LIFESCI 1 Midterm: ls study guide midterm 2
Document Summary
Organisms move carbon from one species to another, and between organisms and their surrounding environment, underpins both the efficient functioning of ecosystems and their persistence over an immense span of time. In no small part, can biological diversity be understood in terms of the varied ways that organisms obtain the carbon needed for growth and reproduction. Photosynthesis continually converts co2 to organic molecules, using energy from the sun, and respiration harvests the chemical energy stored in organic molecules, releasing co2 and water in the process. Normally photosynthesis consumes 25% of the co2 in the atmosphere, but in current years photosynthesis has been fueling ecosystems without decreasing the co2 levels in the atmosphere. Food chains are a way of organizing the flow of carbon from one organism to the other. Food webs are a map of the interactions that connect consumer and producer organisms within the carbon cycle; the movement of carbon through an ecosystem.
