Bozeman Science: Ecosystems Guided Viewing

1: What is primary productivity? What do we measure it in? (units) Primary productivity is the energy a plant accumulates through an energy flow in an ecosystem We measure it !y the o"ygen production and consumption !y plants #: What are producers? Who are the main producers in the ocean? How is this measured in an aquatic environment?

Producers are organisms that produce their own food li$e plant through photosynthesis %he main producers in the ocean are phytoplan$ton &: What is a trophic level? 'ist and define the trophic levels (Give examples) %he trophic level is the ran$ in the feeding hierarchy 1 Producers( %he first trophic level )utotrophs *self feeders+ and

chemosynthetic !acteria # ,onsumers( organisms that consume producers Primary consumers- secondary consumers- and carnivores & .etrivitores and .ecomposers( organisms that consume nonliving organic matter .etritivores scavenge waste products or dead !odies and decomposers !rea$ down leaf litter and other non living material In which direction does the arrow go in a food web? Explain. There is no direction of arrow because they go in all directions, thus forming webs. /: What is a food web? How is it different than food chains? A food web is a diagram of the links among species in an ecosystem. The difference between a food chain and a food web is that a food chain is a single line of organisms while a food web branches out in al directions. 0: 1"plain the limiting factors for growth in ecosystems 1"plain logistic growth. ) limiting factor causes a population to decrease in size some limiting factors include food- shelter- water- and space 'ogistic growth is when a population2s growth slows or stops 3: What is the carrying capacity (K) of an ecosystem? ,arrying capacity is the threshold limit of use of that system without damaging the system 4: What factors affect the carrying capacity of a population? Explain how wolves and elk populations are linked and how they will reach equilibrium. 5actors that can affect carrying capacity include food availa!ility- water- environmental conditions- and space %he el$ is a food source for the wolves 6: Summarize the story of the Whitebark Pine and how humans can impact an entire ecosystem !y choices we ma$e *directly or indirectly+ White!ar$ Pine is a tree that middens collect pine nuts from Sometimes middens get lost in the higher part of yellow stone and are eaten !y !ears Glo!al warming causes the temperature to rise in 7ellowstone %he food chain is tied to the temperature 8uman impacts can cause pressure in the ecosystem- changing the ecosystem and food chain