55/56 Flashcards
Many primary producers and photosynthetic organism are in which biomes
tropical rain forests and coral reefs. Located near equator so these biomes receive a lot of sun
what is most important threat to marine ecosystems?
overharvesting
ecosystem
consists of all the organisms living in a community, as well as the abiotic factors with which they interact
Regardless of an ecosystem’s size, its dynamics involve two main processes:
energy flow and chemical cycling.
Energy flows through ecosystems, while matter cycles within ecosystems
first law of thermodynamics
energy can’t be created or destroyed
second law of thermodynamics
every exchange of energy increases the entropy of the universe
trophic efficiency
is the percentage of production transferred from one trophic level to the next
• It is usually about 10%, with a range of 5% to 20%
Nutrient circuits in ecosystems involve biotic and abiotic components and are often called
biogeochemical cycles
In studying cycling of water, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus (biogeochemical cycles), ecologists focus on four factors:
- Biological importance
- Chemical Forms (including what is available and/or used by organisms)
- Major reservoirs for each chemical
- Key processes driving movement of each chemical through its cycle
conservation biology
integrates ecology, physiology, genetics, and evolutionary biology to conserve biological diversity at all levels.
______ is the most important factor in the decline of species
Habitat loss
Current threats to biodiversity: HIPPO
- Habitat Destruction
- Introduced Species
- Pollution
- Population
- Overharvesting
example of invasive species
lionfish
ecosystem services
- The conditions and processes through which natural ecosystems, and the species that make them up, sustain and fulfill human life
- In other words, benefits supplied to human societies by natural ecosystems
Four categories of ecosystem services:
- cultural
- provisioning
- regulating
- supporting
which of the following organisms is incorrectly paired with its trophic level?
zooplankton-primary producer
it is a primary consumer
which of these ecosystems has the lowest net primary production per square meter?
an open ocean
the discipline that applies ecological principles to returning degraded ecosystems to a more natural state is known as
restoration ecology
nitrifying bacteria participate in the nitrogen cycle mainly by
converting ammonium to nitrate, which plants absorb
which of the following has the greatest effect on the rate of chemical cycling in an ecosystem?
the rate of decomposition in the ecosystem
the hubbard brook watershed deforestation experiment yielded all of the following results except
calcium levels remained high
which of the following would be considered an example of bioremediation
adding seeds of a chromium-accumulating plant to soil contaminated by chromium
if you applied a fungicide to a cornfield, what would you expect to happen to the rate of decomposition and net ecosystem production?
decomposition rate would decrease and NEP would increase
one characteristic that distinguishes a population in an extinction vortex from most others is
genetic diversity is very low
the main cause of the increase in the amount of CO2 in earths atmosphere over the past 150 years is
the burning of large amounts of wood and fossil fuels
what is the single greatest threat to biodiversity
habitat alteration, fragmentation, and destruction
which of the following is a consequence of biological magnification
toxic chemicals in the environment pose greater risk to top level predators than to primary consumers
which of the following strategies would most rapidly increase genetic diversity of a population
introduce new individuals transported from other populations of same species
of the following statements about protected areas that have been established to preserve biodiversity, which is not correct?
about 25% of earths land is protected
food web
consist of many interconnected food chains and are more realistic representation of consumption relationships in ecosystems.
