honors bio jamieson intro to ecology review

Trophic levels

Steps in a food chain / web

Autotroph

A photosynthetic organism

Heterotroph

Anything that eats living things for energy

Consumer

It is the same thing as a heterotroph

Producer

Same as autotroph

Detritvore

Something that used dead/ decaying matter for energy

Decomposer

Something that breaks matter down into a more usable form

Community

An assemblage of interacting population in an area

Ecosystem

The sum of all biotic & abiotic factors in an ecosystem

Biogeochemical cycle

Chemical cycling between living systems & their environment

What is the difference between nutrients and energy in ecosystems

Nutrients cycle while energy flows ( is wasted) 10% rule

Differentiate between the 3 different types of pyramid

Energy pyramid- shows energy available at each tropic level

Pyramid of numbers-the number of organisms at each trophic level

Pyramid of biomass-shows how much organic material at each level

Label this food web

Why are detritivores and decomposers useful to healthy ecosystems?

They speed up the return of nutrients to the soil/living systems

Why are food webs more preferable to using food chains

They are more realistic, very few organisms can eat only 1 thing

When considering food webs, what’s significant about keystone species and apex predators?

Keystone species are eaten by several carnivores, they are vital to ecosystem health

Apex predators-nothing eats them, there can only be so many

What are limiting nutrients, and why do they matter?

these are nutrients used in living system, when they are in short supply, the ecosystem is in trouble

What type of processes are similar to all nutrient cycles

Uptake(except for carbon cycle), consumption, and decomposition

Associated terminology with carbon cycle

Photosynthesis, respiration, volcanic activity, combustion

What is the major reservoirs for carbon cycle

Rocks and ocean

Fossil fuels are 1/10 of the ocean

What makes the carbon cycle unique?

Doesn’t use root uptake

Associated terminology with nitrogen cycle

Nitrogen fixation nitrification and dentrification

What is the major reservoir for nitrogen cycle

Atmosphere-78% of the air we breathed is n2

What makes nitrogen cycle unique

The most complicated in terms of chemical composition and the atmosphere is a major reservoir

Associated terminology with phosphorus cycle

Geologic uplift, erosion, weathering deposition

what are the major reservoirs of phosphorus cycle

Sedimentary rocks and marine sediments

What makes phosphorus cycle unique

It is mostly geological