Jeremy Ryan Z.

Arroyo Science Reviewer

A food chain is a linear sequence of links in a food web starting from a species
that are called producers in the web and ends at a species that is called decom
posers species in the web. A food chain also shows how the organisms are related
with each other by the food they eat. A food chain differs from a food web, bec
ause the complex polyphagous network of feeding relations are aggregated into tr
ophic species and the chain only follows linear monophagous pathways. A common m
etric used to quantify food web trophic structure is food chain length. In its s
implest form, the length of a chain is the number of links between a trophic con
sumer and the base of the web and the mean chain length of an entire web is the
arithmetic average of the lengths of all chains in a food web.
A food web (or food cycle) depicts feeding connections (what-eats-what) in an ec
ological community and hence is also referred to as a consumer-resource system.
Ecologists can broadly lump all life forms into one of two categories called tro
phic levels: 1) the autotrophs, and 2) the heterotrophs. To maintain their bodie
s, grow, develop, and toreproduce, autotrophs produce organic matter from inorga
nic substances, including both minerals and gases such ascarbon dioxide. These c
hemical reactions require energy, which mainly comes from the sun and largely by
photosynthesis, although a very small amount comes from hydrothermal vents and
hot springs.
Biomagnification, also known as bioamplification or biological magnification, oc
curs when the concentration of a substance, such as DDT or mercury, in an organi
sm exceeds the background concentration of the substance in its diet.[1] This in
crease can occur as a result of:
Persistence where the substance can't be broken down by environmental processes
Food chain energetics where the substance concentration increases progressively
as it moves up a food chain
Low or non-existent rate of internal degradation or excretion of the substance o
ften due to water-insolubility
The following is an example showing how bio-magnification takes place in nature:
An anchovy eats zoo-plankton that have tiny amounts of mercury that the zoo-pla
nkton has picked up from the water throughout the anchovies lifespan. A tuna eat
s many of these anchovies over its life, accumulating the mercury in each of tho
se anchovies into its body. If the mercury stunts the growth of the anchovies, t
hat tuna is required to eat more little fish to stay alive. Because there are mo
re little fish being eaten, the mercury content is magnified.

Ecological Pyramid

An ecological pyramid of biomass shows the relationship between biomass and trop
hic level by quantifying the biomass present at each trophic level of an ecologi
cal community at a particular time. It is a graphical representation of biomass
(total amount of living or organic matter in an ecosystem) present in unit area
in different tropic levels. Typical units are grams per meter2, or calories per
meter2. The pyramid of biomass may be "inverted". For example, in a pond ecosyst
em, the standing crop of phytoplankton, the major producers, at any given point
will be lower than the mass of the heterotrophs, such as fish and insects. This
is explained as the phytoplankton reproduce very quickly, but have much shorter
individual lives.
Water Cycle
The water cycle, also known as the hydrologic cycle or the H2O cycle, describes
the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth. T
he mass of water on Earth remains fairly constant over time but the partitioning
of the water into the major reservoirs of ice, fresh water, saline water and at
mospheric water is variable depending on a wide range of climatic variables. The
water moves from one reservoir to another, such as from river to ocean, or from
the ocean to the atmosphere, by the physical processes of evaporation, condensa
tion,precipitation, infiltration, runoff, and subsurface flow. In so doing, the
water goes through different phases: liquid, solid (ice), and gas (vapor).
Oxygen And Carbon Cycle
?When you inhale, you take in oxygen.
?When you exhale, you release the waste gas carbon dioxide.
?If something used carbon dioxide and released oxygen, it would balance your use
of oxygen.
?That something is producers such as green plants and certain microorganisms.
?These producers use carbon dioxide gas, water, and the energy of sunlight to ma
ke carbon containing compounds that are often referred to as "food."
?During the food making process, the producers also produce oxygen, which is rel
eased into the environment.
?Through this process, known as the oxygen cycle, there is always a plentiful su
pply of oxygen available for air-breathing organisms.
The nitrogen cycle is the process by which nitrogen is converted between its var
ious chemical forms. This transformation can be carried out through both biologi
cal and physical processes. Important processes in the nitrogen cycle include fi
xation, ammonification, nitrification, and denitrification. The majority of Eart
h's atmosphere (78%) is nitrogen, making it the largest pool of nitrogen. Howeve
r, atmospheric nitrogen has limited availability for biological use, leading to
a scarcity of usable nitrogen in many types of ecosystems.
The phosphorus cycle is the biogeochemical cycle that describes the movement of
phosphorus through the lithosphere,hydrosphere, and biosphere. Unlike many other
biogeochemical cycles, the atmosphere does not play a significant role in the m
ovement of phosphorus, because phosphorus and phosphorus-based compounds are usu
ally solids at the typical ranges of temperature and pressure found on Earth. Th
e production of phosphine gas occurs only in specialized, local conditions.