
19% - absorbed by gases in the atmosphere, this can heat the atmosphere
51% - reaches Earths surface, warms the planets surface
- only 1-2% of this is used for
photosynthesis
black smokers
deep sea vents spew out hydrogen sulfide-containing water that looks like clouds of dark smoke
chemosynthetic producers
heat resistant vent organisms that cannot rely on photosynthesis, microorganisms are able to split the hydrogen sulfide molecules spewing from the deep sea vents, the bacteria captures energy stored in the chemical bonds of the molecules, sulfuric acid is produced as a byproduct of this process
primary consumers
herbivores, first eaters of plants and other producers (insects, snails, clams)
secondary consumers
carnivores that eat mainly herbivores (spiders, frogs)
tertiary consumers
carnivores that eat secondary consumers (crabs and blind fish)
decomposers
obtains their energy-rich molecules by eating or absorbing leftover or waste matter, important to the biosphere because they return organic and inorganic matter to the soil, air, and water, recyclers of the biosphere
first law of thermodynamics
energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be converted from one object to another
second law of thermodynamics
some energy is always dispersed as unusable heat
ecosystem
made up of all the organisms that live in an area and the physical environment of that area
radio synthesis
microorganisms converting energy from decaying radioactive material into chemical energy
tropic level
a feeding level through which energy and matter are transferred
first trophic level
provides all the chemical energy required to fuel the other trophic levels, consists or producers
food chain
model that shows the linear pathways through which food is transferred from producers to primary consumers to higher trophic levels
food web
model of food (energy) transfer in an ecosystem that shows the connections among food chains
energy transfer
the length of a food chain has limits because the laws of thermodynamics limit the amount of energy that can be transferred from one trophic level to another
rule of 10
only 10% of the energy at one trophic level is transferred to the next trophic level
how organisms can be identified by
-how they obtain food (producers, herbivores, carnivores)
-trophic levels (define feeding relationships)
-role in ecosystem (primary consumers, secondary consumers)
how energy is lost at each level
-life functions
-lost heat
-lost to waste (poop)
ecological pyramids
models of feeding relationships
pyramid of numbers
shows how many organisms are at each trophic level, can be inverted if producers are large in size ex.) trees vs. grass
pyramid of biomass
dry mass of organisms per unit area, can be inverted with ocean food chains ex.) zooplankton consumes phytoplankton almost as rapidly as it reproduces
pyramid of energy
shows the total amount of energy transferred through each trophic level, always upright
bio magnification
persistent substance build up in food chains and accumulate over time (ppm)
1ppm = 1mg/1kg
evapotranspiration
the combined transpiration and evaporation from a terrestrial area
cohesion
attraction between water molecules
adhesion
attraction between water and another thing, provides an upward force in water
properties of water
-water is a universal solvent
-water has a relatively high boiling and melting point
-water has special adhesive and cohesive properties
-water has a high heat capacity
metabolic water
the water produced by cellular respiration
hydrologic cycle
can connect ecosystem separated by great distances, involves all phases of water
water vapour
green house gas, traps heat in the atmosphere but also transfers heat
ocean currents
transfers warm water from hotter to cooler regions, the warm water can heat the air, moderating the temperature over nearby land
water molecule
consists of two hydrogen atoms that are covalently bonded to one oxygen atom, hydrogen is positive, oxygen is negative, making water a polar molecule
hydrogen bond
weak attraction between hydrogen and oxygen, enables water to dissolve a variety of substances
high boiling point
a large amount of energy is needed to break the many hydrogen bonds in a volume of water, only when the hydrogen bonds are broken can water start to boil
density of ice/water
ice is less dense than liquid water, when water freezes, it expands because hydrogen bonds hold the water molecules in an open crystal structure, when ice melts, the structure beams down and loosened molecules pack more closely to fill in the spaces, increasing the density
rapid cycling
substances that are moving through the environment, from reservoir to reservoir
slow cycling
when substances accumulate and are unavailable to organisms
