Chapter 46: The Global Ecosystem Flashcards
ecosystem function
the dynamic processes by which the abiotic and biotic components of an ecosystem exhange and transform energy
Net Primary Productivity
the rate per unit of area at which an ecosystem produces primary producer biomass
Which ecosystems are the most productive?
Total- swamp and marshes
terrestrial- tropical rainforest
What are the only productive deep water areas?
hydrothermal vents
What is essential for chemicals to be in order to be used by organisms?
in the right form and in the right placce
Biosphere
the thin skin at Earth’s surface where atmosphere, land, and water are in contact with one another and where organisms live
Biogeochemical cycles
movement of matter along Earth’s compartments that is caused by biological, geological, and chemical processes
Pool of a molecule
total amount of a molecule
fluxes
flows
what is the driving force behind the hydrological cycle?
evaporation `
greenhouse gas
absorbs infrared radiation
nitrogen fixation
break the triple bond between two nitrogen atoms, turning N2 into ammonium
done by microbes
mostly bacteria in soil/with plants on land, btu also happens in fungal gardens of leaf cutter ants
denitirification
turning oxides of nitrogen into N2 to complete nitrogen cycle
eutrophication
nutrient stimulated increases in primary productivity
can result in such rapid growth of phytoplankton that consumers are like AHHHH I CAN NOT YOU ALL!!!!! (think like people at a buffet)
respiration by all these phytoplankton and decomposers depletes oxygen
dead zones
areas devoid of aquatic life because the phytoplankton and decomposers just had to deplete the oxygen levels to Wwaaayyyyy below tolerance (but isn’t their fault, happens because of nutrients)