Biosphere 2 Flashcards

1
Q

What are some of the limits to life?

A

Temperature
Pressure
Light
pH
Salinity
Water activity
UV
Radiation

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2
Q

What are the upper and lower limits of temperature for life?

A

-15C to 122c

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3
Q

What is the maximum pressure life can survive in?

A

1,100 atmosphere

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4
Q

What is the pH range in which life can survive?

A

0-12.5

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5
Q

We can we notice about chlorophyll concentration throughout year?

A

centred around equator with strong upwelling of deep nutrients

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6
Q

How many elements are essential for life?

A

24

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7
Q

What are the macro nutrients/ the big six?

A

C, H, O, P, N, S

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8
Q

Why are micronutrients important?

A

they can be the limiting factor dependent on environment

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9
Q

What is growth limited by in terms of nutrient?

A

not by the total amount of resources available but by the scarcest resource

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10
Q

What is Liebigs law/ law of minimum?

A

element with the lowest concentration in the environment relative to its demand will limit growth

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11
Q

What is bioconcentration?

A

Organisms are selective in their uptake of elements and nutrients

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12
Q

What is an example of biconcentration?

A

Marine algae concentrate Fe (100,000x), N, P, Mn (10,000-100,000x) and Zn, Ni, Cu, Cd, Al (1000-10,000x) above seawater concentrations

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13
Q

What is bioaccumulation?

A

organisms excrete less of an element than they consume

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14
Q

What is biomagnification?

A

bioaccumulation gets exacerbated up the food chain

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15
Q

What factors form part of biogeochemical cycles?

A

Reservoir- mass/ volume
Flux- mass per unit time/ movement
Residence time how long in reservoir

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16
Q

What is the timescale for biological carbon cycling?

A

Short term- 10s of years

17
Q

What is the timescale for medium term carbon cycling?

A

up to 1000s of years

18
Q

What is medium term carbon cycling dominated by?

A

storage organic chemicals in the woody tissue of trees, in forest soils, and in other organic sediments

19
Q

What is the timescale of long term carbon cycling?

A

up to millions of years

20
Q

What type of processes is the long term carbon cycling dominated by?

A

geological processes

21
Q

What geological processes form the long term carbon cycle?

A

Carbonate rock production
Return carbon to atmo by weathering, metamorphism, subduction and volcanism

22
Q

What is nitrogen like as a gas?

A

relatively unreactive

23
Q

What happens to nitrogen as it moves between reservoirs?

A

reduced and oxidised

24
Q

What form of nitrogen is needed for plant, algae and bacteria uptake?

A

nitrate ion
or
ammonium ion

25
Q

What is nitrogen fixation?

A

process of converting N2 (gas) into biologically useful forms

26
Q

How can nitrogen fixation occur?

A

Specialised bacteria
Lightning strike

27
Q

Where is phosphorus mainly stored?

A

lithosphere and biosphere

28
Q

How is phosphorous stored in the hydrosphere?

A

phosphate

29
Q

What do photosynthetic algae do to earths surface?

A

change the colour and albedo

30
Q

What does the roughness of vegetation on land affect?

A

flow of wind, weather, and climate

31
Q

What flow between land and atmosphere is mediated by plants?

A

water

32
Q

How do plants interact with the lithosphere?

A

Increase evaporation and decrease runoff. Roots stabilize soil, affecting rates of erosion

33
Q

What is co-evolution?

A

How life affects and is affected by the physical and chemical environment