Case Study: Sea Otters, Sea Urchins, and Kelp: Indirect Effects of Species on One Another
1: Define: Community Effect
Community effect is when one animal affects the whole community of species
2: Explain WHY the Sea Otter is considered the Keystone Species in this ecosystem. (Hint: Explain the food chain)
It is considered a keystone species because if you remove it there will me more urchins and with more urchins there will be less kelp and with less kelp ther will be less animals that live in the kelp
3: Why were Sea Otters endangered and how did their numbers rebound?
Sea otters were a endangered species because fur hunters killed them for companies but they rebounded because they were protected legally
5.1- The Ecosystem: Sustaining Life on Earth
1: Define Ecosystem Structure
Ecosystem structure is a ecosystem with two parts the non-living and the living
2: What two main processes must occur to maintain an ecosystem?
Two processes that must occur are chemical elements cycling and flow of energy
5.2- Ecological Communities and Food Chains
1: What is the difference between a food chain and a food web?
Food chains describe the energy transffer and food web describe who eats who in the ecosystem
2: Define: Trophic Level
Trophic level is a group of animals that are in the food web
3: Define: Autotrophs, Heterotrophs, Carnivores, Herbivores, Decomposeters
Autotrophs are the self feeders, Heterotrophs are animals that feed on plants, Carnivors are animals that only eat meat, Herbivores are animals that only eat plants, Decomposeters are animals that feed on dead organic material
4: Explain the food web of Yellowstone Hot Springs. Explain each trophic level (include a photo).
In Yellowstone Hot springs the decomposers eat the dead mites, dolichopodid fly, wasps, dragonfies, and killdeer, All these eat the ephydrid flies and the ephydrid flies eat the algae
5: Explain a pelagic ecosystem. Explain each trophic level (include photos).
A pelagic ecosystem is a food web
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? That would place us within nature. OR should we place people outside of the ecosystem, thus separate from nature?
I think that people should be in this ecosystem because we eat animals like these
5.3- Ecosystems as Systems
1: Why are ecosystems considered to be OPEN systems?
They are open systems because energy flows in and out of it
2: Define: Watershed
Watershed is a boundary of an ecosystem
5.4- Biological Production and Ecosystem Energy Flow
1: Define: Energy
Energy is what is required by life to move and to work
2: Explain: Ecosystem Energy Flow- What two ways does energy enter an ecosystem?
This is energy that flows from the environment to organisms that live in the environment two ways it enters is by organisms that fix it and through a food web
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.
It is that energy isn't created or destroyed but transffered.
2: What is the Second Law of Thermodynamics say?
It says that energy becomes into heat
3: Define Entropy (give an example).
Entropy is the measure of the decrease an example would be an engineer
4: What is an intermediate system?
It is a thermodynamic system
5.5- Biological Production and Biomass
1: What is biomass?
Biomass is the total amount of organic matter in an ecosystem
2: Define the following:
*Biological Production: capture of usable energy to produce organic matter
* Gross Production: the increase of stored energy
* Net Production: the amount of newly acquired energy
3: What are the 3 measures that are used for biomass and biological production?
The three measures are quantity of organic material, energy stored, and carbon stored
4: What is primary production- who carries this out?
It is a production carried out by autotrophs
5: What is secondary production- who is involved?
It is organisms that eat autotrophs heterotrophs are involved
6: Who are chemoautotrophs? Explain- where are they usually found?
Chemoautrophs are bacteria they are usually found in the deep ocean
5.6- Energy Efficiency and Transfer Efficiency
1: What is energy efficiency?
Energy efficiency is the ratio of output to input
2: How would energy efficiency look with a wolf and moose population? Explain.
It will look effective because the moose contains the amount of energy it needs
3: What is food-chain or trophic level efficiency?
It is the ratio production of one trophic level to the next trophic level
4: Generally, how much energy is lost to heat when being transferred between trophic levels?
About 90% of energy is lost as heat
5.7- Ecological Stability and Succession
1: What is ecological succession?
When disturbed ecosystems can recover
2: Compare and contrast primary and secondary succession- give an example of each.
Primary is recovery of something that did not exist and secondary is reestablishing an example of primary is coral reefs and an example of secondary is pollution
3: Explain how succession would look in a Dune.
It will have sharp ends that will hurt and it will grow plants with underground runners
4: Explain how succession would look in a Bog.
