Ecosystems & Ecology

Question 1

all the organisms and abiotic factors within a community

Answer 1

ecosystem

Question 2

system that absorbs energy and mass and releases heat and waste products

Answer 2

open system

Question 3

energy flows _____ ecosystems, matter flows _____ ecosystems

Answer 3

through, within

Question 4

energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred or transformed

Answer 4

1st law of thermodynamics

Question 5

every exchange of energy increase the entropy of the universe

Answer 5

2nd law of thermodynamics

Question 6

How does energy enter an ecosystem?

Answer 6

as solar radiation

Question 7

What does energy get transformed into via photosynthesis?

Answer 7

chemical energy

Question 8

How is energy dissipated?

Answer 8

as heat

Question 9

matter cannot be created or destroyed

Answer 9

law of conservation of mass

Question 10

______ elements are continually recycled within ecosystems

Answer 10

chemical

Question 11

consumers that derive their energy from detritus

Answer 11

dertritivores

Question 12

nonliving organic matter

Answer 12

detritus

Question 13

_______ connects all trophic levels

Answer 13

decomposition

Question 14

the amount of light energy converted to chemical energy by autotrophs during a given time period

Answer 14

primary production

Question 15

ecosystem’s total primary production

Answer 15

gross primary production

Question 16

GPP minus energy used by primary producers for “autotrophic repsiration”

Answer 16

net primary production

Question 17

the element that must be added for production to increase in an area

Answer 17

limiting nutrients

Question 18

_____ and ____ control primary production

Answer 18

light and nutrients

Question 19

______ and ______ limit production at large scales in terrestrial primary production

Answer 19

temperature and moisture

Question 20

What are the adaptations that help plants access limiting nutrients?

Answer 20

• mutualisms with nitrogen-fixing bacteria
• mutualism with mycorrhizal fungi
• root hairs
• enzymes that increase the availability of limiting nutrients

Question 21

nutrient cycles in ecosystems that involve biotic and abiotic components

Answer 21

biogeochemical cycles

Question 22

biogeochemical cycle in which photosynthesis converts carbon dioxide to organic molecules

Answer 22

carbon cycle

Question 23

What are some types of carbon reservoirs?

Answer 23

• fossil fuels
• solutes in oceans
• plant and animal biomass
• atmosphere
• soil, sediments, and sedimentary rocks

Question 24

What does the nitrogen cycle produce?

Answer 24

nitrates that can be used by all producers

Question 25

What does the phosphorus cycle produce?

Answer 25

phosphate ions and minerals into the soil to be consumed by plants

Question 26

amount of chemical energy in food converted to new biomass during a given period fo time

Answer 26

secondary production

Question 27

fraction of energy stored in food that is not used for respiration

Answer 27

production efficiency

Question 28

percentage of production transferred from one trophic level to the next

Answer 28

trophic efficiency

Question 29

_____% of energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next

Answer 29

~10

Question 30

_____ are the unit used when talking about the transfer of energy

Answer 30

joules (J)