Energy Flow Through Ecosystems For A or 90% and higher.

Flashcards covering key vocabulary related to energy flow and ecosystems, including definitions of ecosystem components, energy laws, metabolic rates, trophic levels, production types, and nutrient cycles.

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.

Metabolic rate

The total amount of energy an animal uses in a unit of time.

Endotherms

Organisms that use thermal energy from metabolism to maintain body temperature.

Ectotherms

Organisms that use external sources to regulate their body temperature.

Trophic levels

Species can be grouped into levels based upon their main source of nutrition and energy.

Primary consumers

Herbivores that rely on autotrophs for food.

Secondary consumers

Carnivores that eat herbivores.

Tertiary consumers

Carnivores that eat other carnivores.

Decomposers

Organisms that get energy from nonliving organic material and are important for recycling.

Food chain

The transfer of food energy up the trophic levels.

Gross primary production (GPP)

Total primary production in an ecosystem.

Net primary production (NPP)

The GPP minus the energy used by primary producers for respiration.

Biogeochemical cycles

Nutrient cycles that contain both biotic and abiotic factors in ecosystems.

Water cycle

The cycle that demonstrates the biological importance of water for all life.

Carbon cycle

The cycle that shows the importance of carbon for the formation of organic compounds.

Nitrogen cycle

The cycle that emphasizes the importance of nitrogen for the formation of amino acids and proteins.

Phosphorus cycle

The cycle that highlights the importance of phosphorus for the formation of nucleic acids and ATP.

Net gain

A net gain in energy results in energy storage or growth of an organism

Net loss

A net loss of energy results in loss of mass and eventual death of an organism

Primary Production

The amount of light energy that is converted to chemical energy.