1: Define: Community Effect Is when species in an ecosystem affect another species indirectly.
2: Explain WHY the Sea Otter is considered the Keystone Species in this ecosystem. (Hint:Explain the food chain) Sea otters are considered a keystone species in an ecosystem because they affect both Sea urchins and kelp. Sea Otters reduce the number of sea urchins, the less sea urchins the less damage there is to the kelp.
3: Why were Sea Otters endangered and how did their numbers rebound? The Sea otters where endangered because they have the finest furs in the world and they would eat abalone which is a prized seafood for us humans, during the 18th and 19th century. But they bounded back due to legal protection by the U.S. government.
5.1- The Ecosystem: Sustaining Life on Earth
1: Define Ecosystem Structure Is an ecosystem that has 2 major parts non living and living. Non living is the physical-chemical environment that includes the atmosphere, water,etc. While the living part is that is called ecological community, is the set of species that interact within the ecosystem.
2: What two main processes must occur to maintain an ecosystem? A cycling of chemical elements and a flow of energy. They are necessary for all life, but no single species can carry out all the necessary chemical cycling and energy flow alone.
5.2- Ecological Communities and Food Chains
1: What is the difference between a food chain and a food web? A food chain are the compounds from creature to creature, while the the food web has more linkage than the food chain.
2: Define: Trophic Level Consists of all organisms in an food web that are the same number of feeding levles away from the orignial energy source.
3: Define: Autotrophs, Heterotrophs, Carnivores, Herbivores, Decomposeters Autotrophs are the self eaters such as plants. Heterotrophs are the organisms that eat different/other organisms. Herbivores are organisms that eat plants, algae, photosynthetic bacteria. Decomposers are those that feed on dead organism material.
4: Explain the food web of Yellowstone Hot Springs. Explain each trophic level. In Yellowstone Hot Springs the first level consists of photosynthetic bacteria and algae. The 2nd level consists of Ephydrid files. The 3rd level consists of spider mites, dolichopodid fly, wasp, dragonfly, and kill deer.
5: Explain a pelagic ecosystem. Explain each trophic level (include photos). A pelagic ecosystem is an open-ocean ecosystem. In the first level it consists of single-cell planktonic algae and planktonic photosynthetic bacteria. In the second level it consists of zooplankton, and some fish feed. In the third level it consists of other fishes and invertebrates that feed on herbivores. The last level consists of marine mammals such as killer whales, that feed on predatory fish.
A Closer Look- Land and Marine Food Webs
1: Look at the terrestrial food web. Should we include people within this ecosystem’s food web? We should include people in the terrestrial food web because just like any other animal we hunt for our food, which is mostly small animals such as deer, chickens, fish and so on.
5.3- Ecosystems as Systems
1: Why are ecosystems considered to be OPEN systems? Ecosystems are considered to be an open system because energy and matter flow into and out of them. Ecosystems are very important and they should be able to be spot easy but its not.
2: Define: Watershed Watershed is a boundary of an ecosystem on land.
5.4- Biological Production and Ecosystem Energy Flow
1: Define: Energy Is the ability to do work, to move matter.
2: Explain: Ecosystem Energy Flow- What two ways does energy enter an ecosystem? Energy enters an ecosystems 2 ways. One it is fixed by organisms. And the other one is moving through food webs within an ecosystem.
The Laws of Thermodynamics and the Ultimate Limit on the Abundance of Life
1: The First Law of Thermodynamics is also known as what? Define it. The law of conservation of energy. It states that any physical or chemical change, energy, neither created nor destroyed but changed from one from to another.
2: What is the Second Law of Thermodynamics say? Not all use of energy can ever be 100 percent efficient.
3: Define Entropy (give an example).
The measure of the decrease in order is called entropy. An example would be crafting furniture.
4: What is an intermediate system? Intermediate system is an ecosystem that lies between a source of usable energy and a sink for degraded energy.
5.5- Biological Production and Biomass
1: What is biomass? Biomass is the total amount of organic matter in any ecosystem.
2: Define the following:
*Biological Production Is the capture of usable energy from the environment to produce organic matter.
* Gross Production Is the increase in stored energy before any is used.
