FOR2060 1st Edition Lecture 5 Outline of Last Lecture I. Why do Ecosystems Change?A. Ecological SuccessionB. Primary Succession C. Secondary Succession D. Autogenic SuccessionE. Allogenic SuccessionF. Biogenic Succession II. Understanding an EcosystemIII. What is Energy?A. Energy B. PhotonC. The SunD. Effect of Aspect IV. Basic PhysicsA. First Law of ThermodynamicsB. Second Law of Thermodynamics V. Ecosystem and Production Ecology A. AutotrophsB. HeterotrophsC. DetritivoresD. Primary ProducerE. Primary Consumer F. Tertiary Consumer G. Pyramid of NumbersH. Pyramid of BiomassI. Energy Flow Pyramid Outline of Current Lecture II. PhotoautotrophsA. Photosynethic Efficiency B. SaturationIII. Gross Primary Production A. RespirationB. Net Primary Production These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.Current LectureII. Photoautotrophs Trees contain leaves, which contain chloroplast, which contain chlorophyll. The chlorophyll allows the leaf to photosynthesize. Photosynthesis is defined as the conversion of light energy to chemical energy. The amount of light energy captured via photosynthesis depends on the available light energy, the photosynthetic rate per unit leaf are, the total leaf are, and the soil resource available. To calculate the photosynthetic efficiency you can use the equation:Chemical Energy ProducedPAR Interceptedx 100Plants are not very efficient at all, only about 1-5% generally. So why is the efficiency so low? A lot of the light does not hit the photosynthetic part of the leaf and the some of the light that does hit the leaf is reflected. Some more light passes through the leaf. The plant may have inadequate nutrition, which would make the plant small and unable to get light. There is also saturation, which is what we call the process in which the leaf absorbs a certain amount of light and any light after that certain point does not make a difference in the amount of photosynthesis. III. Gross Primary Production The gross primary production (GPP) is defined as the total carbon input into ecosystems. It is like photosynthesis at the ecosystem scale. A plant converts about 2% of light energy into glucose during photosynthesis. About half of this energy is then respired and released by the plant. Some of the energy of photosynthesis is used for cellular metabolic processes and about 50% of the GPP is used. Respiration is controlled by the temperature of the environment, the size of the plants, the growth rate, and the physiological condition. Respiration losses at the primary producer level generally increase as one moves from the poles towards the equator. That means that the GPP in the tropics may be much higher than in other regions but the NPP may or may not be. The other half of this energy is used to make new plant material. The total amount of new plant material per year in an area is called net primary production (NPP). The GPP is like the total amount of money on your paycheck and the NPP is like what you actually get paid after taxes. The NPP is the bottom level of your energy flow pyramids and is the base ofall life in the ecosystem. NPP is highest in the tropical rainforest. NPP is important because it is the energy source and nutrient source for heterotrophs. NPP goes into the Grazer food web andthe Detritus food web (directly or indirectly). It is then broken down and released back into the environment as inorganic