APES Test Chapters 3+4

Only about ____% of water is available to humans

.024

_____ aka ______ is the rate at which an ecosystem's producers (usually plants) convert ______ into _____ in the form of biomass found in their tissue. That chemical energy is transferred from one trophic level to another.

GPP gross primary productivity solar energy chemical energy

The planets ____ ultimately limits the number of consumers that can survive on earth.

NPP

_____ aka _____ is the rate at which producers use photosynthesis to produce and store chemical energy minus the rate at which they use some of this stored chemical energy through aerobic respiration

NPP net primary productivity

In ______, organisms use oxygen to convert glucose back into carbon dioxide and water

aerobic respiration

glucose + oxygen --> co2 + water + energy

aerobic respiration

_____ is the process by which animal biomass is recycled by specialized decomposer bacteria who convert the biomass into simpler compounds such as ammonia and ammonium ions, and this ammonia is released into the air.

ammonification

Ecosystems and _____ differ in their NPP. Despite the ocean's low NPP, open ocean produces more of the earth's biomass per year then any other ecosystem or life zone. This occurs because oceans cover 71% of the earth's surface and contain huge numbers of producers like phytoplankton. Basically, although it's not high, there are a lot of producers making a lot of chemical energy.

aquatic life zones

Humans play a role in speciation by shuffling genes from one species to another in _______

artificial selection

The ____ is a thin, spherical envelope of gases surrounding earth's surface. It has an inner layer called the _____. It is about 11 miles above sea level and contains the air we breathe (78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen.)

atmosphere troposphere

An ____ is the smallest unit of a chemical element that exhibits its chemical properties ___

atom 1

What are the 8 levels of ecologists have created for organisms?

atoms, molecules, cells, organisms, populations, communities, ecosystem, biosphere

Species disappear at a low rate called _____ where 1 species is lost to every 1 million species on earth.

background extinction

______ is the process where earth's life changes over time through changes in genes of populations and succeeding generations.

biological evolution

Each trophic level in a food chain or web contains a certain amount of _____, the dry weight of all organic matter contained in its organisms. The chemical energy contained in _____ is transferred from one trophic level to another.

biomass

_____ are large regions of deserts, forests etc.

biomes

The ____ consists of the parts of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere where life is found. "No thicker then an apple skin"

biosphere

The last level of interactions ___

biosphere 8

The _____ consists of living (______) and non-living (______) components.

biosphere biotic abiotic

_____ is the basic building block for carbs, fats, proteins, DNA and other organic compounds.

carbon

The ____ is based on CO2 which is a key component of the atmosphere's thermostat. If the cycle removes too much CO2, the atmosphere will be too cool and vice versa. Even a slight change, usually because of human actions, can be bad.

carbon cycle

The _____ steps: 1) Terrestrial producers remove co2 from the atmosphere and aquatic producers remove it from water. The producers then convert the CO2, adding water, to glucose. 2) Consumers and decomposers carry out aerobic respiration. Decomposers release the carbon stored in the bodies of dead organisms back into the air as CO2. In water, decomposers release carbon to be stored in sediments, where they get turned into fossil fuels. In a few hundred years, we have taken as much fossil fuels as it took millions of years to create. These two processes circulate carbon in the biosphere.

carbon cycle

A _____ is the fundamental structural and functional unit of life. ___

cell 3

_____ runs on chemical energy. It is the use of energy released by inorganic chemical reactions to produce food. It occurs at the heart of deep sea life, where no sunlight occurs.

chemosynthesis

A ____ is populations of different species living in a particular place and potentially interacting with each other. ___

community 6

______, or ________, get their nutrients from other organisms. They depend on producers for nutrients

consumers heterotrophs

The ______ occurs when atoms, ions, molecules move throughout the biosphere. The earth's fixed supply of nutrients must be _____.

cycling of nutrients

_______ are consumers that, in the process of obtaining their own nutrients, release nutrients from the wastes or remains of plants and animals and then return those nutrients to the soil, water, and air for reuse by producers. EX: bacteria and fungus

decomposers

In ______, bacteria converts NH3 into nitrate ions and then into nitrogen gas and nitrous gas, a greenhouse gas. These gases are released back into the atmosphere to begin the nitrogen cycle.

