Chapter 20 Flashcards
The mass of living organisms, usually expressed per unit of area.
Biomass
A heterotroph that kills and consumes live animals.
Carnivore
A heterotroph that consumes detritus.
Detritivore
All the organisms in a given area as well as the physical environment in which they live; can include one or more communities.
Ecosystem
The amount of energy that autotrophs capture by photosynthesis and chemosynthesis per unit of time.
Gross Primary Production (GPP)
A heterotroph that eats the tissues or internal fluids of living plants or algae.
Herbivore
The area of leaves per unit of ground area (a dimensionless number, since it is an area divided by an area).
Leaf Area Index (LAI)
The combined fluxes of CO2 into and out of an ecosystem principally by net primary production and autotrophic and heterotrophic respiration.
Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE)
The amount of energy per unit of time that producers capture by photosynthesis and chemosynthesis, minus the amount they use in cellular respiration.
Net Primary Production (NPP)
(1) An organism that feeds on both plants and animals. (2) In trophic studies, an organism that feeds on more than one trophic level.
Omnivore
The rate at which chemical energy in an ecosystem is generated by autotrophs, derived from the fixation of carbon during photosynthesis and chemosynthesis.
Primary Production
Energy in an ecosystem that is derived from the consumption of organic compounds produced by other organisms.
Secondary Production