It is an open body of water with inlets usually small streams
5: Explain how succession would look in an old-field.
First small plants grow then eventually grew to big trees
6: Explain how succession would look in a coral reef.
Fish started coming and jellyfish
5.9- How Species Change Succession
1: Explain facilitation in succession and where is it most common?
Facilitation is when species change the environment to make it suitable
2: Explain interference in succession and what it can lead to.
Interference is when a species changes the environment so that it is unsuitable to another species
3: What is chronic patchiness? When does this occur?
It is when no species interact with the succession it occurs when its hot
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?
It decrease because the animals use some energy when they move and the animals that eat them don't always eat all of the animal the energy lost at each level go intio the soil
2: Why it is appropriate to use mass to represent energy content?
It is appropriate because they weigh the animals with the unit mass
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).
333,000kg/21=15857g*.80=12686 Joules
4: Make a list of environmental arguments for and against an entirely vegetarian diet for people. What might be the consequences for the United States agriculture if everyone in the country began to eat lower on the food chain?
The good would be that everybody will be more healthy and animals wont be endangered, but the bad is that there will be to many animals and with more animals ther will be less grass
5: How low do you eat on the food chain? Would you be willing to eat lower? Explain.
I eat as low as the herbivores but not that much if it comes to the point were there are not enough animals then i would move lower of the food chain
Study Questions:
1: Farming has been described as managing land to keep it in an early stage of succession. What does this mean, and how is it achieved?
It means to keep it a certain way and not let it grow too much like a forest I think that we have achieved this because when we see weeds we cut them and also fruits
2: Keep track of the food you eat during one day and make a food chain linking yourself with the sources of those foods. Determine the biomass (grams) and energy (kilocalories) you have eaten.
Using an average of 5Kcal/g, then using the information on food packaging or assuming that your net production is 10% efficient in terms of energy intake, how much additional energy might you have stored during the day? (What is your weight gain from the food you have eaten?)
1: Define: Community Effect
Community effect is when one animal affects the whole community of species
2: Explain WHY the Sea Otter is considered the Keystone Species in this ecosystem. (Hint: Explain the food chain)
It is considered a keystone species because if you remove it there will me more urchins and with more urchins there will be less kelp and with less kelp ther will be less animals that live in the kelp
3: Why were Sea Otters endangered and how did their numbers rebound?
Sea otters were a endangered species because fur hunters killed them for companies but they rebounded because they were protected legally
5.1- The Ecosystem: Sustaining Life on Earth
1: Define Ecosystem Structure
Ecosystem structure is a ecosystem with two parts the non-living and the living
2: What two main processes must occur to maintain an ecosystem?
Two processes that must occur are chemical elements cycling and flow of energy
5.2- Ecological Communities and Food Chains
1: What is the difference between a food chain and a food web?
Food chains describe the energy transffer and food web describe who eats who in the ecosystem
2: Define: Trophic Level
Trophic level is a group of animals that are in the food web
3: Define: Autotrophs, Heterotrophs, Carnivores, Herbivores, Decomposeters
Autotrophs are the self feeders, Heterotrophs are animals that feed on plants, Carnivors are animals that only eat meat, Herbivores are animals that only eat plants, Decomposeters are animals that feed on dead organic material
4: Explain the food web of Yellowstone Hot Springs. Explain each trophic level (include a photo).
In Yellowstone Hot springs the decomposers eat the dead mites, dolichopodid fly, wasps, dragonfies, and killdeer, All these eat the ephydrid flies and the ephydrid flies eat the algae
5: Explain a pelagic ecosystem. Explain each trophic level (include photos).
A pelagic ecosystem is a food web
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? That would place us within nature. OR should we place people outside of the ecosystem, thus separate from nature?
I think that people should be in this ecosystem because we eat animals like these
5.3- Ecosystems as Systems
1: Why are ecosystems considered to be OPEN systems?
They are open systems because energy flows in and out of it
2: Define: Watershed
Watershed is a boundary of an ecosystem
5.4- Biological Production and Ecosystem Energy Flow
1: Define: Energy
Energy is what is required by life to move and to work
2: Explain: Ecosystem Energy Flow- What two ways does energy enter an ecosystem?
This is energy that flows from the environment to organisms that live in the environment two ways it enters is by organisms that fix it and through a food web
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.
