ap biology unit 8: ecology

energy cannot be created or destroyed

mass cannot be created or destroyed

can determine the amount of energy that is gained or lost by an ecosystem over time

produce own energy & nutrition

organisms at the bottom of the food chain, containing the most amount of energy. usually gained through sunlight/photosynthesis

depend directly/indirectly on primary producers for source of energy

herbivores

carnivores

carnivores that eat other carnivores

decomposers

light energy converted to chemical energy by autotrophs over time

total amount of energy from light (or chemicals) converted to chemical energy of organic molecules per unit time

gross primary production minus energy used by primary producers for autotrophic respiration

chemical energy that is produced by autotrophs that goes back to the ecosystem

GPP - Ra (respiration)

measure of total biomass accumulation over time

GPP - Rt (total respiration)

amount of energy transferred from producers to primary consumers

energy total input should = energy total output

food consumed by organism

biomass increase, respiration, & egested waste

through the biomass of the organism that is devoured

1. producers

2. primary consumers

3. secondary consumers

4. tertiary consumers

5. quaternary consumers

each step in food chain

• heat

• egested waste

• respiration

• biomass

about 10% in the form of biomass

90% is used for respiration, excreted as waste, or is lost as heat

percentage of energy stored in assimilated food that is used for growth & reproduction (NOT RESPIRATION)

net secondary production * 100% / assimilation of primary production

total amount of energy of an organism consumed used for growth, reproduction, & respiration

percentage of production transferred from one trophic level to next

less than production efficiency b/c takes into account energy in egested waste, respiration, and biomass in lower trophic level but not consumed by next trophic level

certain aquatic ecosystems b/c phytoplankton grow, reproduce but are so quickly eaten by zooplankton that their biomass remain at a constantly low level compared to zooplankton

population increasing at an exponential rate

dN/dt = rmax * N

rate of population approaches zero where the population size approaches carrying capacity size

dN/dt = rmax * N (K-N/K)

maximum per capita growth rate of population

B-D/N (birth rate - death rate/population size)

carrying capacity

B-D or exponential or logistical formula

• energy

• stability

• area

• habitat destruction & fragmentation

• invasive species

• population growth

• pollution

• climate change

• overexploitation

  CHIPPO

specific set of biotic & abiotic resources that an organism uses in its environment

-/- interaction, negative interaction for both species

when one species has a competitive advantage over another species which leads to local elimination of inferior species

any type of +/- interaction where one species benefit by haring other species

makes prey difficult to see

prey w/ effective chemical defense that warn predators of their defenses with their colors

harmless species mimics a harmful species

a harmful species mimics another harmful species

a +/- interaction in which one organism derives nourishment from another organism

+/+ interaction

+/0 interaction