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Ecosystem

Ecosystem. All biotic + abiotic features of an area. Biotic : living organisms Abiotic : non-living features Through ecosystems, we study energy flow and nutrient/chemical cycling. Ecosystem Production. Primary production : amount of light energy converted to chemical energy.

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Ecosystem

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  1. Ecosystem All biotic + abiotic features of an area.Biotic: living organisms Abiotic: non-living features Through ecosystems, we study energy flow and nutrient/chemical cycling.

  2. Ecosystem Production • Primary production: amount of light energy converted to chemical energy. • Trophic efficiency: amount of production transferred from one level to the next.

  3. Energy is lost through respiration and waste

  4. Food Webs are short • Constrained by inefficient transfer of energy between trophic levels (~10%/level). Predict: Areas with greater productivity should have… • Shorter webs are more stable. Predict: More variable environments should have…

  5. How are trophic levels regulated? (meaning, why isn’t the whole earth covered in rabbits?) Top-down regulation? Bottom-up regulation? (Can you describe how each of these might work?)

  6. Community Group of actually or potentially interacting species living in the same place.

  7. How do communities form? • Assemblage of species based on similar abiotic needs? Prediction: • Interdependent species clustering together? Prediction(s):

  8. Measuring Biodiversity Species diversity measures the number of species (richness) and number of individuals/species (abundance) in a community.

  9. Hot topic: What’s the link between biodiversity, productivity, and stability? • invasion • disease

  10. Detritus: non-living organic material (e.g. dead organisms, feces, molts, etc) Detritivores: • linked to all levels of trophic structure • good measure of ecosystem activity (e.g. energy flow, chemical recycling) Difference between Detritivores and Decomposers?

  11. Carbon, Phosphorus, Nitrogen and energy are all cycled through ecosystems in similar pathways.

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