Energy pathways
key term used for energy from the sun
what is Solar radiation?
The total amount of solar energy converted (fixed) into chemical energy by green plants (by the process of photosynthesis)
What is 'Gross Primary Production' (GPP)?
plants trophic level
what are Producers?
sunlight is converted into this type of energy in photosynthesis
what is Chemical energy?
Name two carbon sinks (stores/storages).
what are plants, oceans, soil/permafrost, fossil fuels, atmosphere?
Not all energy from the sun reaches the Earth's surface. Provide two reasons.
what is Absorbed and reflected (albedo) by clouds?
A certain portion of gross primary production is utilized by plants for maintenance (respiration energy loss) and the remainder is called this
what is 'Net Primary Production? (NPP)'
The consumer at the top of a food chain is often known as what?
what is an Apex predator?
the 3 inputs of photosynthesis
what are Carbon dioxide, sunlight and water?
Photosynthesis is an example of a transfer or a transformation in the carbon cycle?
what is Transformation (from CO2 to Glucose)?
This type of energy is re-radiated to the atmosphere
what is heat?
an ecosystem with the highest NPP.
what is the Tropical rainforest?
the percentage of energy that is usually transferred from one trophic level to the next
what is 10%?
the 2 inputs of cellular respiration
what are Glucose & oxygen?
this mineral is essential for all life on earth as it is a major component of amino acids (the building blocks for protein and nucleic acid).
what is nitrogen?
term for when the sun's energy is reflected from a surface, ie reflected off ice
what is Albedo?
Why does little of the sunlight that reaches a leaf get used for new biomass in the leaf? Give two reasons.
Reflected off leaf
Transmitted through leaf
Used to evaporate water from leaf
Doesn’t land on a chloroplast
Lost in respiration
Consumers that need to obtain energy by consuming other organisms
what are Heterotrophs?
this molecule stores energy in plants
what is glucose/starch?
Humans increase the amount of nitrogen fixation due to the creation of this product
what is Fertilizer?
% of the sun's energy that is absorbed by the ground
9%, 29%, 49% or 89%
what is 49%?
the calculation for energy efficiency
what is (New biomass / Energy supplied) x 100?
some organisms can produce energy without sunlight through this process
what is chemosynthesis?
during respiration, large amounts of energy are dissipated as heat -> increasing this in the ecosystem
what is entropy? 2nd law of thernodynamics
Decomposers transform nitrates in dead plant and animal matter into this product
what is Ammonia/ammonium?