Bio Test 3 - Ecology: Ecosystem

Front 1

all the organisms in a given area as well as the abiotic factors with which they interact; one or more communities and the physical environment around them

Back 1

ecosystem

Front 2

the different feeding relationships in an ecosystem, which determine the route of energy flow and the pattern of chemical cycling

Back 2

trophic structure/levels

Front 3

autotroph; usually photosynthetic, support all other levels

Back 3

primary producer

Front 4

an herbivore, eats plants or other autotrophs

Back 4

primary consumer

Front 5

a carnivore that eats herbivores

Back 5

secondary consumer

Front 6

a carnivore that eats other carnivores

Back 6

tertiary consumer

Front 7

a consumer that derives its energy and nutrients from nonliving organic material such as corpses, fallen plant material, and the wastes of living organisms; a decomposer

Back 7

detritivore

Front 8

the pathway along which food energy is transferred from trophic level to trophic level, beginning with producers

Back 8

food chain

Front 9

the interconnected feeding relationships in an ecosystem

Back 9

food web

Front 10

the total mass of organic matter comprising a group of organisms in a particular habitat

Back 10

biomass

Front 11

each tier represents the standing crop (total dry mass of all organisms) in one trophic level

Back 11

biomass pyramid

Front 12

-a community of organisms and their environment

Back 12

ecosystem

Front 13

every ecosystem is?

Back 13

an open system - inputs and outputs of both energy and nutrients

Front 14

-flows in only one direction through an ecosystem

Back 14

energy

Front 15

how each chain in a food web extends from producers through all the consumers

Back 15

straight line sequence

Front 16

biotic components of an ecosystem

Back 16

producers and consumers (including decomposers)

Front 17

-recycles within an ecosystem

Back 17

nutrients

Front 18

describe one way energy flow

Back 18

-photosynthesis captures energy from the sun by autotrophs, then eaten by heterotrophs

Front 19

how does most energy in an ecosystem leave?

Back 19

in the form of heat

Front 20

examples of primary producers in a prairie

Back 20

photoautotrophs, chemoautotrophs

Front 21

first level consumers in a prairie

Back 21

2nd trophic level = herbivores, parasites, detritivores, decomposers

Front 22

second level consumers in a prairie

Back 22

3rd trophic level = carnivores, parasites, detritivores, decomposers

Front 23

third level consumers in a prairie

Back 23

4th trophic level - carnivores, parasites, detritivores, decomposers

Front 24

fourth level consumers in a prairie

Back 24

5th trophic level - top carnivores, parasites, detritivores, decomposers

Front 25

straight line sequence of who eats whom

Back 25

food chain

Front 26

simple food chains are rare in nature

Back 26

k?

Front 27

energy is lost at each step of a trophic level so....

Back 27

limits the number of trophic levels
-typically only 10 % efficient
-only chemical energy stored as biomass can be used

Front 28

how is energy lost at each step?

Back 28

-heat, organism's activities, growth and reproduction

Front 29

three different kinds of pyramids

Back 29

biomass (total weight of organism)
energy (flow through a level)
numbers (total number of organisms)

Front 30

why do biomass pyramids narrow sharply from primary producers to top-level carnivores?

Back 30

energy transfers are inefficient!!

Front 31

-shows how biomass pyramid and number pyramid are proportional to one another

Back 31

number pyramids

Front 32

-initial energy sour for nearly all ecosystems

Back 32

sunlight