Unit 3 Lesson 3: Cycling of Matter and Energy Flow Flashcards
(32 cards)
Biomass
Biomass is the amount of organisms in a given area or volume in an ecosystem.
biomass can be burned or digested to produce a type of
energy
Examples of biomass that you may be familiar with include
wood, agricultural products, solid waste, landfill gas, biogas, and alcohol fuels such as ethanol.
What accounts for hlaf of all biomass energy
Wood (including logs, wood chips, bark, and sawdust) accounts for almost half of all biomass energy.
What does plant biomass contain
Plant biomass contains chemical energy from the sun that was stored during the process of photosynthesis.
Energy and matter flow into the ecosystem through autotrophs who produce their own food, like plants that photosynthesize. What does the amount of autotrophs in an area determein
The amount of autotrophs in an area determines what kind and how many organisms the area can support.
Why is the productivity of the primary producers (autotrophs) is important in an ecosystem
The productivity of the primary producers (autotrophs) is important in an ecosystem since they provide the stored chemical energy to the other organisms.
How fast the producers make food from the sun is known as
primary productivity
primary productivity
the rate at which plants and other photosynthetic organisms produce organic compounds
Gross primary productivity (GPP
is the total amount of material that is produced during photosynthesis; (GPP) the amount of organic, carbon-based material that is produced by photosynthesis
Gross primary productivity is also thought of as how much carbon is used by the plants during respiration and is measured in
J/m2/day
Organisms will need to use some of this energy for their own life processes such as respiration, moving, or reproducing. The remaining energy is the
net primary productivity (NPP
net primary productivity
(NPP) the measure of the amount of organic material produced minus the amount of organic material used during life processes such as respiration; Net primary productivity is the amount of energy that is available to the organism that consumes it. The amount of organic material used by the autotroph during life processes, such as respiration, is subtracted from the GPP.
What is another thing NPP measures
NPP also measures how effectively each trophic level uses and incorporates the energy from its food and into biomass.
To find the net primary productivity of the ecosystem, the following equation is used:
GPPârespirationâ(carbonâdioxide)=NPP
An example of calculating for NPP would be a forest that has a GPP of 200âJ/m2/day and 100âJ/m2/day worth of carbon dioxide is used during cellular respiration.
Using the equation GPPârespirationâ(carbonâdioxide)=NPP
200âJ/m2/dayâ100âJ/m2/day=100âJ/m2/day
NPP would equal 100 J/m2/day
What is often used to represent the percentage of energy entering an ecosysem
A pyramid is often used to represent the percentage of energy entering an ecosystem that is contained in biomass at different trophic levels. The pyramid represents the energy flow through the trophic levels.
Consumers can only effectively use ?% of the energy stored in their food.
That 10% is used to help them grow, heal, move, and reproduce.
Consumers can only effectively use 10% of the energy stored in their food. What happens the the remaninding 90%
The other 90% is released during digestion as heat or cannot be used and is transformed into waste.
Because an organism can only use 10% of the energy in the food it eats, what happens the further you get from the producer of a food chain
Because an organism can only use 10% of the energy in the food it eats, the further you get from the producer of a food chain the less energy is being transferred to the next organism. Therefore, the levels of the energy pyramid get smaller and smaller as you move up the pyramid.
How do scientists calculate the net primary productivity, or the amount of organic material available to transfer to the next trophic level?
Scientists can use the gross primary productivity, or the total amount of organic material produced through photosynthesis, and subtract the organic material that is used for life processes such as respiration.
Calculate the net primary productivity of an ecosystem that has a gross primary productivity of 50060âJ/m2/day
and the respiration is 36922âJ/m2/day
13,138âJ/m2/day
Explain biomass and provide an example.
Biomass is the amount of organisms in an ecosystem; examples include wood chips.
What stored energy is released when wood chips are burned?
The stored energy is released as heat when wood chips are burned.