Biochemical Cycles Flashcards
Why are material cycles important
The make small quantities of material support ecosystems over the long-term
What is the overall change in dynamic equilibrium
None or minimal
How does human activity alter the material cycles
Affecting the equilibrium
How much energy is sunlight storing
Low quantities
How much energy are carbohydrates storing
High quantities (through photosynthesis)
What does plant respiration release (other than co2)
Energy for metabolic processes
What does aerobic respiration break down and release
Organic matter, releasing energy
What does anaerobic respiration return carbon as
Methane
What are the herbivores eating in the food web
Lipids, proteins and carbohydrates
What is fossilisation
Incomplete decomposition (in anaerobic conditions) creates long term carbon stores, e.g fossil fuels
What do corals and marine organisms exoskeletons make
Calcium carbonate (limestone)
Where is the majority of the planet’s carbon stored
In rocks
What does the combustion of forests and grass lands release
Co2
How does deforestation affect biomass
Reduced (less carbon movement)
What does marine pollution affect
Reduced plankton populations
What does the decrease in plankton cause
- Less co2 absorbed
- more marine sediment
- ocean acidification
- higher atmospheric carbon levels
What is happening to algae in polar regions
Decreasing as the ice they grow on as melting with higher co2 levels
What does DOM release an how
Co2 through bacterial and fungal respiration
How does ploughing affect co2 levels
- Increases as more oxygen is accessible for decomposes to respire and break down more DOM
- less carbon stored in the soil (more in the atmosphere)
What is oxidised methane
Co2
What human activity creates anaerobic environments
- paddy fields
- landfill
- anaerobic sediment in reservoirs
- livestock
What destroys anaerobic environments
Drainage water (for water logged fields, marshes and pear bogs)
What has human activity created/altered
A new dynamic equalibrium
