APES Unit 1 - Ecosystems

Which of the following types of organisms are required to complete the nitrogen cycle, including the process of denitrification?

Bacteria

Which biogeochemical cycles includes the processes of buffering ocean pH and photosynthesis

Carbon Cycle

This biome is found in shallow waters off the coastline and is Earth's most biologically diverse marine biome.

Coral Reefs

describe the movement of energy in an ecosystem

Energy is harnessed by producers, and available energy decreases with each trophic level transfer.

true statement about aquatic biomes

Freshwater biomes are a vital source of drinking water.

The total rate of photosynthesis in a given area.

Gross primary productivity

Which of the following best describes gross primary productivity in an ecosystem?

Gross primary productivity is the total amount of solar energy captured by producers through photosynthesis over time.

Which of the following changes in the hydrologic cycle is most likely to occur as a result of the change in vegetation in the area?

Increased infiltration

In reef ecosystems, corals often have microalgae living inside them. The algae supply the corals with nutrients, and the coral give shelter to the algae. What interaction best describes the relationship between the corals and the algae?

Mutualism

This cycle deals with the weathering of rocks?

Phosphorus

The flow of energy in most terrestrial ecosystems

Producers use energy from the sun to make organic matter, such as sugars, from carbon dioxide and water and are then consumed by organisms higher in the food chain.

This freshwater biome is characterized by fast-flowing water that can originate from underground springs or runoff, which carries sediment and organic material.

Rivers

This biome is characterized by long dry seasons and is dominated by grasses, shrubs, and grazing animals.

Savanna

Carbon Cycle

The series of processes by which carbon compounds are interconverted in the environment. This involves the incorporation of carbon dioxide into living tissue by photosynthesis and its return to the atmosphere through respiration, the decay of dead organisms, and the burning of fossil fuels.

This biome is warm and wet, with little seasonal variation in temperature and frequent precipitation.

Tropical Rain Forest

Which of the following terrestrial biomes has the highest net primary productivity?

Tropical Rain Forest

example of resource partitioning in an ecosystem

Two different bird species feed from the same oak tree; one eats acorns, and the other eats insects in the bark.

a terrestrial ecosystem that will have the highest net primary productivity

Warm temperatures, high rainfall, and consistent sunlight

Ecosystem

a particular location on Earth distinguished by its particular mix of interacting biotic and abiotic components

mutualism

benefits two interacting species by increasing both species' chances of survival or reproduction

An example of carbon source with the carbon cycle is

burning of fossil fuels

secondary consumers

carnivores that eat primary consumers

tertiary consumer

carnivores that eat secondary consumers; are pretty rare

herbivores

consumes plants as prey

which process most directly results in the storage of carbon as coal and oil over millions of years?

decomposition

This biome contains plants that are adapted to prevent water loss due to the low average rainfall and high temperatures year-round.

desert

second law of thermodynamics

energy transfer through food chains/webs is not efficient. Usable chemical energy is degraded and lost to the environment as low-quality heat.

Intestinal bacteria inhabit the gut of humans.

example of a symbiotic relationship

Which of the following best describes what is represented by the arrows in the food web?

flow of energy

90% of energy is lost within the food web and food chain due to

heat/energy

primary consumers

heterotrophs that consume producers

Where is the majority of fresh water found on Earth?

ice caps and glaciers

In the food chain, which of the following would be the secondary consumer?

mouse

producers/autrotrophs

organisms that use the suns's energy to produce usable forms of energy

detritovores

organisms, such as dung beetles, that specialize in breaking down dead tissues and waste products (referred to as detritus) into smaller particles

What process reduces the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

photosynthesis

carbon dioxide + water + solar energy --> glucose + oxygen

photosynthesis

trophic pyramid

represents the distribution of biomass along trophic levels

trophic levels

successive levels of organisms consuming one another is called this

food web

take into account the complexity of nature, and they illustrate one of the most important concepts of ecology

Phosphorus Cycle

the cyclic movement of phosphorus in different chemical forms from the environment to organisms and then back to the environment. This cycle does not have an atmospheric component.

Net Primary Productivity (NPP)

the energy captured minus the energy respired by producers

Decomposer

the fungi and bacteria that complete the breakdown process by recycling the nutrients from dead tissues and wastes back into the ecosystem

The largest reservoirs of carbon, stored in the form of carbon dioxide is where

the ocean

Gross Primary Productivity (GPP)

the process in which scientists look at the total amount of solar energy that the producers in an ecosystem capture via photosynthesis over a given amount of time

ecological efficiency

the proportion of consumed energy that can be passed from one trophic level to another

food chains

the sequence of consumption from producers through tertiary consumers

Biomass

the total mass of all living matter in a specific area

What within the carbon cycle is a carbon sink that holds carbon compounds for the shortest period of time

vegetation/plants

Only this amount of energy is passed from one trophic level to the next

10%

why don't terrestrial trophic pyramids usually have levels higher than tertiary consumers

A large proportion of energy is lost as heat as it is transferred up the pyramid, so there is not enough energy available to support another level.

uses oxygen to convert glucose (or other nutrient molecules) back into carbon dioxide and water.

Aerobic respiration

Omnivore

An animal that eats both plants and animals

also known as fermentation. Obtain energy by breaking down glucose in the absence of oxygen.

Anaerobic respiration

The majority of the nitrogen on Earth can be found in which of the following reservoirs?

Atmosphere

In a given ecosystem, producers convert solar energy into 15,000kcal of chemical energy stored in organic compounds. Which of the following is the most likely amount of energy available to secondary consumers?

150 kcal

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 kcal

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 primary consumers in the food chain?

9300 kcal

The energy available to consumers determined by subtracting the energy used by plants from the total energy transformed by the process of photosynthesis.

Net primary productivity

Which of the following best describes the net primary productivity of an ecosystem?

Net primary productivity is the amount of energy lost through respiration by producers subtracted from the gross primary productivity of an ecosystem.

This biome is dominated by trees such as oak, elm, poplar, beech and maple and is desirable for human settlement and agricultural production. Trees will lose their leaves and become dormant in the winter months

Temperate Deciduous Forest

In a fish species, the number of eggs that hatch and survive for one year varies depending on the number of eggs that were produced. As the number of eggs produced increases past a threshold number, the survival rate of the offspring decreases. Which of the following statements best explains why only a limited number of offspring can survive in a fish population?

The chance of survival decreases when there is intraspecific competition for resources among surviving yearlings.

Water Cycle

The continual movement of water between Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surface through evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.

Nitrogen Cycle

The transfer of nitrogen from the atmosphere to the soil, to living organisms, and back to the atmosphere. Lightning, and nitrogen fixing bacteria transform inorganic nitrogen to organic forms of nitrogen.

This biome contains a nutrient-rich environment created by falling leaves and trapped organic materials from the large trees, and it provides the ecosystem service of filtering pollutants from water.

Wetlands

limiting resource

a resource that a population cannot live without and which occurs in quantities lower than the population would require to increase in size

commensalism

a type of relationship in which one species benefits but the other is neither harmed nor helped

scavengers

are carnivores, such as vultures, that consume dead animals

consumers; heterotrophs

are incapable of photosynthesis and must obtain their energy by consuming other organisms