Ecosystems Guided Review
Bozeman Science: Ecosystems Guided Viewing
1: What is primary productivity? What do we measure it in? (units)
Primary productivity is the synthesis of organic compounds. It is measured in grams of carbon per year.
2: What are producers? Who are the main producers in the ocean? How is this measured in an
aquatic environment?
Producers are the plants that can photosynthesize. The main producers in the ocean are phytoplankton. It is measured in the amount of oxygen released.
3: What is a trophic level? List and define the trophic levels. (Give examples)
A trophic level is the level an organism has in the food chain.
In which direction does the arrow go in a food web? Explain.
It goes to the right as what is eaten is on the left side of the arrow and what is eating goes to the right.
4: What is a food web? How is it different than food chains?
Food webs show all interactions within a food chain as a food chain is just a linear path of consumers.
5: Explain the limiting factors for growth in ecosystems. Explain logistic growth.
Factors that will limit growth will then turn into logistic growth where all growth will be sooner or later become limited.
6: What is the carrying capacity (K) of an ecosystem?
It is the max limit population of an ecosystem.
7: What factors affect the carrying capacity of a population? Explain how wolves and elk
populations are linked and how they will reach equilibrium.
Factors that affect carrying capacity would be limitations of food, competition with other animals, and how crowded the population would be. Elk to the wolves are considered food. If the population of wolves were to decrease then elk would have more as nobody would be hunting them and the same thing the other way around.
8: Summarize the story of the Whitebark Pine and how humans can impact an entire ecosystem
by choices we make (directly or indirectly).
The whitebark pine trees are sensitive to higher temperatures. Because of global warming due to our actions, the pine trees would lose population, the chipmunks feeding on the food from the tree would lose population, and bears eating on the chipmunks would lose population.
1: What is primary productivity? What do we measure it in? (units)
Primary productivity is the synthesis of organic compounds. It is measured in grams of carbon per year.
2: What are producers? Who are the main producers in the ocean? How is this measured in an
aquatic environment?
Producers are the plants that can photosynthesize. The main producers in the ocean are phytoplankton. It is measured in the amount of oxygen released.
3: What is a trophic level? List and define the trophic levels. (Give examples)
A trophic level is the level an organism has in the food chain.
- The trophic levels are:
- producers. ex: algae
- consumers which get food from plants. ex: anthropods
- Second consumers . ex: rainbow smelt
- Third Level consumers. ex: salmon
In which direction does the arrow go in a food web? Explain.
It goes to the right as what is eaten is on the left side of the arrow and what is eating goes to the right.
4: What is a food web? How is it different than food chains?
Food webs show all interactions within a food chain as a food chain is just a linear path of consumers.
5: Explain the limiting factors for growth in ecosystems. Explain logistic growth.
Factors that will limit growth will then turn into logistic growth where all growth will be sooner or later become limited.
6: What is the carrying capacity (K) of an ecosystem?
It is the max limit population of an ecosystem.
7: What factors affect the carrying capacity of a population? Explain how wolves and elk
populations are linked and how they will reach equilibrium.
Factors that affect carrying capacity would be limitations of food, competition with other animals, and how crowded the population would be. Elk to the wolves are considered food. If the population of wolves were to decrease then elk would have more as nobody would be hunting them and the same thing the other way around.
8: Summarize the story of the Whitebark Pine and how humans can impact an entire ecosystem
by choices we make (directly or indirectly).
The whitebark pine trees are sensitive to higher temperatures. Because of global warming due to our actions, the pine trees would lose population, the chipmunks feeding on the food from the tree would lose population, and bears eating on the chipmunks would lose population.