Chapt 1: Energy and Matter Biosphere

Question 1

What is the biosphere?

Answer 1

• includes all the living things that inhabit the Earth and the environment that supports them

Question 2

Example of biosphere?

Answer 2

• Hydrosphere (water) and it’s components
• Lithosphere (land) and it’s components
• Atmosphere (air) and its components

Question 3

Fill in the blanks. “All organisms need ___ to survive”

Answer 3

• energy

Question 4

What does most organisms use to utilize (make use of) energy?

Answer 4

• cellular respirtation

Question 5

2 ways of how organisms store energy

Answer 5

• Most energy is stored through Photosynthesis
• Some energy is stored through chemosynthesis

Question 6

What are the 3 outcomes of radiant energy

Answer 6

1. 30% reflected by clouds, dust (atmosphere), land, and water
2. 19% absorbed by atmospheric gases (like CO2 and water vapour)
3. 51% absorbed by earth’s surface (land and water) through very little is used for photosynthesis

Question 7

What are 3 ways to represent feeding relationships

Answer 7

1. How an organism obtains its food (eg, herbivore, carnivore)
2. By consumer level (Primary Consumer)
3. By trophic level

Question 8

What is trophic level

Answer 8

• feeding level through which energy and matter are transferred
• eg, first trophic level, second trophic level

Question 9

What is a food chain

Answer 9

• linear pathway through which food is transferred from producers to consumers

Question 10

Which do the arrows point in the food chain?

Answer 10

• towards whoever us consuming it

Question 11

What is a food web

Answer 11

• a model of food (energy) transfer in an ecosystem that shows the connections among food chains

Question 12

What limits the length of a food chain?

Answer 12

• the amount of energy transferred from one trophic level to another (10%) limits it

Question 13

What is the rule of 10%

Answer 13

• 10% of the energy at one trophic level is transferred to the next trophic level

Question 14

What are ecological pyramids

Answer 14

• used to describe quantitative relationships between trophic levels

Question 15

What are the 3 types of ecological pyramids

Answer 15

1. Pyramid of Numbers
2. Pyramid of Biomass
3. Pyramid of Energy

Question 16

What is the pyramid of numbers

Answer 16

• Each bar represents a different trophic level
• its width represents the number of organisms at that level
• Pyramid of numbers do not always take an upright shape
• eg, forest ecosystem - fewer trees (producers) than organisms
• doesn’t take into account size of organisms as one big tree can contain a lot of organisms

Question 17

What is a pyramid of biomass

Answer 17

• good indicator of the amount of energy present in the living tissue if an ecosystem
• complications: some scientists only include only living material, others include ones-living materials (dead trees, shrubs, grass)
• Exceptions to upright shape - biomass of producers may be less than consumers

Question 18

What is pyramid of energy

Answer 18

• shows total amount of energy that us transferred through each trophic level
• Always upright - there can NEVER be less energy in lower trophic levels compared to higher levels

Question 19

What does biomass mean

Answer 19

• dry mass of living, or once living, organisms per unit area

Question 20

What is biomagnification/bioaccumulation

Answer 20

• build up toxins and chemicals in an organism as infected tissue moves up trophic levels
• they are not easy to breakdown, they are persistent, and are long lived in the food chain

Question 21

What are producers

Answer 21

• organisms that are able to use the Sun’s energy to produce food for themselves
• also known as autotrophs which means self-feeders

Question 22

What are consumers

Answer 22

• organisms that obtain other organisms to consume nutrients
• called heterotrophs which means “other feeders”

Question 23

What is albedo?

Answer 23

• the ability to reflect energy
• Light coloured and reflective surfaces have high albedo
• whilst dark surfaces and water reflects less so less albedo

Question 24

In the big amount of energy that reached the ground of earth, do producers receive a lot?

Answer 24

• No, only a portion of the energy
• and it is used for photosynthesis

Question 25

What is chemosynthesis

Answer 25

• occurs in places where there are no sunlight for organisms so cannot rely in photosynthesis
• where micro-organisms are able to split the hydrogen sulfide molecules spewing from the deep sea-vents
• the bacteria then capture the energy stored in the chemical bonds of the molecules
• produced sulphuric acid

Question 26

What are herbivores

Answer 26

• type of consumer
• organisms that eat plants
• termed primary consumers because they are the first eaters of plants and other producers

Question 27

What are carnivores

Answer 27

• animals that eat other animals
• carnivores that eat mainly herbivores are secondary consumers
• tertiary consumers are consumers that eat secondary consumers

Question 28

What are decomposers. Why are they important

Answer 28

• another consumer that obtains their energy-rich molecules by eating or absorbing leftover or waste matter
• Important to the biosphere because they return organic and inorganic matter to soul, air and water

Question 29

What is the first and second law of thermodynamics

Answer 29

first
- energy cannot be created or destroyed
- only be converted from one form to another
second
- with each conversion if energy there us less energy available to do useful work

Question 30

what type of pyramid can have less organisms at the bottom

Answer 30

• pyramid of numbers
• pyramid of biomass