chapter 55 - ecosystems and restoration ecology

Question 1

ecosystem

Answer 1

the sum of all the organisms living in a general area and the abiotic factors with which they interact

Question 2

law of conservation of mass

Answer 2

matter can not be created or destroyed

Question 3

primary producers

Answer 3

autotrophs

Question 4

primary consumers

Answer 4

herbivores

Question 5

secondary consumers

Answer 5

carnivores eat herbivores

Question 6

tertiary consumers

Answer 6

carnivores eat carnivores

Question 7

detritivores

Answer 7

consumers who get energy from detritus

Question 8

detritus

Answer 8

nonliving organic material

Question 9

primary production

Answer 9

the amount of light energy converted to chemical energy - in the form of organic compounds - by autotrophs during a given time period

Question 10

gross primary production

Answer 10

the amount of energy from light converted to the chemical energy of organic molecules per unit time

Question 11

net primary production

Answer 11

equal to gross primary production minus the energy used by the primary producers for their cellular respiration

Question 12

net ecosystem production

Answer 12

measure of the total biomass accumulation during that time

Question 13

limiting nutrient

Answer 13

the element that must be added for production to increase

Question 14

eutrophication

Answer 14

when primary producers die, detritovres decompose them, depleting the water of much or all of its oxygen

Question 15

production efficiency

Answer 15

the percentage of energy stored in assimilated food that is used for growth and reproduction

Question 16

trophic efficiency

Answer 16

the percentage of production transferred from one trophic level to the next

Question 17

biochemical cycles

Answer 17

when nutrient cycles involve both biotic and abiotic components

Question 18

water cycle

Answer 18

evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, and movement through surface and groundwater

Question 19

nitrogen cycle

Answer 19

the main reservoir of nitrogen is the atmosphere
(N2), though this nitrogen must be converted to NH4+
or NO3– for uptake by plants, via nitrogen fixation by
bacteria

Question 20

population growth equation

Answer 20

r= birth rate - death rate

Question 21

mark recapture method equation

Answer 21

N = (sn)/x