denitrification

______, or ______, are consumers that feed on on the waste of dead bodies or other organisms. EX: earthworms, vultures, some insects.

detritus detrivores

______ is the variety of terrestrial and aquatic zones

ecological diversity

_____ is the study of how organisms interact with eachother and their environment

ecology

An _____ is a community of different species interacting with one another and with their non living environment ____

ecosystem 7

In the water cycle, _____ is caused by incoming solar energy. It changes liquid water into vapor in the atmosphere.

evaporation

The three factors that sustain earth's life are _______, _______, and _______.

flow of energy cycling of energy gravity

A _____ shows that every use and transfer of energy by organisms involves a loss of some degraded high-quality energy to the environment as heat.

food chain

A ______ is a sequence of organisms, each of which serves as a source of nutrients/energy for the next. Uses trophic levels as a basis.

food chain

Organisms in ecosystems form a complex network of interconnected food chains called a ______

food web

______ is the variety of processes such as energy flow and matter cycling that occurs as species interact with each other.

functional diversity

_____ is the variety of genes found within a species.

genetic diversity

Speciation occurs through _____, which occurs when different groups of the same population become isolated from each other for a long period of time. _____ occurs when mutations and changes by natural selection operate independently in the gene pools of geographically isolated populations.

geographic isolation reproductive isolation

The ____ is earth's hot core, thick rock mantle, thin outer crust. It's upper portion contains fossil fuels and renewable nutrients.

geosphere

______ allows the planet to hold onto it's atmosphere and helps enable the movement and cycling of chemicals through air, water, soil and organisms.

gravity

The ______ occurs when solar energy interacts with greenhouse gases in the _______.

green house effect troposphere

The 1% in the air not accounted for by oxygen and nitrogen is ________. They absorb and release energy that warms the troposphere and without which the earth would be too cold for life (the greenhouse effect)

greenhouse gases

The three major _____ on the hydrolic cycle: 1)we withdraw large quantities of fresh water and the hydrologic cycle can't replace it 2) we clear vegetation from land for industrial things increasing runoff and reducing _____, which occurs when water enters the ground, which would normally recharge groundwater supplies. 3) we drain and fill wetlands for urban developement interfering with flood control because wetlands act as sponges and prevent floods.

human effects infiltration

The ______ includes all water on or near earth. Water vapor in the atmosphere, liquid on land, and ice. Oceans = 76% of globe and contains 97% of earth's water.

hydrosphere

An _____ species provides warning of danger to a community or ecosystem.

indicator

A _____ species role has a large effect on the types and abundance of other species. EX: shark

keystone

To stay alive, producers must use some of the chemical energy stored in the biomass they make for their own respiration.

lol

There has been about 5 _____. The 6th might occur due to human impact. It is a significant rise in extinction rates, way above the background level. They provide diversity because new species fill their spot.

mass extinctions

A _____ is a chemical combination of two or more atoms of the same or different elements. ___

molecule 2

_____ are the first step of changes in genes that can be inherited by offspring

mutations

The ammonia excreted into the soil may undergo ______, in which specialized soil bacteria convert most of the NH3 and NH4+ in soil to nitrate ions, which can be taken up by the plant's roots. Animals that eat these plants get these nutrients.

nitrification

_____ makes up ___% of the atmosphere. It is a crucial component of proteins, DNA, etc. Can't be absorbed and used as a nutrient, but two natural processes occur that "fixes" nitrogen into usable compounds. The two natural processes that convert N2 into compounds that can be used by plants and animals are _____ and the other takes place in aquatic systems, in soil, and in plant roots, where special nitrogen-fixing bacteria complete this conversion as part of the ______.

nitrogen 78 lightening nitrogen cycle

Human Impact on the _____. 1) we have doubled our release of nitrogen since 1950 most of which from fertilizers. This contributes to pollution etc.