* Net Production Is the amount of newly acquired energy stored after some energy has been used.
3: What are the 3 measures that are used for biomass and biological production? The quantity of organic material, energy stored and carbon stored.
4: What is primary production- who carries this out? Is the production carried out by autotrophs. Plants carry it out.
5: What is secondary production- who is involved? Is the production of heterotrophs. Animals are involved.
6: Who are chemoautotrophs? Explain- where are they usually found? Chemoautotrophs are bacteria that pull energy from inorganic sulfur compounds . They are found in the deep sea vents.
5.6- Energy Efficiency and Transfer Efficiency
1: What is energy efficiency? Is defined as the ratio of output to input, and is usually further defined as the amount of useful work obtained from some amount of available energy.
2: How would energy efficiency look with a wolf and moose population? Explain. Wolfs need energy to travel long distance and hunt, so it would be best if they get as much energy in its food. But the best moose would be one with little energy in it.
3: What is food-chain or trophic level efficiency? Trophic level is the ratio of production from one trophic level to another.
4: Generally, how much energy is lost to heat when being transferred between trophic levels? About 90 percent of energy is lost when being transferred to another trophic level.
5.7- Ecological Stability and Succession
1: What is ecological succession? Is when an ecosystem can recover after a disturbance.
2: Compare and contrast primary and secondary succession- give an example of each. Primary succession is the establishment and development of an ecosystem where one did not exist before. Coral reef is an example. While Secondary succession is reestablishment of an ecosystem after disturbances. Coral reef that has been killed by poor fishing practices is an example.
3: Explain how succession would look in a Dune. Dune grass rapidly forms a complex network of underground runners. Then above the green stems carry out photosynthesis and the grasses grow.
4: Explain how succession would look in a Bog. Begins with sedge(a grasslike herb) puts out floating runners. The runners form a complex network. The stems of the sedge grow on the runners and carry out photosynthesis.
5: Explain how succession would look in an old-field. First plants to enter adapt to harsh and highly variable conditions. As they reestablish larger plants enter.
6:Explain how succession would look in a coral reef. Settle on a solid surface and produce a hard poly of calcium carbonate. As the material dies the hard stuff becomes the surface on which the new individual establish themselves.
5.9- How Species Change Succession
1: Explain facilitation in succession and where is it most common? Is when earlier-successional species change the local environment in ways that make it suitable for another species that is characteristic of a later successional stage. Dunes and bogs are the most common.
2: Explain interference in succession and what it can lead to. Situations where an earlier-successional species changes the local environment so its unsuitable to another species characteristic of a later-successional stage.
3: What is chronic patchiness? When does this occur? Is characteristic of highly disturbed environments and highly stressful ones in terms of temperature, precipitation,etc.
Critical Thinking Issue: Should People Eat Lower on the Food Chain?
1:Why does the energy content decrease at each higher level of a food chain? What happens to the energy lost at each level? Energy is lost at each level because energy is being radiated by heat from the sun.
2: Why it is appropriate to use mass to represent energy content? Mass is appropriate to represent energy consent because it is showing how much mass is required sustain the next level of the food chain.
3: Using the average of 21 kilojoules of energy to equal 1g of completely dried vegetation and assuming that wheat is 80% water, what is the energy content of the 333,000 kg of wheat shown in the pyramid? (show your work). 333,000
*times* 1,000= 333,000,000. 333,000,000 *times* 21= 6,993,000,000 kilo
4: Make a list of environmental arguments for and against an entirely vegetarian diet for people. For(more energy, more fed), Against(No more eating animals, no more using land to help animals grow). Less jobs in the United States, as well as the meat industry would go bankrupt.
5: How low do you eat on the food chain? Would you be willing to eat lower? Explain. If I were in the food chain I would be a secondary consumer because I would be eating something lower than me, and not become a vegetarian.
Study Questions
1:Farming has been described as managing land to keep it in an early stage of succession. What does it mean, and how is it achieved? Farming is allowing early succession species from entering the ecosystem without any other disturbances. By harvesting crops it prevents animals to come and graze as well as keeping out seeds from bigger plants.
