Help
Options
Didn't know it?
click below
click below
Knew it?
click below
click below
Don't Know
Remaining cards (0)
Know
retry
shuffle
restart
0:00
Embed Code - If you would like this activity on your web page, copy the script below and paste it into your web page.
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Green Generation 3
Ecology of Ecosystems
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Ecosystem | A community of organisms interacting within a particular physical environment or a community plus its abiotic factors. |
| Photoautotrophs | Organisms that carry out photosynthesis--primarily plants |
| Autotrophs | Primary producers |
| Consumers | Organisms that consume primary producers |
| Herbivores | Consumers which eat plants |
| Carnivores | Consumers which eat animals |
| Omnivores | Organisms which eat both plants and animals |
| Decomposers | Organisms which obtain their energy by breaking down the remains or products of organisms (includes fungi and bacteria) |
| • Detritivores | Decomposers which eat detritus (organic waste and dead organisms) |
| Detritus | Organic wastes and dead organisms |
| Trophic | Feeding |
| • First trophic level | Contains the autotrophs which build energy containing molecules. (They also absorb nitrogen, phosphorous, sulfur and other molecules necessary for life) |
| • Chemoautotrophs | An organism that manufactures its own food through chemosynthesis (the oxidation of inorganic chemical compounds) as opposed to photosynthesis. Bacteria |
| • Second trophic level | Contains the primary consumers which eat the primary producers including herbivores, decomposers and detritivores, e.g. insects, grasshoppers, deer and wildebeest |
| • Third trophic level | Contains the secondary consumers, primary carnivores which eat the herbivores, e.g. mice, spiders and many birds |
| • Fourth trophic level | Contains the tertiary consumers, secondary carnivores who eat the primary carnivores, e.g. weasel, owl, sharks and wolves. |
| Food webs | Intricate pathways of energy flow and material cycling |
| • Gross primary productivity | The rate at which the primary producers capture and store energy per unit time. |
| Biological magnification | The tendency for toxic substances to increase in concentration at progressively higher levels of the food chain |
| Ecological succession | A directional, cumulative change in the species that occupy a given area, through time |
| • Primary succession | Starts from barren ground, e.g. new islands or de-glaciated areas |
| • Secondary succession | Starts from disturbed areas, e.g. abandoned farm land or storm ravaged land |
| Pioneer community | The first organisms to occupy an area |
| Transitional communities | Communities may come and go |
| Climax community | A stable, self-perpetuating array of species in equilibrium with one another and their habitat |
| Biodiversity | Biodiversity, the number of different species within an area |
| • Biome | A large region of land characterized by the climax vegetation of the ecosystems within its boundaries |
| • Weather | The condition of the atmosphere at any given time |
| • Climate | The accumulation of weather events over a long period of time (temperatures, humidity, wind, cloud cover, rainfall) |
| • Climate is dependent upon several factors: | Solar radiation The earth's daily rotation The earth's rotation around the sun The distributions of continents and oceans |
Created by:
bemcbee
Popular Science sets