Biology: 3.4 - Cycles of Matter
Chapter Vocabulary Review
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Complete the chart about the carbon cycle.
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What is the difference between a food chain and a food web?
A food chain is who eats who. A food web is all of the food webs in an ecosystem.
Hoe does most of the carbon in an organism's body return to the environment after the organism dies?
A. Decomposers break the body down into simpler compounds
ecosystem
A. all the organisms in one area and their physical environment
Human processes mainly contribute to the
A. release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
The carbon in coal, oil, and natural gas came from
A. the combustion of fossil fuels
chemosynthesis
B. a process in which producers use chemical energy to make carbohydrates
consumer
C. an organism that dees on other organisms
Dissolving
CO2 dissolves in rainwater
nutrient
D. a chemical substance that an organism needs to survive
primary producer
E. an organism that uses chemical or light energy to produce its own food supply
Compare and contrast the flow of energy through an environment with the flow of matter through the same environment.
Energy is captured by producers and thenpasses in a linear progression from one trophic level to the next. At each level, much of the energy escapes the ecosystem as heat. Unlike this one-way flow of energy, matter is recycled within and between ecosystems. Elements pass from one organism to another and among parts of the non-living environment through closed loops called biogeochemical cycles.
ecology
F. the study of the biosphere
biosphere
G. the portion of Earth and its atmosphere that contains organisms
photosynthesis
H. a process in which producers use light energy to make carbohydrates
The visual analogy compares interlocking gears to the major nutrients - potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen, What other "gears" would be affected if these gears stopped working together?
Plants wouldn't be able to live. Most things can't live without the phosphorus cycle.
List and describe the biological steps in the nitrogen cycle.
The first step in the nitrogen cycle is nitrogen fixation. The bacteria converts nitrogen gas from the atmosphere. Next is nitrification, in which microorganisms convert molecular nitrogen, ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites. The nitrates are used by plants and through the process of assimilation, are incorporated into the organs during growth. In ammonification, bacteria decompose amino acids and convert them to nitrates. Then, in denitrification, bacteria converts nitrates into nitrogen gas.
How might building a new highway affect the cycles of matter?
There might be a certain component of the cycles of matter that gets moved or disrupted while the highway is being built.
the release of CO2 and other gases into the atmosphere through vents in Earth's crust
Volcanic Activity
What role do plants play in the water cycle?
Water can evaporate from the leaves of the plants in a process called transpiration.
Ecologists measure _____ in grams of organic matter per unit area.
biomass
How do humans add nitrogen to the biosphere?
by using fertilizers that contain nitrogen
detritivore : earthworm :: herbivore : _____
cow
Fungi and some kinds of bacteria are _____ that obtain nutrients by chemically breaking down organic matter.
decomposers
In a process known as _____, some types of soil bacteria obtain energy by converting nitrates into nitrogen gas.
denitrification
Chemical and physical processes include the formation of clouds and precipitation, "burning" food, and the flow of running water.
false; action of lightning
Nitrogen fixation is the process in which certain bacteria convert nitrogen gas into nitrates.
false; ammonia
The four elements that make up over 95 percent of the body in most organisms are oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen, and hydrogen.
false; carbon
Organic phosphate is taken up by producers during photosynthesis and released by cellular respiration.
false; carbon dioxide
Phosphorus forms part of the important life-sustaining molecules such as DNA and RNA.
false; nitrogen
Phosphorus is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere.
false; nitrogen
All organisms require nitrogen to make amino acids, which in turn are used to build carbohydrates.
false; nucleic acids
Plants absorb phosphorus from the atmosphere or water.
false; soil
Which parts of the phosphorus cycle are geological processes?
geological activity turns marine sediments into rock and washes the phosphorus from rock into the ocean
If a nutrient were in short supply in an ecosystem, how might it affect an organism?
it would limit the organism's productivity
omnivore : human :: carnivore : _____
lion
Explain why Earth is considered a closed system.
no animal or organism is able to take energy or matter off the earth
Respiration
organisms release carbon in the form of carbon dioxide gas by repiration
Photosynthesis
plants take in carbon dioxide during photosynthesis and use the carbon to build carbohydrates
There are several hundred squirrels living in an oak forest. The squirrels make up a(n) _____.
population
biotic factor : elephant :: abiotic factor : _____
precipitation
What is atmospheric nitrogen fixation, and how does it affect organisms?
the process in which lightning converts nitrogen gas in the atmosphere into usable compounds
Matter moves through an ecosystem in cycles.
true
Nitrogen, in the form of ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite, is found in the soil.
true
Phosphate is released as rocks and sediments wear down.
true
Plants absorb phosphates from the soil or from water.
true
Denitrification is the process by which some soil bacteria convert nitrates into nitrogen gas.
truee
When is a substance a limiting nutrient?
when it's cycles are very slow and it limits an ecosystem
The illustration draws an analogy between the way energy drives matter to cycle in an ecosystem and the way water causes a water wheel to turn. Give an example of another analogy that could be used to show the relationship between energy and the cycles of matter.
wind turning a windmill
autotroph : heterotroph :: phytoplankton : _____
zooplankton
