All Flashcards
What is the significance of food webs?
They show how energy and nutrients move through an ecosystem and how different species interact.
What do trophic cascades demonstrate?
How interconnected species are and how changes in one population can affect the entire ecosystem.
Why are negative feedback loops important?
They are crucial for ecosystem health and balance, maintaining stability.
Why are positive feedback loops concerning?
They can be difficult to reverse and can lead to significant ecosystem changes.
How do invasive species create positive feedback loops?
They lack natural predators, causing population explosions and decline of native species.
Explain energy flow in food chains.
Energy flows linearly from producers to primary, secondary, and tertiary consumers.
Describe the role of producers.
Producers convert sunlight into energy through photosynthesis, forming the base of the food chain.
Explain the difference between a food chain and a food web.
A food chain is a linear sequence, while a food web is a complex, interconnected network.
What happens when an apex predator is removed?
It can cause a trophic cascade, altering the populations of species below it in the food web.
Describe the impact of melting ice on heat absorption.
Melting ice exposes darker ground, leading to more heat absorption, which accelerates melting.
What is a food chain?
A linear path of energy transfer in an ecosystem.
What is a food web?
A complex network of interconnected food chains.
Define producers.
Organisms that make their own food via photosynthesis.
Define primary consumers.
Herbivores that eat producers.
Define secondary consumers.
Carnivores that eat herbivores.
What is a trophic cascade?
A ripple effect in an ecosystem triggered by a change at the top of the food web.
Define negative feedback loop.
A loop that helps maintain stability by counteracting change.
Define positive feedback loop.
A loop that amplifies change, leading to instability.
What are invasive species?
Non-native species that cause harm to the environment, economy, or human health.
Define apex predator.
A predator at the top of a food web, with no natural predators of its own.
What do food webs illustrate?
How energy and nutrients move through an ecosystem and how species interact.
Why are food webs more realistic than food chains?
Organisms often have multiple food sources and predators.
What does a trophic cascade demonstrate?
How interconnected species are and how changes in one population can affect the entire ecosystem.
Why are negative feedback loops crucial?
For ecosystem health and balance; they maintain stability.
Why are positive feedback loops concerning?
They can be difficult to reverse and can lead to significant ecosystem changes.
How do invasive species impact ecosystems?
They often create positive feedback loops, leading to decline of native species.
What is the role of producers in a food chain?
To convert sunlight into energy through photosynthesis, forming the base of the chain.
How does energy flow through a food chain?
Energy flows from producers to consumers, decreasing at each trophic level.
What happens when a keystone species is removed?
The ecosystem can drastically change or collapse due to the absence of its regulatory role.
Describe the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem stability.
Higher biodiversity often leads to greater ecosystem stability and resilience.