Bozeman Science: Ecosystems Guided Viewing Name: Selena Felix 1: What is primary productivity? What do we measure it in?

(Units) Primary productivity is how much livable mass is being layed down by the producers in the area. You measure mass g C/m2/yr. 2: What are producers? Who are the main producers in the ocean? How is this measured in an aquatic environment? Producers are the things that do photosynthesis. The main producers in the ocean are seaweed and other plants. The gasses that are being produced such as oxygen are measuring an aquatic environment. 3: What is a trophic level? List and define the trophic levels. (Give examples) A trophic level is an eating level. 1) Producers- Organisms that capture solar energy for photosynthesis to produce sugars. 2) Consumers- An organism that generally obtains food by feeding on other organisms or organic matter due to lack of the ability to manufacture own food from inorganic sources; a heterotroph. 3) Second level consumers- A carnivore that feeds only upon herbivores. 4) Third level consumer- Eat all the animals in their trophic level. In which direction does the arrow go in a food web? Explain. The arrows of a food chain point up because of what it is eaten by. The second level eats the first level, the third level eats the second and first level, the fourth level eats the third, second, and first level, etc. 4: What is a food web? How is it different than food chains? A food web shows all the connections in an ecosystem. A food web is different from a food chain because it is more detailed. 5: Explain the limiting factors for growth in ecosystems. Explain logistic growth. As things start to grow, there are going to be limiting factors and pretty soon it is going to be too crowded, not enough food, more competition, drought, geological changes, etc. Eventually all growth is going to become logistic. Logistic growth is when the growth has

reached a limit, which is also known as K in science (carrying capacity). 6: What is the carrying capacity (K) of an ecosystem? K is the maximum level of something that an ecosystem can support the 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. The factors that affect the carrying capacity of a population are too crowded, not enough food, more competition, drought, geological changes, etc. Wolves and elk are linked together because 87% of what wolves eat is elk. Since the elk population is decreasing so will the population of the wolves and that will also happen if the population of elk made a comeback and started to increase, the wolf population would also and reach equilibrium. 8: Summarize the story of the Whitebark Pine and how humans can impact an entire ecosystem by choices we make (directly or indirectly). Humans can impact an entire ecosystem in many ways. In the Whitebark Pine that is found in Yellowstone Park, the tree produces pine nuts when it is cold. Changes to the global climate are creating warming conditions in Yellowstone Park and the whitebark pine population is starting to decrease greatly. The animals that eat these pine nuts are squirrels and grizzly bears. These pine nuts are a big part of what grizzly bears eat right before they go into hibernation. This food change is tide to the climate change and humans are affecting this for the animals. If the climate change continues to have a decrease in Yellowstone Park then squirrels and grizzle bears wont have this source of food anymore.