BIL 160 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Ecosystem Ecology, Eutrophication, Trade Winds
28 Apr 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Energy flow allowing consumers to do stuff: bear eats food, gets energy and lets it run, cells take matter and nutrients to allow it to perform work. Ecosystem ecology: study energy flow through biological systems. Of energy: 1st law = energy can"t be created/destroyed (only transformed, energy enters ecosystem solar radiation, conserved and always lost as heat. 1 way street: 2nd law = every exchange energy increases entropy of universe, energy conversions not efficient and some energy always lost as heat. Of mass: matter cannot be created/destroyed: elements always recycled in ecosystem, ecosystems are open systems: absorbing energy/mass and releasing heat/waste. Trophic levels: autotrophs fix carbon using light energy. Primary production: amount light energy converted chemical energy by autotrophs during time period: heterotrophs eat ^^ and use their energy. Gross primary production (gpp) = total primary production: measured as conversion chemical energy from photosy. per unit time.
