Bio 5: Ecosystems and sustainability Flashcards
Habitat
A place where an organism lives
Population
All of the organisms of one species that live in the same place at the same time and that can breed together.
Community
All the populations of different species that live in the same place at the same time.
Ecosystems
A group of organisms including biotic factors and abiotic factors and their interrelationships between them.
Niche
Role that a species plays in an ecosystem
Producers
Autotrophic organisms that convert light energy into chemical energy, which is then supplied to consumers
Consumers
Living organisms that feed on other living organism
Trophic level
Level at which an organism feeds in a food chain
Pyramids of biomass
Areas of the bars are proportional to the dry mass of all the organisms at the trophic level
Pyramid of energy
Burning the organisms in a calorimeter and working out how much heat is released per gram.
Gross primary productivity
Rate at which plants convert light energy into chemical energy.
Net Primary Productivity
NPP= GPP - Respiration
Rate at which carbphydrates accumulate in the tissue of plants of an ecosystem.
kg/ha/yr
Primary productivity
Total amount of energy fixed by photosynthesis.
Succession
The directional change in a community over time
Saprotrophs
Secrete enzymes onto dead and waste material, they digest the material into small molecules, which are then absorbed into the organisms body.
