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Ecology10 Unit Test > 2.2 Nutrient Cycles in Ecosystems > Flashcards

2.2 Nutrient Cycles in Ecosystems Flashcards

1
Q

What are nutrients?

A

Chemicals required for plant and animal growth and other life processes

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2
Q

Which cycles through the biosphere?

A

All nutrients that support life and all waste produced.

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3
Q

How do nutrients cycle the biosphere?

A
  • they move in nutrient cycles or exchanges

- they are accumulated in “stores” for short or long periods in Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and land masses.

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4
Q

True or False: Without interference, the amount of nutrients flowing into a store generally equal the amount of nutrients flowing out.

A

True

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5
Q

What are the 4 essential chemical nutrients?

A
  • carbon
  • nitrogen
  • oxygen
  • phosphorus
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6
Q

Which chemical nutrients(s) cycle between organisms and the atmosphere, and are found in proteins and DNA in every living organism? Which chemical nutrient(s) cycle in from sedimentary rock?

A
  • carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen

- phosphorus

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7
Q

What is a carbon store? What is a another name for a Carbon Store?

A
  • short- or long-term accumulation of carbon

- carbon sink

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8
Q

Why is carbon important? (3)

A
  • essential part of chemical reactions that sustain life
  • essential component of cells
  • all living things contain billions of carbon atoms in their cells
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9
Q

Where are short-term carbon stores found? (3)

A
  • aquatic and terrestrial organisms
  • (as CO2) in the atmosphere
  • top layers of the ocean
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10
Q

Where are long- term carbon stores found? (3)

A
  • (as dissolved CO2) middle and lower layers of the ocean
  • oil, coal, and gas deposits
  • land and ocean sediments
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11
Q

What are the 7 main carbon stores?

A
  • marine sediments and sedimentary rock
  • ocean
  • coal deposits
  • soil and organic matter
  • atmosphere
  • terrestrial vegetation
  • oil and gas deposits
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12
Q

What are 7 ways carbon can be cycled through the ecosystem?

A
  • photosynthesis
  • cellular respiration
  • decomposers
  • carbonate formation
  • volcanic activity
  • ocean mixing
  • forest fires
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13
Q

How does photosynthesis cycle carbon?

A

Carbon (in CO2 form) enter the leaves of plants and react with water in the presence of sunlight to produce energy rich carbs and oxygen

6 CO2 + 6 H2O + energy (sunlight) = C6H12O6 + 6 O2

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14
Q

How does cellular respiration cycle carbon?

A

Both plants and animals release CO2 back into the atmosphere by converting carbs and oxygen into carbon dioxide and water

C6H12O6 + 6 O2 = 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + energy

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15
Q

How do decomposers cycle carbon?

A
  • for e.g. bacteria and fungi

- convert cellulose (carbs in plants) back into CO2, which is released into the atmosphere

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16
Q

How does carbonate formation cycle carbon?

A

Carbon and oxygen dissolved in ocean water combine to form carbonate (CO3 -)

  • CO3 - is found in shells of marine organisms
  • when organisms die, their shells can accumulate and gradually become limestone, which is a sedimentary rock
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17
Q

How does volcanic activity cycle carbon?

A

Sedimentary rock can be sub ducted and melted, and its CO2 will be released in volcanic eruptions

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18
Q

How does ocean mixing cycle carbon?

A

Circulation of intermediate and deep waters in the ocean
- ocean mixing absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere at high latitudes and releases CO2 to the atmosphere at tropical latitudes

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19
Q

How much has CO2 gas increased in the last 160 years?

A

By about 30%

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20
Q

Why has carbon increased in the atmosphere? (2)

A

human activities of:

  • burning fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal, etc)
  • land clearance
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21
Q

What does human activities do to carbon and the environment?

A
  • introduce carbon into the atmosphere from longer term stores
  • this increases CO2, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global climate change
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22
Q

Why is nitrogen important? (2)

A
  • important component of DNA and proteins
  • vital for muscle functions in animals
  • nitrogen is important for growth in plants and the composition of plant proteins
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23
Q

Where is the largest store of nitrogen? In what form is the nitrogen there?

A
  • the atmosphere

- N2

24
Q

What percent of Earth’s atmosphere is nitrogen?

A

About 78%

25
Q

True or False: N2 is a form of nitrogen that is available for most animals.

A

False

26
Q

Where are some other places nitrogen is stored? (2)

A
  • oceans

- organic matter in soil

27
Q

Where are smaller nitrogen stores found? (2)

A
  • terrestrial ecosystems

- waterways

28
Q

What is nitrogen fixation?

