Chapter 10 - Ecosystems Flashcards
What is an ecosystem?
A community of living organisms interacting with
one another as well as with the nonliving components of their habitat.
What is a trophic relationship?
Trophic relationships are the feeding connections among the living organisms in an ecosystem.
What is something all living organisms need to survive, obtained by feeding on organisms in their environment?
Energy
How are Trophic relationships represented?
By a food chain
What are the three trophic levels?
- Producers
- Consumers
- Decomposers
What are producers?
Organisms that get the energy they need to survive by taking inorganic matter and turning it into organic matter, usually done through photosynthesis.
What is an autotroph?
An organism that can feed themselves without having to ingest other living
organisms.
What are producers?
They make organic matter, and are constantly turning inorganic matter into organic matter.
What is biomass?
Total mass of organic matter in an ecosystem.
What happens if primary productivity increases?
The number of organisms
able to live in an ecosystem increases
What is primary productivity?
Amount of new biomass created by producers in an ecosystem. (This is the amount of energy available for primary consumers.)
What are four factors that influence primary productivity?
- Amount of light (for photosynthesis)
- Amount of water available (for photosynthesis)
- Amount of nutrients in the soil
- Temperature (warmer weather promotes the growth of
producers)
What are consumers?
Organisms that obtain the energy they need by feeding off of other living organisms.
What is a heterotroph?
Organisms incapable of producing food for themselves from inorganic matter
What is a primary consumer?
- Feed on producers
- Are herbivores/frugivorous
What are second/third/fourth order Consumers?
- Feed off primary consumers
- Are carnivores
What is a decomposer?
Organisms that feed on the waste and remains of
other organisms (organic matter) and turn it into
inorganic matter
What is detritus, who feeds off of it?
(dead organic matter)
What is chemical recycling?
When decomposers make inorganic matter available for others in an ecosystem by
breaking down organic matter
What is energy flow?
The way energy is passed on from organism to organism
What is the primary source of energy?
Sunlight
What are the three ways energy is lost going from trophic level to trophic level?
- Organisms use energy to grow, move and reproduce
- Organisms release energy in the form of waste
- Organisms lose energy in the form of heat
What is a disturbance?
An event that damages an ecosystem. It can lead to the elimination of organisms and alter the availability of resources.
What is a natural disturbance?
Event triggered by environmental phenomena.
