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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?

25
True or False: N2 is a form of nitrogen that is available for most animals.
False
26
Where are some other places nitrogen is stored? (2)
- oceans | - organic matter in soil
27
Where are smaller nitrogen stores found? (2)
- terrestrial ecosystems | - waterways
28
What is nitrogen fixation?
the conversion of N2 gas into compounds containing nitrate (NO3-) and ammonium (NH4+), which is usable by plants
29
Where does nitrogen fixation occur? (3)
- in the atmosphere - in the water - in the soil
30
How does nitrogen fixation occur in the atmosphere?
- 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
How does nitrogen fixation occur in the water?
Some cyanobacteria converts N2 into NH4+ during photosynthesis
32
How does nitrogen fixation occur in the soil?
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
What is nitrification?
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
What converts nitrogen trapped in cells of dead organisms into NH4+?
Decomposer bacteria and fungi
35
What is uptake?
The process of nitrates entering plant roots.
36
How does nitrogen spread to herbivores and other consumers?
The consumers eat the plants and one another.
37
What is denitrification?
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
True or False: N2 is also returned to the atmosphere through volcanic eruptions.
True
39
How is nitrogen removed from the ecosystem? (2)
- 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
In the last 50 years, what has human activity done to available nitrogen in the biosphere?
It has doubled the amount
41
What human activities are negatively effecting the nitrogen cycle and our environment? (3)
- burning of fossil fuels - treating sewage - agricultural practices of using large amount of nitrogen-containing fertilizers
42
How are human activities of the nitrogen cycle affecting the environment?
- increase of acid precipitation - leeches of nitrogen into waterways - eutrophication of algae causing dead to many other marine organisms
43
Why is Phosphorus important?
- 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
True or False: Phosphorus is stored in the atmosphere
False
45
Where is phosphorus found? (2)
- as phosphate (PO4-3) found in rocks | - on sediments along the ocean floor
46
What releases trapped phosphorus in sedimentary rock or rocks? (3)
- geologic uplift exposes the rock - chemical weathering - physical weathering
47
What is geologic uplift?
Mountain building, Earth's crust folds and deeply buried rock layers rise and are exposed
48
What happens to a rock during chemical weathering?
Acid precipitation or lichens release PO4-3
49
What happens to a rock during physical weathering?
Wind, water, and freezing release PO4-3
50
How is phosphorus absorbed by plants? Animals?
- PO4-3 in the soil will be absorbed by plants | - animals will eventually eat these plants
51
How do humans add excess phosphorus to the environment? (4)
- commercial fertilizers - detergents - livestock farming - industrial and human waste
52
How do humans reduce phosphorus supplies?
- slash and burning of forest removes phosphorus from tress, where it is deposited as ash in waterways
53
What are carbon cycle changes linked to?
Climate change and global warming
54
What is increased levels of nitrogen linked to?
- allowing plant species to outcompete other species, decreasing the resources for every species in those food webs
55
What is decreased levels of phosphorus linked to?
- inhibit the growth of algal species, which are very important producers in many food chains
56
What can drastically change ecosystems? (2)
- temperature fluctuations | - changes in water levels
57
True or False: Changes influence every there organism in those food webs.
True

Ecology10 Unit Test (8 decks)

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