Transfer of Energy and Matter C4.2 Flashcards
(41 cards)
Open system ecosystem
energy and matter can be exchanged
Closed system ecosystem
only energy can be exchanged in and out
Principal source of energy
sunlight
What do places with less sunlight need to do to sustain itself?
adapt to decreased amount of energy
How do caves, which receive less sunlight, operate?
organisms adapt, streams entering cave bring dead organic matter which supplies source of energy.
What if there is no influx in places with less sunlight?
energy is produced by chemoautotroph bacteria trough chemical reactions
In deep sea, how do they get energy?
bacteria which uses sulfides from emission from black smokes are used as source of energy
What is the flow of energy?
energy enters as light. flows as nutrients through food chains, and leaves as heat
What are recycled nutrients?
carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus. is good example of interaction between biotic and abiotic factors within an environment
What does a food chain do?
shows the flow of energy through a sequence of organisms which feeds on the previous one
What does a food web do?
represents the complexity of feeding relationships by showing interacting and interconnecting food chains.
Where do decomposers source their energy?
supplied with energy from carbon compounds in dead organic matter, they recycle chemical energy stuck in nutrients
What do saprotrophs do?
secrete digestive enzymes into dead organic matter and digest it through externally absorbing products of digestion.
- break down insoluble carbon compounds into soluble ones and recycling dead matter that would otherwise build up
What are autotrophs?
organisms that use external energy sources to synthesize carbon compounds from inorganic substances.
What are phototrophs?
a type of autotroph primarily eukaryotes that uses sunlight as an energy source
What are chemioautotrophs?
a type of autotroph primarily prokaryotes that uses sulfur, hydrogen, and iron sulfide as sources of energy.
What are heterotrophs?
organisms that synthesize organic compounds by taking in and digesting carbon compounds.
What is assimilation?
process where the digested nutrients are made part of the cell by building up complex macromolecules (anabolism)
What are trophic levels?
classify organisms by their feeding relationships with other organisms
Energy flow
indicated by units of energy per unit area per unit time.
J/m^2/year
What is the formula for percent energy transfer?
small # on trophic level / big #
times 100
What are restrictions to trophic levels?
limited by how much energy enters the ecosystem. if energy is low at the start then chain will be short
What is the reason for energy loss at each trophic level?
- loss of heat from cellular respiration
- material which is not consumed
- material which is not excreted
How is heat lost to the environment through cellular respiration?
due to conversion of chemical energy to heat in cellular respiration
- heat energy is unusable to organisms and lost from ecosystems