2:Keep track of the food you eat during one day and make a food chain linking yourselfwith the source of those food
2: Explain WHY the Sea Otter is considered the Keystone Species in this ecosystem. (Hint:Explain the food chain) Sea otters are considered a keystone species in an ecosystem because they affect both Sea urchins and kelp. Sea Otters reduce the number of sea urchins, the less sea urchins the less damage there is to the kelp.
3: Why were Sea Otters endangered and how did their numbers rebound? The Sea otters where endangered because they have the finest furs in the world and they would eat abalone which is a prized seafood for us humans, during the 18th and 19th century. But they bounded back due to legal protection by the U.S. government.
5.1- The Ecosystem: Sustaining Life on Earth
1: Define Ecosystem Structure Is an ecosystem that has 2 major parts non living and living. Non living is the physical-chemical environment that includes the atmosphere, water,etc. While the living part is that is called ecological community, is the set of species that interact within the ecosystem.
2: What two main processes must occur to maintain an ecosystem? A cycling of chemical elements and a flow of energy. They are necessary for all life, but no single species can carry out all the necessary chemical cycling and energy flow alone.
5.2- Ecological Communities and Food Chains
1: What is the difference between a food chain and a food web? A food chain are the compounds from creature to creature, while the the food web has more linkage than the food chain.
2: Define: Trophic Level Consists of all organisms in an food web that are the same number of feeding levles away from the orignial energy source.
3: Define: Autotrophs, Heterotrophs, Carnivores, Herbivores, Decomposeters Autotrophs are the self eaters such as plants. Heterotrophs are the organisms that eat different/other organisms. Herbivores are organisms that eat plants, algae, photosynthetic bacteria. Decomposers are those that feed on dead organism material.
4: Explain the food web of Yellowstone Hot Springs. Explain each trophic level. In Yellowstone Hot Springs the first level consists of photosynthetic bacteria and algae. The 2nd level consists of Ephydrid files. The 3rd level consists of spider mites, dolichopodid fly, wasp, dragonfly, and kill deer.
5: Explain a pelagic ecosystem. Explain each trophic level (include photos). A pelagic ecosystem is an open-ocean ecosystem. In the first level it consists of single-cell planktonic algae and planktonic photosynthetic bacteria. In the second level it consists of zooplankton, and some fish feed. In the third level it consists of other fishes and invertebrates that feed on herbivores. The last level consists of marine mammals such as killer whales, that feed on predatory fish.
A Closer Look- Land and Marine Food Webs
1: Look at the terrestrial food web. Should we include people within this ecosystem’s food web? We should include people in the terrestrial food web because just like any other animal we hunt for our food, which is mostly small animals such as deer, chickens, fish and so on.
5.3- Ecosystems as Systems
1: Why are ecosystems considered to be OPEN systems? Ecosystems are considered to be an open system because energy and matter flow into and out of them. Ecosystems are very important and they should be able to be spot easy but its not.
2: Define: Watershed Watershed is a boundary of an ecosystem on land.
5.4- Biological Production and Ecosystem Energy Flow
1: Define: Energy Is the ability to do work, to move matter.
2: Explain: Ecosystem Energy Flow- What two ways does energy enter an ecosystem? Energy enters an ecosystems 2 ways. One it is fixed by organisms. And the other one is moving through food webs within an ecosystem.
The Laws of Thermodynamics and the Ultimate Limit on the Abundance of Life
1: The First Law of Thermodynamics is also known as what? Define it. The law of conservation of energy. It states that any physical or chemical change, energy, neither created nor destroyed but changed from one from to another.
2: What is the Second Law of Thermodynamics say? Not all use of energy can ever be 100 percent efficient.
3: Define Entropy (give an example).
The measure of the decrease in order is called entropy. An example would be crafting furniture.
4: What is an intermediate system? Intermediate system is an ecosystem that lies between a source of usable energy and a sink for degraded energy.
5.5- Biological Production and Biomass
1: What is biomass? Biomass is the total amount of organic matter in any ecosystem.
2: Define the following:
*Biological Production Is the capture of usable energy from the environment to produce organic matter.
* Gross Production Is the increase in stored energy before any is used.
