Energy Flow and Nutrient Cycling in Aquatic Communities

These flashcards cover key concepts, terms, and definitions related to energy flow and nutrient cycling in aquatic communities.

Energy Flow

The transfer of energy through a food web or a nutrient cycle in an ecosystem.

Nutrient Cycling

The process by which nutrients are transferred between physical environmental components and organisms in an ecosystem.

Food Web Ecology

A complex network of feeding relationships among organisms in a community, illustrating how energy and nutrients flow through the ecosystem.

Connectivity Food Web

A food web where all species and interaction links are treated equally, based on diet presence-absence data.

Energy Flux Food Web

A type of food web that quantifies the strength of linkages and resource flow among species.

Stable Isotopes

Chemically stable forms of elements used to assess food resources and energy flow in ecological studies, e.g., C^{13}, N^{15}.

Secondary Production

The generation of biomass by consumer species in an ecosystem, measured over time.

Spatial Subsidies

Energy flow that occurs across habitat boundaries, impacting food webs and biogeochemical cycling.

Community-Driven Nutrient Dynamics

The regulation of nutrient flux in ecosystems by consumer interactions with food resources.

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function

The relationship between species diversity and the efficiency of ecosystem processes.