nitrogen cycle

In _______, specialized bacteria or algae combine gaseous N2 with hydrogen to make _____. The bacteria or algae use some of the ____ they produce as a nutrient and excrete the rest into the soil or water. Some of the _____ is converted into _____ ions that plants can use as a nutrient.

nitrogen fixation ammonia ammonium

_____, such as pigs rats and humans eat plants and other animals

omnivores

An ____ is an individual living being. __

organism 4

____ is the downward movement of water through the soil.

percolation

_____ ions can be lost from the cycle for long periods of time when it is washed from the land into streams and is carried to the ocean. There it can deposited as marine sediment and trapped for millions of years. Because there is little phosphorous in soil, they apply fertilizer which is bad.

phosphate

Human activities affecting the ______ cycle: 1) eroding topsoil from golf course and shit which without the top soil it all gets carried to the streams and oceans which creates a lot of producers, which can upset chemical cycling. 2) The fertilizer

phosphorous

Steps of the _____ cycle. 1)Water washes over rocks and slowly erodes away phosphate ions. 2) The running water carries these ions into the soil where they can be absorbed by plants and other producers, and then to consumers.

phosphorous

In the _______, compounds of _____ circulate through the water, earth's crust, and living organisms. Most of the compounds consist of phosphate ions, a very important nutrient. This cycle doesn't include the atmosphere. It's very slow.

phosphorous cycle phosphorous

CO2 + H20 + solar energy ---> glucose + oxygen

photosynthesis

In a process called _____, plants capture 1% of the solar energy that falls on their leaves and use it in combination with ____ and _____ to form organic molecules such as ____, which stores the chemical energy plants need.

photosynthesis h2o co2 glucose

A small amount of water returning to earth winds up back in ___. Some combines with CO2 during photosynthesis to make carbs.

plants

A _____ is a group of individuals of the same species living in a particular place. __

population 5

In the water cycle, gravity draws the the water back down to earth in ______.

precipitation

_____ consumers feed on the flesh of other carnivores

primary

________ consumers are herbivores, like caterpillars, zoo plankton, etc

primary

______, sometimes called ______, make the nutrients they need from compounds and energy obtained in their environment.

producers autotrophs

The _____ displays a ___% energy loss on each trophic level. There's a decrease in energy quality suceeding each trophic level.

pyramid of energy flow 90

_____ is the measure of the content of salts in the soil or water

salinity

_______ consumers are feed on the flesh of herbivores.

secondary

Three big ideas: 1) life is sustained by ____, ___, ____ 2) organisms ______, _____, and _____ to survive. 3) ______ alter the flow flow of energy and cycling nutrients.

solar energy cycling nutrients gravity produce consume recycle human activities

The ____ follows the troposphere (11-31 miles.) It's lower portion holds ozone to filter out 95% of harmful UV rays (global screen screen)

stratosphere

Human activities in the _____ cycle: 1) We have been releasing a lot of sulfur into the atmosphere through burning coal, refining sulfur containing oil, and extracting metals from rocks.

sulfur

The _____ circulates throughout the biosphere. Most ____ is stored in rocks underground and deep in the ocean. Sulfur enters atmosphere through natural processes. 1) hydrogen sulfide (____) and sulfur dioxide (____) is released through volcanoes and flooded swamps. Particles of sulfate (__) salts enter the atmosphere from sea salt spray, dust storms, and forest fires. Plant roots absorb ____ions.

sulfur cycle sulfur h2s so2 so4 so2

The flow of energy flows from the ____ through _____ and into the environment as ______.

sun living things low quality energy

The majority of water returning through precipitation becomes ______, which flows into streams, which flows into oceans, which eventually gets evaporated.

surface runoff

______ is a process in the water cycle in which water evaporates from the surface of plants. 90% of the water that reaches the atmosphere comes from this process.

transpiration

Ecologists assign every organism to a ______, or a feeding level, depending on the source of it's food. Producers, or autotrophs, consumers etc are different trophic levels.

trophic level

The _____, or the ______, collects, purifies, and distributes the earth's fixed supply of water. It can be viewed as a cycle of natural renewal of water quality. The three major processes are _______.

water cycle hydrologic cycle evaporation gravity transpiration.