A system of organisms and their physical environment
Ecosystem
Organisms of the same species living in the same habitat
Population
Coexisting populations of different species that are interacting
Community
Name the 3 fundamental properties of an ecosystem
- Energy flow and productivity
- Nutrient cycling
- Habitat structure
What is a heterotroph
They are the ones nourished from others
What is an autotroph
They are self-nourishers
How is carbon exchanged between a terrestrial ecosystem and the atmosphere?
By photosynthesis and respiration
What’s a foodweb interaction?
Someone eating somebody else, it is a map of who eats who
What’s a non-trophic foodweb interaction?
It is when nobody gets harm while an animal is getting food by taking it from another animal, one benefits it from the other but the other one doesn’t
What’s a trophic foodweb interaction?
When someone eats somebody else
What’s Liebig’s law of the minimum?
Only 1 nutrient limits growth at any one time: the nutrient in the least supply relative to what is needed
What is the first law of thermodynamics?
Conservation of matter & energy: in any physical/chemical process, matter or energy are neither created nor destroyed, only transformed (ecosystems are input/output machines) ex: nutrient cycling where nothing is destroyed, and always recycled
What is the second law of thermodynamics?
Energy degradation (entropy): energy moves from an organized form to a disorganized one, less useful, energy cannot be recycled to its original state of organized & high-quality usefulness
True or false: the more energy you have, the more diversity you could have
True
How can you know that an element from a foodchain is important?
It has many lines connected to it
Who starts the foodchain and feed the primary consumers?
The primary producers
How is CO2 converted to organic C? (Exchanging between a terrestrial ecosystem and the atmosphere)
Through photosynthesis, organic C passes through the food chain from primary producers to consumers and decomposition releases inorganic C back to the atmosphere
Define short-term carbon cycle
Involve interaction between the atmosphere and biosphere (photosynthesis and respiration)
Define long-term carbon cycle
Involve the formation and destruction of fossil fuels and sediments (volcano activity)
Why is there 2 terms of carbon cycle?
Because the reservoir sizes are different
Foraminiferans (protoza)
Live in plankton and sediments, feed on bacteria and produce 1 billion tons of CaCO3/year
Coccolithophores (algae)
Produce 1.5 million tons of CaCO3/year
Explain long-term carbon cycle
Rock weathering = releasing carbonates, exposed sedimentary rock= through chemical reaction the carbon stuck and buried into the deep ocean naturally dissolves in the water, and we then get carbonic acid = bicarbonate, the ocean = a sink for carbon
