1: Energy Transfer in the Biosphere Flashcards
(23 cards)
What are producers in an ecosystem?
Producers are autotrophic, or self-feeder, organisms that form the basis of all food chains.
Examples of producers include photosynthetic organisms like plants and algae, as well as certain chemosynthetic micro-organisms.
What is the process by which producers transform the Sun’s energy?
Producers transform the Sun’s radiant energy into energy-rich carbohydrate molecules through photosynthesis.
An example of such a carbohydrate molecule is glucose.
How do organisms utilize the energy from carbohydrate molecules?
Organisms use the energy from carbohydrate molecules through cellular respiration to support and sustain their lives.
What are consumers in an ecosystem?
Consumers are heterotrophic, or other-feeder, organisms that obtain energy by consuming producers and/or other consumers.
What do primary consumers eat?
Primary consumers eat producers.
What do secondary and tertiary consumers eat?
Secondary and tertiary consumers eat other consumers.
What role do decomposers play in an ecosystem?
Decomposers consume all kinds of organisms.
What is a food chain?
Food chains are simple models of energy transfer from one trophic level to another.
What is a food web?
Food webs are more complex models of energy transfer that show the ways in which organisms in different food chains can interact.
Why do food chains rarely extend beyond four trophic levels?
Food chains rarely extend beyond four trophic levels because only a small percentage of the energy from one trophic level is transferred to the next level.
What are ecological pyramids?
Ecological pyramids of numbers, biomass, and energy are quantitative models that describe the connections among organisms at different trophic levels.
What can destabilize ecosystems according to the text?
Changes at any trophic level or changes to the environment that supports the organisms can destabilize ecosystems.
What can result from destabilization of ecosystems?
Destabilization can lead to a decrease in the numbers and kinds of organisms.
What is the source of energy for nearly all life on Earth?
The Sun
The Sun provides the primary energy source that sustains life through various processes.
What are producers also known as?
Autotrophs
Producers include organisms that can create their own food, primarily through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis.
How do producers obtain energy?
By photosynthesis or chemosynthesis
These processes allow producers to convert sunlight or chemical energy into usable energy.
What percentage of the Sun’s energy that reaches the biosphere do producers capture?
Only a small percentage
Despite the vast amount of energy from the Sun, only a fraction is utilized by producers.
What do food webs illustrate?
The interrelationships between producers, consumers, and decomposers in trophic levels
Food webs provide a comprehensive view of energy flow and nutrient cycling in ecosystems.
What is constantly transferred through the biosphere?
Energy
Energy transfer is a fundamental aspect of ecological interactions, influencing all living organisms.
What is a limitation of food chains?
They are limited in length
Food chains typically consist of only a few trophic levels due to energy loss at each level.
What happens to some energy during each energy transfer?
It is transferred to the environment as unusable heat
This loss of energy as heat is a key factor in the efficiency of energy transfer within ecosystems.
What do changing patterns of energy transfer in the biosphere indicate?
They can destabilize ecosystems
Fluctuations in energy dynamics can lead to ecological imbalances and affect species survival.
What do ecological pyramids show?
The quantitative relationships among trophic levels
Ecological pyramids visually represent the distribution of energy and biomass across different levels of the food chain.
