productivity

pyramid of energy flow (10% rule)

90% of energy is lost with each level of the food chain Less energy available for organisms higher in the food chain

biomass

Dry weight of all organic matter of a given trophic level in a food web or food chain Decreases at each higher trophic level due to heat loss

food chains and food webs

Food web is model of an interlocking pattern of food chains that depicts the flow of energy and nutrients in two or more food chains

how far does red light and blue light pentrate into the ocean and what does this effect

Most red light is absorbed in the upper 1m of water and blue light only penetrates deeper than 100m in the clearest of water This affects photosynthesis in aquatic ecosystems, whose photosynthesizers have adapted mechanisms to address the lack of visible light

integral parts of the food chain

Producers Consumers Decomposers - Consumers that release nutrients Detritivores - Feed on dead bodies of other organisms There is very little waste of nutrients in nature!

Net Primary Productivity (NPP)

The rate of energy storage by photosynthesis in a given area after subtracting the energy lost to respiration Ecosystems and life zones differ in their NPP

gross primary productivity (GPP)

The total rate of photosynthesis in a given area Kcal/m2/year

which aquatic ecosystem has the most NPP

estuaries

energy pyramid

primary producers (plants) - 100%, primary consumers (deer, rabbits) - 10%, secondary consumers (wolves, crows, hawks) - 1%, third level consumers (snakes, large fish) - 0.1%, apex predators - 0.01%

which terrestrial ecosystems have the most NPP

swamps and marshes and tropical rainforest