Ecology

• Biomass can be measured as dry weight, wet weight or carbon content.
• Primary production refers to the amount of energy that enters an ecosystem through photosynthesis by plants (autotrophs).
• The biomass is the total mass of living organisms present in an ecosystem.
• The biomass of an ecosystem is the total mass of living organisms present at any given time.
• Producers are autotrophs that convert solar energy into chemical energy using photosynthesis.
• Consumers obtain their food from other organisms.
• Decomposers break down dead organic matter and recycle nutrients back into the soil.
• Ecosystems consist of both abiotic factors such as climate, water availability, and geography, and biotic factors including producers, consumers, and decomposers.
• Ecosystems can be classified based on their structure, function, or composition.
• Abiotic factors include physical features like temperature, precipitation, wind, sunlight, and topography, while biotic factors refer to biological components like species interactions, competition, predation, mutualism, parasitism, and symbiosis.
• Terrestrial ecosystems include forests, grasslands, deserts, tundras, and wetlands.
• Abiotic factors include physical features like temperature, precipitation, wind, sunlight, and soil type.
• Biotic factors include plants (producers), animals (consumers), and microorganisms (decomposers).
• Temperature affects the rate of metabolic processes and determines which species can survive in a particular area.
• The biosphere is the global ecosystem consisting of all living things and their environment.
• Biotic factors include living organisms that interact with one another through processes like photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition, and nutrient cycling.
• The energy flow diagram shows how energy flows from the sun to plants (producers), then to herbivores (primary consumers) and carnivores (secondary and higher-order consumers).
• Producers are organisms that make their own food from simple substances using photosynthesis or chemosynthesis.
• Populations are groups of individuals of the same species occupying a specific geographic location at a given time.
• Energy is transferred but not created or destroyed during this process.
• Producers use light energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into organic compounds during photosynthesis.
• Decomposition involves dead organic matter being broken down by decomposers such as bacteria and fungi into simpler forms of carbon and nitrogen.
• Nutrients are recycled back into the ecosystem through the activities of decomposers.
• In ecosystems, there are three main types of producers - autotrophic plants, algae, and some bacteria.
• Heterotrophic animals can be classified based on what they eat, with primary consumers eating plants, secondary consumers eating primary consumers, tertiary consumers eating secondary consumers, etc.
• The flow of nutrients between living things can be represented visually with arrows, showing how they move around an ecosystem.
• Consumers include herbivores (plant eaters), carnivores (meat eaters), omnivores (both plant and meat eaters), and detritivores (decompose dead material).
• Trophic levels refer to the position of an organism in a food web.
• Producers use energy from sunlight to make organic compounds such as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and nucleic acids.
• Ecosystems have different trophic structures depending on their biome or habitat type.
• In aquatic environments, there are three main types of producers: phytoplankton, benthos, and macrophytes.
• Phytoplankton is made up of algae that float freely in water bodies like lakes and oceans.
• Phytoplankton is made up of microscopic algae that float freely in water bodies.
• Macrophytes are larger plants found at the bottom of freshwater habitats like ponds and lakes.
• Έννοια συστήματος: το τμήμα που εξετάζουμε σε σύγκριση/αντίθεση με το περιβάλλον
• Ορισμός συστήματος= πεπερασμένο σύνολο αλληλεπιδρώντων μερών το οποίο μπορεί να θεωρηθεί ως μια ενότητα
• Ένα σύστημα=

  1. Έχει όρια. Δεν είναι άπειρο
  2. Μέρη: Αποτελέιται από διαφορετικά μέρη, συγκεκριμένα ή αφηρημένα, απλά ή σύνθετα
  3. Χρειάζεται να υπάρχει αλληλεπίδραση των μερών του

  4. Αναγκαία προϋπόθεση είναι να δημιουργεί το σύστημα μία νέα

  οντότητα
• Ορισμός μοντέλου= απλοποιημένη αναπαράσταση της πραγματικότητας
• Το μοντέλο αποτελεί εργαλείο με το οποίο θέτουμε όρια σε ένα σύστημα για να μπορέσουμε να μελετήσουμε το εξωτερικό περιβάλλον
• Άλλος ορισμός για το μοντέλο= υποθετικό σύστημα αρκετά ρεαλιστικό ώστε να ικανοποιεί τον στόχο της μελέτης