* Net Production Is the amount of newly acquired energy stored after some energy has been used.
3: What are the 3 measures that are used for biomass and biological production? The quantity of organic material, energy stored and carbon stored.
4: What is primary production- who carries this out? Is the production carried out by autotrophs. Plants carry it out.
5: What is secondary production- who is involved? Is the production of heterotrophs. Animals are involved.
6: Who are chemoautotrophs? Explain- where are they usually found? Chemoautotrophs are bacteria that pull energy from inorganic sulfur compounds . They are found in the deep sea vents.
5.6- Energy Efficiency and Transfer Efficiency
1: What is energy efficiency? Is defined as the ratio of output to input, and is usually further defined as the amount of useful work obtained from some amount of available energy.
2: How would energy efficiency look with a wolf and moose population? Explain. Wolfs need energy to travel long distance and hunt, so it would be best if they get as much energy in its food. But the best moose would be one with little energy in it.
3: What is food-chain or trophic level efficiency? Trophic level is the ratio of production from one trophic level to another.
4: Generally, how much energy is lost to heat when being transferred between trophic levels? About 90 percent of energy is lost when being transferred to another trophic level.
5.7- Ecological Stability and Succession
1: What is ecological succession? Is when an ecosystem can recover after a disturbance.
2: Compare and contrast primary and secondary succession- give an example of each. Primary succession is the establishment and development of an ecosystem where one did not exist before. Coral reef is an example. While Secondary succession is reestablishment of an ecosystem after disturbances. Coral reef that has been killed by poor fishing practices is an example.
3: Explain how succession would look in a Dune. Dune grass rapidly forms a complex network of underground runners. Then above the green stems carry out photosynthesis and the grasses grow.
4: Explain how succession would look in a Bog. Begins with sedge(a grasslike herb) puts out floating runners. The runners form a complex network. The stems of the sedge grow on the runners and carry out photosynthesis.
5: Explain how succession would look in an old-field. First plants to enter adapt to harsh and highly variable conditions. As they reestablish larger plants enter.
6:Explain how succession would look in a coral reef. Settle on a solid surface and produce a hard poly of calcium carbonate. As the material dies the hard stuff becomes the surface on which the new individual establish themselves.
5.9- How Species Change Succession
1: Explain facilitation in succession and where is it most common? Is when earlier-successional species change the local environment in ways that make it suitable for another species that is characteristic of a later successional stage. Dunes and bogs are the most common.
2: Explain interference in succession and what it can lead to. Situations where an earlier-successional species changes the local environment so its unsuitable to another species characteristic of a later-successional stage.
3: What is chronic patchiness? When does this occur? Is characteristic of highly disturbed environments and highly stressful ones in terms of temperature, precipitation,etc.
Critical Thinking Issue: Should People Eat Lower on the Food Chain?
1:Why does the energy content decrease at each higher level of a food chain? What happens to the energy lost at each level? Energy is lost at each level because energy is being radiated by heat from the sun.
2: Why it is appropriate to use mass to represent energy content? Mass is appropriate to represent energy consent because it is showing how much mass is required sustain the next level of the food chain.
3: Using the average of 21 kilojoules of energy to equal 1g of completely dried vegetation and assuming that wheat is 80% water, what is the energy content of the 333,000 kg of wheat shown in the pyramid? (show your work). 333,000
*times* 1,000= 333,000,000. 333,000,000 *times* 21= 6,993,000,000 kilo
4: Make a list of environmental arguments for and against an entirely vegetarian diet for people. For(more energy, more fed), Against(No more eating animals, no more using land to help animals grow). Less jobs in the United States, as well as the meat industry would go bankrupt.
5: How low do you eat on the food chain? Would you be willing to eat lower? Explain. If I were in the food chain I would be a secondary consumer because I would be eating something lower than me, and not become a vegetarian.
Study Questions
1:Farming has been described as managing land to keep it in an early stage of succession. What does it mean, and how is it achieved? Farming is allowing early succession species from entering the ecosystem without any other disturbances. By harvesting crops it prevents animals to come and graze as well as keeping out seeds from bigger plants.
2:Keep track of the food you eat during one day and make a food chain linking yourselfwith the source of those food