2.2 Communities & Ecosystems

2.2 Communities & Ecosystems NOTES

Significant Ideas:

• The interactions of species with their environment result in energy and nutrient flows.

• Photosynthesis and respiration play a significant role in the flow of energy in communities.

• The feeding relationships of species in a system can be modelled using food chains, food webs, and ecological pyramids.

Applications & Skills:

• Construct models of feeding relationships - such as food chains, food webs, and ecological pyramids - from given data.

• Explain the transfer and transformation of energy as it flows through an ecosystem.

• Analyze the efficiency of energy transfers through a system.

• Construct system diagrams representing photosynthesis and respiration.

• Explain the relevance of the laws of thermodynamics to the flow of energy through ecosystems.

• Explain the impact of a persistent or non-biodegradable pollutant in an ecosystem.