section d: ecology and environments Flashcards
(103 cards)
ecology
study of an organisms environment and the factors that determine it’s distribution and abundance.
environment
abiotic factors of ecosystem
population
all the organisms of a particular species living in an ecosystem at a particular time
community
all of the populations of living organisms living in an ecosystem at a particular time
habitat
place where specific organisms live
ecosystem
self supporting system of organisms interacting with each other and with their physical environment
quadrats
used to sample the distribution of organisms in their habitats, and to estimate the population size of an organism in different areas
what does biotic mean
living (factors)
what does abiotic mean
non-living (factors)
what is the word equation for photosynthesis
water + CO2 (+light) –> glucose + O2
what is the chemical equation for photosynthesis
6CO2 + 6H2O ——-> 6O2 + C6H12O6
how much energy is passed from one trophic level to the next
10%
what are the different trophic levels of a food chain/web
producers, primary, secondary and tertiary consumers and decomposers
where is the ORIGINAL source of energy in food chains/webs
the sun, producers convert this light energy to chemical energy through photosynthesis and consumers gain it through consumption.
producer
an organism that makes its own organic nutrients, usually using energy from sunlight, through photosynthesis
consumer
an organism that gets its energy by feeding on other organisms. also known as heterotrophs
what is a trophic level
position of an organism in a food chain or food web
decomposer
an organism that gets its energy from dead waste or organic matter
what is a food chain
a chart showing the flow of energy/food from one organism to the next beginning with the producer
what is a food web
a network of interconnected food chains showing the energy flow through that part of the ecosystem
what do arrows represent in a food web
the flow of energy
how much energy is lost from the sun to the producer
99%
where does the 99% of energy lost from the sun to the producer go to
over 90% is reflected by the atmosphere
not all sunlight will fall on a producer
some sunlight will pass through leaves without hitting a chloroplast (transmission)
some light is the wrong wavelength (green light is converted)
some light is converted to heat during photosynthesis and respiration
some light energy is used to evaporate water from leaves
where does the 90% of energy lost from one trophic level to the next go to
not all of organism is eaten, e.g. bones
some of the organism may not be digested and will be lost in digestion e.g. humans dont digest cellulose
much energy is lost as heat in cellular respiration to carry out MRSGRENC