What is energy flow?
Energy enters as light and flows through living organisms and is ultimately lost as heat. Not recycled.
What is nutrient cycling?
Nutrients are recycled and pass through biotic and abiotic forms.
What are the 4 nutritional modes?
Photoautotrophs, Photoheterotrophs, Chemoautotrophs, Chemoheterotrophs
What are the different types of producers?
Bacteria, protists and plants
What is the ecological importance of Cyanobacteria?
Makes oxygen available to other organisms through photosynthesis.
What is the ecological importance of protists?
Play a key role in aquatic food chains: phytoplankton are the basis of food chains in freshwater and marine environments.
What are the general characteristics of plants?
Non-motile, terrestrial, multicellular, eukaryotic, cellulose in cell wall, most contain chlorophyll and produce their own organic compounds (autotrophic)
What are the ecological and economic importances of plants?
Plants produce oxygen (photosynthesis), moderate global climate (reduce greenhouse gases), moderate local climate (shade), plants provide cover/habitat for wildlife, build soil (accumulation of dead plant material), hold water, hold soil (forests prevent soil erosion)
What are the 4 groups of plants with characteristics?
Nonvascular land plants, seedless vascular plants, gymnosperms, angiosperms
Adaptations in tropical wet forests
Thin and smooth bark (no need to conserve moisture, stops other plants from growing on them)
Waxy leaves with holes and pointy tips: allow excess water to run off
Adaptations in temperate forests
Thick bark to protect them from the cold
Thin and broad leaves: helps trees collect sunlight, lose leaves to conserve moisture and prevent damage from snow
Adaptations in tundra forests
Flowering plants grow quickly to have time to reproduce
Small plants: warmer and protected from wind there
Shallow roots: help them get rainwater, protect roots from permafrost
Dark colour: absorb more sunlight
Leathery and hairy leaves: heat and water retention
Adaptations in deserts
Have a different form of photosynthesis
Thick stem: store water
Thorns: Don’t lose as much water as with leaves, prevent predators from eating
Small leaves: reduce moisture loss
Hairy leaves: reduce water loss by providing shade, traps water vapour
What are photoautotrophs?
Producers that get energy from the sun and carbon from atmospheric CO2. Ex: most plants, some prokaryotes and some protists
What are photoheterotrophs?
Prokaryotes that get energy from sun, carbon in organic form= organic carbon (i.e. other living or things). Ex: bacteria
What are chemoautotrophs?
Prokaryotes that get energy from chemical bonds (organic or inorganic compounds), carbon from atmospheric CO2. Ex: bacteria
What are chemoheterotrophs?
Heterotrophs that get energy from chemical bonds (organic or inorganic compounds), carbon in organic form = organic carbon (i.e. other living or things). Ex: all animals and fungi, many protists and prokaryotes
Adaptations in tropical dry forests
Shedding their leaves to conserve water during dry periods
