All Flashcards
What are the steps of energy transfer in a food chain?
Producers capture solar energy, consumers eat producers, energy is transferred up trophic levels, energy is lost as heat at each step.
Describe the process of photosynthesis.
Plants use sunlight, water, and CO2 to produce glucose and oxygen.
Describe the process of cellular respiration.
Organisms break down glucose to release energy (ATP), producing CO2 and water.
What is the First Law of Thermodynamics?
Energy is neither created nor destroyed, only transformed.
What is the Second Law of Thermodynamics?
Every energy transformation increases entropy (disorder).
Explain the 10% rule.
Only about 10% of energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next.
Describe energy flow in ecosystems.
Energy flows from the sun to producers, then to consumers, with energy lost as heat at each level.
Explain energy transformation.
Energy changes form, often into less usable forms like heat, but is never lost.
What is the role of photosynthesis in energy flow?
Photosynthesis converts solar energy into chemical energy, introducing energy into the food chain.
What is the role of cellular respiration in energy flow?
Cellular respiration converts glucose into usable chemical energy (ATP) and releases thermal energy.
What is the significance of entropy in trophic levels?
The entropy of trophic levels is high due to low energy transfer rates.
Why do top predators need large territories?
Top predators need large territories to find enough food due to the 10% rule.
How does the 10% rule affect ecosystem structure?
It limits the number of trophic levels and the biomass at higher levels.
Define solar energy.
The ultimate source of energy for almost all ecosystems.
Define trophic levels.
The hierarchical levels in an ecosystem, representing the transfer of energy.
Define producers.
Organisms (like plants) that convert solar energy into chemical energy.
Define photosynthesis.
The process by which producers convert solar energy into glucose.
Define herbivores.
Organisms that eat producers (plants).
Define carnivores.
Organisms that eat herbivores or other carnivores.
Define decomposers.
Organisms that break down dead organisms and recycle nutrients.
Define cellular respiration.
The process that converts glucose into usable chemical energy (ATP).
Define entropy.
A measure of disorder in a system; it increases with energy transformations.
Define chemical energy.
Energy stored in the bonds of chemical compounds.