8.2 Energy Flow Through Ecosystems

    Cards (16)

    • Endotherms
      Organisms that use thermal energy generated by metabolism to maintain homeostatic body temperature
    • Ectotherms
      Organisms that lack efficient internal mechanisms to regulate and maintain body temperature, and rely on behaviors to regulate temperature
    • Metabolic rate per unit body mass
      Inversely related to the size of multicellular organisms
    • Generally, the smaller the organism, the higher the metabolic rate
    • Net gain in energy
      Results in energy storage or growth for an organism
    • Net loss of energy
      Results in loss of mass and ultimately the death of an organism
    • Changes in energy availability
      Can result in changes in population size and disruption to an ecosystem
    • Changes in energy resources such as sunlight can affect the number and size of the trophic levels
    • Trophic level
      The position an organism occupies in the food chain
    • Food chains show the direction of nutrients and energy transferred from one organism to another
    • Food webs consist of many interconnected food chains
    • The transfer of energy between trophic levels is inefficient, typically around 10% efficient
    • This energy inefficiency limits the length of food chains and the size of populations
    • Autotrophs
      Organisms that capture energy from physical or chemical sources in the environment, including photosynthetic and chemosynthetic organisms
    • Heterotrophs
      Organisms that capture energy present in carbon compounds produced by other organisms, and metabolize carbohydrates, lipids and proteins as sources of energy
    • Seasonal reproduction in animals and plants occurs at different times of year, triggered by factors like critical photoperiod
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