Food Webs and Ecosystems quiz 2

Equation for photosynthesis

6CO2 (carbon dioxide) + 6H2O (water) +energy-------> C6H12O6 (glucose) + 6O2 (oxygen)

Equation for respiration

C6H12O6 (glucose) + 6O2 (oxygen) ---------> 6CO2 (carbon dioxide) + 6H2O (water) + energy

Producers

Organisms that produce their own food

Primary consumers

animals that feed on producers; ex. herbivores

Secondary consumers

carnivores that eat herbivores

Tertiary consumers

eat secondary consumers

Detritivores

feed on plant and animal remains and other dead matter

Decomposers

Organisms that break down the dead remains of other organisms

Nutrients

Substances in food that your body needs to grow, to repair itself, and to supply you with energy

Detritus

Dead organic matter

Heterotrophs

An organism that obtains organic food molecules by eating other organisms or their by-products.

Autotrophs

Organisms that make their own food

Photoautotrophs

Organisms that use light as a source of energy to synthesize organic substances.

Food chain

A series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten

Food web

A community of organisms where there are several interrelated food chains

Omnivore

An animal that eats both plants and animals

Isotopes

Atoms with the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons

Stable isotopes

Do not change or decay over time

Radioactive isotopes

decay spontaneously, giving off particles and energy

Energy pyramid

A diagram that shows the amount of energy that moves from one feeding level to another in a food web

Numbers pyramid

shows how many organisms are needed at each trophic level

Biomass pyramid

Diagram representing the biomass in each trophic level of an ecosystem

Gross primary production

Amount of carbon dioxide converted to organic matter by producers.

Net primary production

Amount of producer biomass or energy available to be consumed by primary consumers.

Assimilation

amount of ingested biomass that is available to be used by consumer.

Egestion

removal of undigested waste

Ingestion

Intake of food

Production

the rate at which organic matter (biomass) is created by organisms

Excretion

the elimination of waste products and toxins from the body of an organism.

10% rule of energy transfer

only about 10% of the energy from one trophic level is transferred to the next