A

the conversion of N2 gas into compounds containing nitrate (NO3-) and ammonium (NH4+), which is usable by plants

29
Q

Where does nitrogen fixation occur? (3)

A
  • in the atmosphere
  • in the water
  • in the soil
30
Q

How does nitrogen fixation occur in the atmosphere?

A
  • lighting provides the energy for N2 gas to react with O2 gas to form NO3- and NH4+ ions
  • compounds formed by these ions then enter the soil via precipitation
  • this provides only a small amount of nitrogen fixation
31
Q

How does nitrogen fixation occur in the water?

A

Some cyanobacteria converts N2 into NH4+ during photosynthesis

32
Q

How does nitrogen fixation occur in the soil?

A

Nitrogen-fixing bacteria like Rhizobium, convert N2 gas into NH4+ ions

  • these bacteria grow in the root nodules of legumes, which are plants such as peas, beans, alfalfa, and clover that can fix atmospheric nitrogen
  • the plant provides sugars, while bacteria provide nitrogen ions
33
Q

What is nitrification?

A

A two-step process that occurs when certain nitrifying bacteria convert NH4+ into nitrite (NO2-), a different species of nitrifying bacteria converts NO2- into NO3-

34
Q

What converts nitrogen trapped in cells of dead organisms into NH4+?

A

Decomposer bacteria and fungi

35
Q

What is uptake?

A

The process of nitrates entering plant roots.

36
Q

How does nitrogen spread to herbivores and other consumers?

A

The consumers eat the plants and one another.

37
Q

What is denitrification?

A

A process through which nitrogen is returned to the atmosphere through a series of chemical reactions by denitrifying bacteria converting NO3- back into N2 gas

38
Q

True or False: N2 is also returned to the atmosphere through volcanic eruptions.

A

True

39
Q

How is nitrogen removed from the ecosystem? (2)

A
  • excess nitrogen dissolves in water, enters waterways, and washes into lakes and oceans
  • nitrogen compounds easily become trapped in sedimentary rocks and are not released until rocks weather
40
Q

In the last 50 years, what has human activity done to available nitrogen in the biosphere?

A

It has doubled the amount

41
Q

What human activities are negatively effecting the nitrogen cycle and our environment? (3)

A
  • burning of fossil fuels
  • treating sewage
  • agricultural practices of using large amount of nitrogen-containing fertilizers
42
Q

How are human activities of the nitrogen cycle affecting the environment?

A
  • increase of acid precipitation
  • leeches of nitrogen into waterways
  • eutrophication of algae causing dead to many other marine organisms
43
Q

Why is Phosphorus important?

A
  • promotes root growth, stem strength, and seed production in plants
  • important for strong bones in animals
  • it is part of the molecule that carries energy to cells
44
Q

True or False: Phosphorus is stored in the atmosphere

A

False

45
Q

Where is phosphorus found? (2)

A
  • as phosphate (PO4-3) found in rocks

- on sediments along the ocean floor

46
Q

What releases trapped phosphorus in sedimentary rock or rocks? (3)

A
  • geologic uplift exposes the rock
  • chemical weathering
  • physical weathering
47
Q

What is geologic uplift?

A

Mountain building, Earth’s crust folds and deeply buried rock layers rise and are exposed

48
Q

What happens to a rock during chemical weathering?

A

Acid precipitation or lichens release PO4-3

49
Q

What happens to a rock during physical weathering?

A

Wind, water, and freezing release PO4-3

50
Q

How is phosphorus absorbed by plants? Animals?

A
  • PO4-3 in the soil will be absorbed by plants

- animals will eventually eat these plants

51
Q

How do humans add excess phosphorus to the environment? (4)

A
  • commercial fertilizers
  • detergents
  • livestock farming
  • industrial and human waste
52
Q

How do humans reduce phosphorus supplies?

A
  • slash and burning of forest removes phosphorus from tress, where it is deposited as ash in waterways
53
Q

What are carbon cycle changes linked to?

A

Climate change and global warming

54
Q

What is increased levels of nitrogen linked to?

A
  • allowing plant species to outcompete other species, decreasing the resources for every species in those food webs
55
Q

What is decreased levels of phosphorus linked to?

A
  • inhibit the growth of algal species, which are very important producers in many food chains
56
Q

What can drastically change ecosystems? (2)

A
  • temperature fluctuations

- changes in water levels

57
Q

True or False: Changes influence every there organism in those food webs.

A

True

Ecology10 Unit Test (8 decks)

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