Bozeman Science: Ecosystems Guided Viewing

Name: Galilea Patricio

1: What is primary productivity? What do we measure it in? (units)
Primary Productivity is how much biomass producers are laying down, this is
done by combining energy and matter together. Primary productivity is measured in
grams of carbon per meter squared per year (g C/m
2
/yr).
2: What are producers? Who are the main producers in the ocean? How is this
measured in an aquatic environment?
Producers are organisms that are able to make their own food through
photosynthesis, a process in which they use sunlight and carbon dioxide to make food.
The main producers in the ocean are phytoplankton, in an aquatic environment it is
measured
3: What is a trophic level? List and define the trophic levels. (Give examples) In
which direction does the arrow go in a food web? Explain.
Trophic levels are eating levels which categorizes organisms based on their
place in food chains. The first level consists of the producers which use the suns energy
to sustain itself, these are plants, or photosynthetic organisms such as algae. Trophic
level two are the consumers which eat the producers, such as amphipods. Trophic level
three are the secondary consumers, they survive by eating the primary consumer, an
example of this would be rainbow smelt. The final or tertiary consumers, such as the
chinook salmon, feast on the previous trophic level. The arrows point from the prey to
the predator on food chains.
4: What is a food web? How is it different than food chains?
A food web is the connection between different organisms. Food chains are
linear, they demonstrate a single organism which is then consumed by another and so
on. Food webs, on the other hand, include the connections of prey and predator in an
ecosystem.
5: Explain the limiting factors for growth in ecosystems. Explain logistic growth.
The limiting factors in an ecosystem control the number of organisms within an
population. The density of species in an ecosystem can create competition and
environmental factors such as drought can contribute to the limitation of growth in an
ecosystem. This and all growth is logistic which will eventually reach its limit.
6: What is the carrying capacity (K) of an ecosystem?
The carrying capacity of an ecosystem is the maximum level an ecosystem can
support a population.
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 the carrying capacity of a population are competition . Wolves
and elk form a predator prey relationship in which the number or abundance of one
population affects the other. If elk numbers rise so do the number of wolves because
there is enough food to support a bigger population. However, if the density in elk
drops, so does the wolf population. This continues where both populations controls the
other and maintaining each other in equilibrium.
8: Summarize the story of the Whitebark Pine and how humans can impact an entire
ecosystem by choices we make (directly or indirectly).
Whitebark Pine are found in yellowstone park, they produce pine nuts throughout
the year which are collected by squirrels and stored for winter resources. Grizzly bears
will eat these stashes of food. The conflict with these pines are the decreasing numbers
as the environments temperature rises. Global climate change caused and enabled by
human actions is causing harmful impacts to the environment. If the pines keep dying
due to rising global temperatures, they will no longer provide food for squirrels which
are then consumed by grizzly bears.