APES Test on Chapter 3 and 4

What is the formula for GPP?

NPP + respiration rate

Where are auroras found?

Thermosphere

Most deserts on Earth are located near the 30° north and 30° south latitudes because humidity is lower at 30°. What is the best explanation for the lower humidity?

warms air rises at the equator, cools, and sinks at 30 degrees latitude

The net annual primary productivity of a particular wetland ecosystem is found to be 8,000 kcal/m2 per year. If respiration by the aquatic producers is 12,000 kcal/m2 per year, what is the gross annual primary productivity for this ecosystem, in kcal/m2 per year?

20,000

Algae in an aquatic food chain convert solar energy into 93,000 kilocalories of plant tissue. Which of the following values best represents the amount of energy available for secondary consumers in the food chain?

930 kilocalories

Which latitude shown on the diagram above experiences 24 hours of daylight on December 21?

Antarctic Circle

How do you describe gross primary productivity in an ecosystem?

GPP is the total amount of solar energy captured by producers through photosynthesis over time.

What layer of the atmosphere is the ozone layer in?

Stratosphere

Why is the lower portion of the troposphere warmer than the upper portion?

The surface of Earth absorbs sunlight, heating the lower portion of the troposphere more than the upper part

Where does El Nino occur?

Tropical East Pacific Ocean

What layer in the Earth's atmosphere has the highest density of any atmospheric layer and contains most of the water vapor in the atmosphere?

Troposphere

where is the most oxygen found in the atmosphere?

Troposphere

True or false: Carbon dioxide from the atmosphere dissolves in the surface waters of the ocean; the ocean stores large amounts of carbon dioxide.

True

What part of the nitrogen cycle is when plant roots absorb ammonium ions and nitrate ions for use in making molecules such as DNA, amino acids, and proteins?

assimilation

Which of the following systems are required for plant growth? a) phosphorus b) nitrogen c) both

both

What is the primary cause of the Earth's season?

constant tilt of Earth's rotational axis with respect to the plane of its orbit around the Sun

Where does the major biological source of dissolved oxygen in the ocean come from?

photosynthesis by phytoplankton

Losses of usable energy between successive trophic levels in an ecosystem are best accounted for by which of the following?

second law of thermodynamics

What energy concept: An energy transformation occurs and results in increased disorder.

second law of thermodynamics

In what layer of the atmosphere does weather occur?

stratosphere

How do you describe net primary productivity in an ecosystem?

the amount of energy lost through respiration by producers subtracted by the GPP of an ecosystem

why is the climate of the West Coast of Africa is drier than that of the East Coast of the United States, even though they are located at similar northern latitudes?

the cold ocean currents off of the African coast absorb heat from land and therefore cool the atmosphere

What biome has the highest net primary productivity, in part because of consistently warm temperatures and abundant sunlight?

tropical rainforest

what is the region with the lowest atmospheric pressure?

troposphere