Text Chapters 15 & 16: Ecology- Ecosystems

Question 1

Producers

Answer 1

plants convert light energy from the sun into food through photosynthesis

Question 2

Primary Consumers

Answer 2

herbivores

Question 3

Secondary Consumers

Answer 3

carnivores -animals that eat herbivores

Question 4

Tertiary Consumers

Answer 4

top carnivores- animals that eat other carnivores

Question 5

Detritus Feeders and Decomposers

Answer 5

release nutrients for reuse

Question 6

Efficiency of Energy Transfer

Answer 6

10% of calories to next trophic level

Question 7

Effects of Concentrating Elements of Contaminants in Animal Tissue

Answer 7

higher concentration of contaminants at higher levels of the food chain

Question 8

Carbon Cycle

Answer 8

CO2-> sugars (Carbon Fixation, Photosynthesis), carbon moves through food chain, CO2 released through respiration, carbon from dead organisms can become coal, oil, natural gas, burning fossil fuels releases CO2

Question 9

How the Carbon Cycle is Related to Global Warming

Answer 9

for terrestrial organisms, the most important carbon reservoir is the atmosphere

Question 10

Nitrogen Fixation

Answer 10

N2 gas become ammonia or ammonium

Question 11

Nitrification

Answer 11

ammonia is converted to nitrites or nitrates

Question 12

Assimilation

Answer 12

nitrate is taken up by plants and converted to ammonium

Question 13

Ammonification

Answer 13

soil bacteria release nitrogen from decaying matter

Question 14

Dentrification

Answer 14

nitrate is broken down to produce N2 gas

Question 15

Water Cycle

Answer 15

alternates between evaporation and precipitation

Question 16

Pollution from the Water Cycle in the form of Acid Rain

Answer 16

burning fossil fuels releases the gases sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, when combined with water vapor in the atmosphere, the compounds form sulfuric acid and nitric acid, the acids fall to earth as acid precipitation

Question 17

Herbivores

Answer 17

animals that eat plants

Question 18

Carnivores

Answer 18

animals that herbivores

Question 19

Carbon Fixation

Answer 19

the conversion process of inorganic carbon (carbon dioxide) to organic compounds by living organisms- photosynthesis

Question 20

Respiration

Answer 20

the sum of all respiration occurring by the living organisms in a specific ecosystem

Question 21

Evaporation

Answer 21

a change in phase in the atmosphere occurs when substances change from a liquid to a gaseous or vapor form

Question 22

Precipitation

Answer 22

• water released from clouds in the form of rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow, or hail
• the primary connection in the water cycle that provides for the delivery of atmospheric water to the Earth