BIOL 1108 Study Guide - Final Guide: Decomposer, Overexploitation, Nitrogen Fixation
Document Summary
Biologically driven cycles of carbon and other essential elements shape ecology and reflect evolution. Primary producers: autotrophs that fix into organic carbon. Primary consumers: heterotrophs that feed on primary producers. Secondary consumers: heterotrophs that feed on primary consumers. Decomposers: largely fungi and bacteria in soil that feed on organic detritus. In the open ocean, planktonic algae and cyanobacteria are the major primary producers. Protists and small planktonic animals are primary consumers that feed on primary producers. Bacteria decompose organic matter and , in turn, serve as food for many other organisms. Primary producers assimilate biologically usable n from soil or symbiotic n-fixing to a form that can be used by plants. Chemoautotrophic bacteria gain the energy needed to fix nitrogen by oxidizing using . 3 is cycled rapidly among primary producers, consumers, and decomposers. P o 4 to soil; some is reincorporated by primary producers, Global patterns of biological diversity reflect climate, history, and ecological interactions among species.