It is that energy isn't created or destroyed but transffered.
2: What is the Second Law of Thermodynamics say?
It says that energy becomes into heat
3: Define Entropy (give an example).
Entropy is the measure of the decrease an example would be an engineer
4: What is an intermediate system?
It is a thermodynamic system
5.5- Biological Production and Biomass
1: What is biomass?
Biomass is the total amount of organic matter in an ecosystem
2: Define the following:
*Biological Production: capture of usable energy to produce organic matter
* Gross Production: the increase of stored energy
* Net Production: the amount of newly acquired energy
3: What are the 3 measures that are used for biomass and biological production?
The three measures are quantity of organic material, energy stored, and carbon stored
4: What is primary production- who carries this out?
It is a production carried out by autotrophs
5: What is secondary production- who is involved?
It is organisms that eat autotrophs heterotrophs are involved
6: Who are chemoautotrophs? Explain- where are they usually found?
Chemoautrophs are bacteria they are usually found in the deep ocean
5.6- Energy Efficiency and Transfer Efficiency
1: What is energy efficiency?
Energy efficiency is the ratio of output to input
2: How would energy efficiency look with a wolf and moose population? Explain.
It will look effective because the moose contains the amount of energy it needs
3: What is food-chain or trophic level efficiency?
It is the ratio production of one trophic level to the next trophic level
4: Generally, how much energy is lost to heat when being transferred between trophic levels?
About 90% of energy is lost as heat
5.7- Ecological Stability and Succession
1: What is ecological succession?
When disturbed ecosystems can recover
2: Compare and contrast primary and secondary succession- give an example of each.
Primary is recovery of something that did not exist and secondary is reestablishing an example of primary is coral reefs and an example of secondary is pollution
3: Explain how succession would look in a Dune.
It will have sharp ends that will hurt and it will grow plants with underground runners
4: Explain how succession would look in a Bog.
It is an open body of water with inlets usually small streams
5: Explain how succession would look in an old-field.
First small plants grow then eventually grew to big trees
6: Explain how succession would look in a coral reef.
Fish started coming and jellyfish
5.9- How Species Change Succession
1: Explain facilitation in succession and where is it most common?
Facilitation is when species change the environment to make it suitable
2: Explain interference in succession and what it can lead to.
Interference is when a species changes the environment so that it is unsuitable to another species
3: What is chronic patchiness? When does this occur?
It is when no species interact with the succession it occurs when its hot
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?
It decrease because the animals use some energy when they move and the animals that eat them don't always eat all of the animal the energy lost at each level go intio the soil
2: Why it is appropriate to use mass to represent energy content?
It is appropriate because they weigh the animals with the unit mass
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).
333,000kg/21=15857g*.80=12686 Joules
4: Make a list of environmental arguments for and against an entirely vegetarian diet for people. What might be the consequences for the United States agriculture if everyone in the country began to eat lower on the food chain?
The good would be that everybody will be more healthy and animals wont be endangered, but the bad is that there will be to many animals and with more animals ther will be less grass
5: How low do you eat on the food chain? Would you be willing to eat lower? Explain.
I eat as low as the herbivores but not that much if it comes to the point were there are not enough animals then i would move lower of the food chain
Study Questions:
1: Farming has been described as managing land to keep it in an early stage of succession. What does this mean, and how is it achieved?
It means to keep it a certain way and not let it grow too much like a forest I think that we have achieved this because when we see weeds we cut them and also fruits
2: Keep track of the food you eat during one day and make a food chain linking yourself with the sources of those foods. Determine the biomass (grams) and energy (kilocalories) you have eaten.
Using an average of 5Kcal/g, then using the information on food packaging or assuming that your net production is 10% efficient in terms of energy intake, how much additional energy might you have stored during the day? (What is your weight gain from the food you have eaten?)
3Kg 2,400 kilocalories
Using an average of 5Kcal/g, then using the information on food packaging or assuming that your net production is 10% efficient in terms of energy intake, how much additional energy might you have stored during the day? (What is your weight gain from the food you have eaten?)
5*0.1=0.5
0.5*3=1.5kg
Using an average of 5Kcal/g, then using the information on food packaging or assuming that your net production is 10% efficient in terms of energy intake, how much additional energy might you have stored during the day? (What is your weight gain from the food you have eaten?)
5*0.1=0.5
0.5*3=1.5kg