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AP Biology: Chapter 55 (ecosystems) Flashcards

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9818487853EcosystemThe sum of all the organisms living in a given area and the abiotic factors with which they interact (varying sizes of areas)0
9818487854Energy flow in ecosystemsEnters as sunlight, goes to autotrophs, dispersed among heterotrophs1
9818487855TransformWhat do cells do to matter and energy?2
9818487856Law of Conservation of MassMatter cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed3
9818487857Primary producerTrophic level that supports all others (Autotroph)4
9818487858Primary consumerHerbivore that eats the primary producers (Heterotroph)5
9818487859Secondary consumerCarnivores that eat herbivores6
9818487860Tertiary consumerCarnivores that eat other carnivores7
9818487861DetrivoresGet nutrients from nonliving organic material (dead organisms, fallen leaves)8
9818487862Primary production of an ecosystemThe amount of light energy converted to chemical energy by autotrophs in the form of organic compounds9
9818487863Gross Primary Production (GPP)Total primary production in an ecosystem-- the amount of energy from light converted the chemical energy or organic molecules per unit time10
9818487864Net Primary Production (NPP)Gross primary production minus the energy used by the primary producers for their "autotrophic respiration" (Usually half of GPP on average) (Expressed as energy per unit area per unit time)11
9818487865Limiting nutrientThe element that must be added for production to increase (Usually Nitrogen or Phosphorous--sometimes iron)12
9818487866Secondary ProductionThe amount of chemical energy in consumers' food that is converted to their own new biomass during a given period13
9818487867Energy production efficiencyPercentage of energy stored in assimilated food that is not used for respiration14
9818487868Assimilation of primary productionConsists of total energy taken in used for growth, reproduction, and respiration (not including losses in feces)15
9818487869Trophic efficiencyPercentage of production transferred from one trophic level to the next (generally only about 10% and range from 5-20% (90% of the energy in one trophic level is typically not transferred to the next)16
9818487870Pyramid of Net productionDemonstrates the loss of energy with each transfer in a food chain, trophic levels are arranged in tiers where the width of each trophic level is proportional to the net production in Joules17
9818487871Biomass pyramidRepresents ecological consequences of low trophic efficiencies, each tier represents the standing crop (total dry mass of all oragnisms) in one trophic level18
9818487872Carbon cycleCO2 -> Photosythesis -> Cellular respiration19
9818487873Nitrogen cycleN2 -> N fixation -> Organisms -> Denitrification20
9818487874The water cycleEvaporation, Condensation, Precipitation21
9818487875Phosphorous cycleWeathering of rocks adds phosphorous to soil, some leaches into groundwater and surface water and may eventually reach the sea, producers take in phosphates, consumers eat producers, phosphate is returned to soil or water (Phosphorous never goes into the atmosphere)22

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