Ecosystem Processes

• Photosynthesis


  A chemical reaction that takes place in the chloroplasts to produce glucose
• Photosynthesis- Word Equation


  carbon dioxide + water ➞ oxygen + glucose
• Herbivore


  Type of consumer that eats the producer
• Food chain


  Shows the transfer of energy between organisms - the arrows represent the direction of energy transfer
• Food web


  Shows how lots of food chains are connected in an ecosystem
• Minerals plants need for growth

  • nitrates for growth
  • phosphates for healthy roots
  • potassium for healthy leaves and flowers
  • magnesium for making chlorophyll
• Mineral deficiency


  If a plant does not have enough of a mineral, it may suffer from a mineral deficiency
• Fertiliser


  Farmers can use fertilisers to add missing minerals to the soil
• Leaves


  • Have lots of green chlorophyll - absorb sunlight for photosynthesis
  • Are thin - allow gases to diffuse in and out of the leaf
  • Have a large surface area - absorb as much light as possible
  • Have veins - xylem and phloem transport water and glucose

  
• Aerobic-Respiration

  Occurs in the mitochondria of cells to transfer energy
• Aerobic respiration


  Glucose + oxygen ➞ carbon dioxide + water ( + energy)
• Anaerobic respiration


  Glucose ➞ lactic acid ( + energy)
• Oxygen debt


  The oxygen needed to break down lactic acid produced during anaerobic respiration
• Fermentation (in microorganisms)


  1. glucose ➞ ethanol + carbon dioxide ( + energy)

  2. glucose ➞ lactic acid ( + energy)
• Prey


  An organism eaten by another organism
• Predator


  An organism that eats another organism
• Bioaccumulation


  The build up of chemicals, like insecticides, passed along a food chain
• Population


  The number of organisms that live in the same area
• Interdependence


  When living organisms depend on each other to survive, grow, and reproduce
• Ecosystem


  All the organisms found in a particular location, and the area they live in
• Community


  The organisms in an ecosystem
• Habitat


  The area a community lives in
• Niche


  The particular place or role that an organism has within an ecosystem
• Chemosynthesis


  When bacteria use a variety of chemical reactions to make their own glucose
• Chemosynthesis


  • Sulfur bacteria at the bottom of deep sea vents
  • Nitrogen bacteria in the soil
• Chlorophyll in the chloroplasts absorbs light
• Oxygen leaves the plant through the tiny holes
• Glucose is transported to all the parts of the plant
• Water is transported from the roots to the stem and leaves
• Carbon dioxide enters the plant through the tiny holes
• Apex predator


  Last link in a food chain
• Producer


  Green plant/algae that makes its own food
• Carnivore


  Type of consumer that eats other animals
• Chloroplasts are mainly located on the upper side of the leaf where the most sunlight reaches

  
• The waxy layer reduces water loss by evaporation
• The stomata are on the lower surface to reduce water loss by evaporation
• Key terms


  • aerobic
  • anaerobic
  • bioaccumulation
  • carnivore
  • chemosynthesis
  • chlorophyll
  • community
  • consumer
  • deficiency
  • ecosystem
  • fermentation
  • fertiliser
  • food chain
  • food web
  • producer
  • habitat
  • herbivore
  • interdependence
  • mitochondria
  • niche
  • nitrate
  • oxygen debt
  • plasma
  • phosphate
  • photosynthesis
  • population
  • predator
  • prey
  • stomata