Chapter 20 Flashcards
What is a producer in an ecosystem?
They make their own food from carbon dioxide.
What is a consumer in an ecosystem?
They gain energy by eating other organisms.
What is the difference between a herbivore, a carnivore, and an omnivore?
Herbivores- Eat producers
Carnivores- Eat other animals
Omnivores- Eat both.
What is a detritivore in an ecosystem?
A type of decomposer that ingests matter from dead organisms or feces.
What is primary productivity?
It is the total amount of biomass produced by autotrophs (producers) in a given area per unit of time..
What is net primary productivity?
It is overall primary productivity subtracted by biomass
needed to fuel metabolic activities in photosynthetic organisms.
What is biomass?
The mass of living organisms.
What is trophic level?
It represents where an organism is on the food chain. It generally maxes out at 4 levels.
Example: trophic level 1= producer, trophic level 2= primary consumer, trophic level 3= secondary consumer, trophic level 4= tertiary consumer.
