functioning ecosystems

Question 1

biomass

Answer 1

total mass of living matter (organic matter) in an ecosystem

Question 2

producers (autotrophs)

Answer 2

organisms that photosynthesise

Question 3

trophic level

Answer 3

a level in the food chain of an ecosystem based on feeding relationships

Question 4

heterotrophs (consumers)

Answer 4

organisms that cannot photosynthesise and must consume other organisms for food

Question 5

trophic levels in a food chain

Answer 5

producer (autotroph) ->
herbivore (primary) ->
omnivore or carnivore (secondary consumer) ->
omnivore or carnivore (tertiary consumer)

Question 6

specialist

Answer 6

a heterotroph that can thrive on a limited diet
eg. koala and eucalyptus

Question 7

generalist

Answer 7

a heterotroph with a varied diet

Question 8

scavenger

Answer 8

feed on animals they have not killed themselves

Question 9

do producers have arrows going into them?

Answer 9

no

Question 10

food webs

Answer 10

show all the possible feeding relationships between organisms in an ecosystem

Question 11

food chain

Answer 11

simple linear arrangement of organisms showing the flow matter and energy from one organism to another through feeding relationships

Question 12

energy transfer in a food chain

Answer 12

• show the energy flow within an ecosystem
• at each step, there is a loss of energy

Question 13

what happens at each tropic level in an food chain?

Answer 13

a proportion of the available energy is either used to fuel the needs of an organism or lost due to inefficiencies

Question 14

how is energy lost throughout a food chain?

Answer 14

• heat loss due to metabolism
• loss of chemical energy in uneaten portions of an organism
• loss of chemical energy in waste

Question 15

energy (trophic) efficiency

Answer 15

the energy produced by an organism occupying a particular trophic level is divided by the energy available from the previous trophic level

Question 16

percentage efficiency formula

Answer 16

(net productivity of the organism / net productivity of the previous trophic level )× 100

Question 17

energy flow diagrams

Answer 17

map the path of the sun’s energy as it transfers through the trophic levels of an ecosystem and is transformed into heat by metabolism

Question 18

what do the arrow in an energy flow diagram indicate?

Answer 18

the direction of energy flow and are labelled with the from and quantity they carry

Question 19

what do the boxes in an energy flow diagram indicate?

Answer 19

the trophic levels in an sequence

Question 20

ecological pyramids

Answer 20

represent the amount of energy, biomass, or number of individuals at each trophic level

Question 21

three types of ecological pyramids

Answer 21

pyramid of numbers,
pyramid of biomass,
pyramid of energy

Question 22

pyramid of numbers

Answer 22

shows the number of individual organism at each trophic levelling an food chain

Question 23

pyramid of biomass

Answer 23

shows the total mass of living matter at each level in an food chain. collects data at a particular point in time

Question 24

pyramid of energy

Answer 24

shows the amount of energy transformed through a food chain

Question 25

carbon containing compounds

Answer 25

carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic acid,

Question 26

nutrient cycles

Answer 26

cyclic movement of key chemical elements through the biotic and abiotic components of an ecosystem

Question 27

biogeochemical

Answer 27

biological and geochemical components

Question 28

two basic components of biogeochemical cycles

Answer 28

reservoir pool (sink) and cycling (exchange) pool

Question 29

the water cycle

Answer 29

follows water molecules between the abiotic and abiotic components of an ecosystem, as well as the three states of matter, solid, liquid and gas

Question 30

what water bodies does evaporation come from?

Answer 30

oceans, streams, lakes, and land

Question 31

transpiration

Answer 31

loss (evaporation) of water from plants

Question 32

surface run-off

Answer 32

rainwater stays on the surface and runs from higher to lower ground

Question 33

percolation

Answer 33

water seeping into the deeper layers of the earth

Question 34

infiltration

Answer 34

water seeping into the shallow layers of soil

Question 35

define carbon

Answer 35

an essential compound of the organic molecules that make up and living organism

Question 36

what does the carbon cycle digram display?

Answer 36

how carbon atoms circulate between the organic compounds of living things and their non-living surroundings through a number of pathways

Question 37

define nitrogen

Answer 37

a key element in making proteins, including structural proteins and enzymes. plays an essential role in controlling cell activities and growth

Question 38

nitrogen fixation - nitrifying bacteria

Answer 38

the conversion of atmosphere nitrogen gas to useable nitrogen compounds

Question 39

nitrogen fixing bacteria

Answer 39

transform free nitrogen gas in the soil metabolic reactions to release ammonia/nitrate, which is transferred to the plants to form proteins

Question 40

ammonification - decomposers

Answer 40

process of decomposers breaking down dead plants and animals, which are organic sources of nitrogen to produce ammonia

Question 41

nitrification - nitrifying bacteria

Answer 41

bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrate and nitrate to nitrate. forms of nitrogen that can be absorbed and used by plants in the production of amino acids

Question 42

denitrification - denitrifying bacteria

Answer 42

bacteria that converts nitrate to nitrate or atmospheric nitrogen, or nitrate to amino acid

Question 43

ecological niche

Answer 43

the role and space that an organism occupies in an ecosystem, including all its interactions with the biotic and abiotic factors of its environment

Question 44

fundamental niche

Answer 44

the widest potential niche that a species could ideally occupy without competitors, predators, or parasites

Question 45

realised niche

Answer 45

the actual niche that a species occupies, given the restrictions place on it by interactions with other species