BIOL 103 Chapter Notes - Chapter 55: Photic Zone, Phosphorus Cycle, Limiting Factor
4 May 2016
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Document Summary
Many ecosystem approaches are based on laws on physics and chemistry. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed, even going from solar energy to heat release in organisms. Organisms with photosynthetic abilities can convert solar energy into chemical energy. Energy budgets can be computed and the flow of energy can be traced though ecosystems to understand what controls these transfers and how many organisms can be supported. Every exchange increases entropy of the universe so in energy conversions some is always lost as heat. We can measure the efficiency of ecological energy conversions. We can determine how much of a chemical element cycles within an ecosystem or is gained/lost by that ecosystem over time. Chemical elements are usually continually recycled within ecosystems. Elements can be gained or lost from an ecosystem. Ex. plant"s mineral nutrients enter the soil as dust from rocks or solutes in rainwater.
