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ecosystem
the sum of all the organisms living in a given area and the abiotic factors they interact with
biotic factors
living, or once living, components of an environment
abiotic factors
nonliving (physical and chemical properties of the environment)
1st law of thermodynamics
energy can neither be created nor destroyed, only transferred
2nd law of thermodynamics
exchanges of energy increase the entropy of the universe
ecosystems and energy
a net gain in energy results in energy storage or growth of an organism
a net loss of energy results in loss of mass and eventual death of an organism
metabolic rate
the total amount of energy an animal uses in a unit of time
can be measured in calories, heat loss, or by the amount of oxygen consumed (or CO2 produced)
oxygen is used in cellular respiration and CO2 is produced as a by-product
an animal’s _____ ________ is related to its body mass
smaller organisms = higher _______ ___
larger organisms = lower ____________
*****this is due to the surface area to volume ratio, a smaller animal has more body surface relative to its volume of metabolizing tissue, so more heat is lost
endotherms
use thermal energy from metabolism to maintain body temperatures
ectotherms
use external sources (i.e. sun/shade or other organisms) to regulate their body temperature
trophic levels
species can be grouped based upon their main source of nutrition and energy
energy CANNOT be recycled
the sun constantly supplies energy to ecosystems
primary producers
tropic levels
autotrophs
use light energy to synthesize organic compounds
plants, algae, photosynthetic plankton
some organisms are chemosynthetic (produce food using energy created by chemical reactions
i.e. some bacteria and archaea organisms
heterotrophs
trophic levels
rely on autotrophs because they cannot make their own food
primary consumers: herbivores
secondary consumers: carnivores that eat herbivores
tertiary consumers: carnivores that eat other carnivores
decomposers: get energy from detritus (nonliving organic material; leaves, wood, dead organisms)
include fungi and many prokaryotes
important for recycling chemical elements
trophic structure
determined by the feeding relationships between organisms
food chain: the transfer of food energy up the trophic levels
food web: linked food chains
primary production
the amount of light energy that is converted to chemical energy
primary producers set a “spending limit” for the entire ecosystems energy budget
Gross primary production (GPP): total primary production in an ecosystem
Net primary production (NPP): the GPP minus the energy used by the primary producers for respiration (Ra)
secondary production
the amount of chemical energy in a consumer’s food that is converted to new biomass
the transfer of energy between trophic levels is at around 10% efficiency
matter cycling
unlike energy, matter cycles through ecosystems
matter is found in limited amounts, unlike solar energy
biogeochemical cycles: nutrient cycles that contain both biotic and abiotic factors
water, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycle
water cycle
water is essential for all life and influences the rate of ecosystem processes
carbon cycle
carbon is essential for life and required in the formation of organic compounds
nitrogen cycle
nitrogen is important for the formation of amino acids, proteins, and nucleic acids
phosphorus cycle
phosphorous is important for the formation of nucleic acids, phospholipids, and ATP (energy)