Lecture #6 - Water & Energy

Question 1

What are the 4 fundamental ecological processes?

Answer 1

Hydro Cycle
Energy Flow
Biogeochemical Cycling
Community dynamics

Question 2

Out of the 4 fundamental processes, which one is a big driver of the other cycles?

Answer 2

Hydro

Question 3

What is the hydro cycle driven by?

Answer 3

Solar energy

Question 4

What does the hydro cycle do?

Answer 4

describes a series of processes by which water based from atmosphere to the earth and back to the atmosphere

Question 5

What makes water unique

Answer 5

• all 3 states exist at the same time on earth
• high specific heat
• expands when cold (H bonds become rigid and molecule becomes crystallized)

Question 6

Where is the majority of precipitation falling?

Answer 6

In the ocean

-only 1/4 of this falls on land surface

Question 7

What mechanisms of precipitation transportation bring water from the tree canopy to the soil?

Answer 7

Streamflow and Through-flow

- also bring nutrients down to the ground

Question 8

What happens the precipitation hits vegetation?

Answer 8

It usually just evaporates and doesn’t even enter the hydro cycle

Question 9

What is Through-fall?

Answer 9

When water drips off vegetation to the ground

Question 10

What is Streamflow?

Answer 10

When water runs down the stem/trunk and them onto the ground

Question 11

What is surface water dependant on?

Answer 11

Soil texture
Soil moisture
Slope
Vegetation

Question 12

What kind of surface causes drag of water?

Answer 12

Rougher and ones with lots of vegetation

Question 13

What is the wilting point?

Answer 13

Water content when most plants wilt and fail to recover upon rewetting

Question 14

What is Field Capacity?

Answer 14

Water remaining after free fringe has ceased

Question 15

What is Hygroscopic Water?

Answer 15

A thin film of water around individual soil panic;es and heal together really tightly by the forces of ADHESION

• water is unavailable for uptake by plants
• can hold a lot of water

Question 16

What is Capillary water?

Answer 16

When water accumulated around the open spaces of the individual particles held together by COHESION
-Water is available for water uptake

Question 17

What is gravitational water?

Answer 17

When all the space is gone in-between the particles

-the we have free flowing water which is susceptible to gravitational forces

Question 18

What is soil texture?

Answer 18

How big soil particles are

Question 19

Which can hold more water, large or small particles?

Answer 19

small particles

-they have more surface area, so if you have a lot of them you’ll have more surface area to hold water

Question 20

How can you lose water from soil?

Answer 20

Surface run off
High gravitational water
Transpiration

Question 21

What is evaporation?

Answer 21

water changing from a liquid to a gaseous stat

Question 22

What is transpiration?

Answer 22

Evaporation from moist surfaces of plants

Question 23

Role of stomata?

Answer 23

Pores on leaf surfaces that regulate CO2 and water

-they need to be open for gas exchange and photosynthesis

Question 24

What are ways in which humans are altering the weather cycle?

Answer 24

Withdrawing large amounts of freshwater
Clearcutting
Polluting surface and air

Question 25

Only a ____ ______ os solar energy is used in biological reactions

Answer 25

small fraction