Ecosystem and Food Web - Practice Flashcard

Front

What is a food web?

Back

A food web is a complex network of feeding relationships among organisms in an ecosystem, showing how energy and nutrients flow through different trophic levels.

Front

Define trophic levels.

Back

Trophic levels are the hierarchical levels in an ecosystem, defined by how organisms obtain their energy: producers (1st level), primary consumers (2nd level), secondary consumers (3rd level), and tertiary consumers (4th level).

Front

What is a producer?

Back

A producer is an organism that can make its own food through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis, typically plants and some bacteria.

Front

What is a primary consumer?

Back

A primary consumer is an organism that eats producers; they are usually herbivores that feed on plants.

Front

What is a secondary consumer?

Back

A secondary consumer is an organism that eats primary consumers; they can be carnivores or omnivores.

Front

What is a tertiary consumer?

Back

A tertiary consumer is an organism that eats secondary consumers; they are typically top predators in the food web.

Front

What is a decomposer?

Back

A decomposer is an organism that breaks down dead organic material, returning nutrients to the soil; examples include fungi and bacteria.

Front

What is logistic growth?

Back

Logistic growth is a model of population growth that shows how a population grows rapidly at first and then levels off as it reaches carrying capacity.

Front

What is carrying capacity?

Back

Carrying capacity is the maximum number of individuals of a species that an environment can sustainably support.

Front

What is the difference between biotic and abiotic components?

Back

Biotic components are living organisms in an ecosystem (e.g., plants, animals), while abiotic components are non-living elements (e.g., water, temperature, soil).