BIOL 151 Study Guide - Final Guide: Primary Production, Trophic Cascade, Biogeochemical Cycle

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9 May 2017
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An ecosystem consists of the multiple communities of organisms that live in an area along with abiotic components such as the soil, climate, water, and atmosphere. A primary producer, or autotroph, is an organism that can synthesize its own food from inorganic sources. Primary producers form the basis of ecosystems by transforming the energy in sunlight or inorganic compounds into the chemical energy stored in sugars. Primary producers use this chemical energy for maintenance and/or growth. The total amount of chemical energy produced in a given area and time period is called gross primary productivity (gpp) Energy that is invested in new tissue or offspring is called net primary productivity (npp) Npp results in biomass - organic material that non-photosynthetic organisms can eat. Decomposers, or detritivores, feed on detritus, the waste products or dead remains of other organisms. Food webs are a compact way of summarizing energy flows and documenting the complex trophic interactions that occur in ecosystems.

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