Download APES Unit 5: Ecosystem Ecology (Ch. 4) Study Guide

APESUnit5:EcosystemEcology(Ch.4)StudyGuide
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The study of how organism interact with each other and their environment
Same species living in the same area
Different populations living in the same area
Community and abiotic components interacting in an area
Flow of energy, cycling of matter, and gravity which holds the atmosphere in place & allows movement
of chemicals in the matter cycles
Biotic –living (plants) Abiotic –nonliving (temperature)
Energy flows in one direction while matter cycles
Energy goes from concentrated organized states to disordered, diffused states (entropy)/ it applies to
energy in ecosystems because energy is concentrated when it comes in from the sun but organisms turn it
into low quality forms of energy like heat
make their own food through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis
terrestrial: mosses seedless non-vascular, ferns seedless vascular, angiosperms, & gymnosperms (both
have seeds and are vascular)
6H20 + 6CO2 makes C6H1206 + 602
when organisms create organic compounds for nutrients from inorganic compounds
organisms that must consume their food from other sources
primary (herbivores), secondary (omnivores or carnivores), tertiary (carnivores)
herbivore(plant eater)- deer, carnivores (meat eater)- snake and omnivores( eat both)- raccoon
scavengers- feed off of large pieces of dead or decaying matter
detritus feeders- feed off of detritus (medium pieces of dead or decaying matter)
decomposers are bacteria & fungi , they break down organic matter at a molecular and return
chemicals/nutrients back into the environment
arrows point towards what doe the eating or shows the flow of energy
C6H1206 + 602 makes 6H20 + 6CO2 mitochondria
creating energy from sugar in a cell in the absence of oxygen, alcohol, acetic acid, or hydrogen sulfide
total mass or dry weight of living matter often refers to mass available in a trophic level
% of usable energy transferred as biomass from one trophic level to the next
shows how energy availability decreases as you go up trophic levels/ 10% rule
10% of the energy from one trophic level is passed on to the next
gross primary productivity- the rate at which producers in an ecosystem convert solar energy into
biomass, Measured in Kcal/m2/year and net primary productivity the rate at which producers use
photosynthesis to store energy minus the rate at which they use some of this stored energy
highest NPP- swamps, marshes, estuaries, & tropical rainforest
steps in the water cycle: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, infiltration
Humans intervene by Withdrawal of large amounts of freshwater at rates faster than nature can replace it
Clearing of vegetation from land & cover it with buildings & asphalt à increases runoff, erosion
Draining wetlands for farming and urban development à increases flooding, Water Pollution, Warmer
climate à change precipitation patterns, carbon cycle-CO2 is also dissolved in the oceans (major
sink/reservoir)à used in photosynthesis by marine producersà involved in marine food webs, Stored in
limestone or sediments, Over millions of years, buried deposits of dead plant matter & bacteria are
compressed between layers of sedimentà high pressure and heat convert them to fossil fuels
Where is carbon stored? ocean, limestone, fossil fuels
How have humans intervened in the carbon cycle? Burn fossil fuels à releases carbon dioxide into
31. Electricity (burn coal), Transportation (burn oil), Clearing forests, Removes carbon-absorbing trees,
Burning trees puts out CO2, CO2 is a greenhouse gas that , traps heat in our atmosphere
32. What are the steps of the nitrogen cycle? Atmosphere is major reservoir for nitrogen (N2)
But N2 cannot be taken in by organisms, Nitrogen fixation: nitrogen-fixing bacteria convert N2 to ammonia
(NH3) which is rapidly converted to ammonium (NH4+) a form that is readily used by producers, An abiotic
means of fixing nitrogen is by lightning (N2 is converted to NO3) Nitrification: bacteria convert NH4+ to
nitrite (NO2-) then nitrate (NO3-) Assimilation: Nitrate, Ammonium, and ammonia are taken up by plants
(cycles in food web) Ammonification: through decomposition nitrogen compounds are converted into
ammonium where it can be taken up by plants Denitrification: nitrate is converted to N2O (nitrous oxide
then eventually N2
33. What do organisms need nitrogen for? protein building
34. How are fossil fuels involved in the nitrogen cycle? burning fossil fuels releases nitric oxide (NO) to
atmosphere & creates contributes to acid rain
35. What is eutrophication? What is the result of eutrophication? accumulation of nutrients , resulting in
algal blooms, and then eventually oxygen depletion
36. What is a dead zone? area of water (like Gulf of Mexico at the mouth of the Mississippi) where there is
not oxygen and no marine life
37. What is a red tide? toxic algal bloom, can poison fish, mammals, or birds through inhalation or contact
38. What are the steps, including the main sinks, of the phosphorus cycle? Reservoir: salts containing
phosphate (PO43-) in rock formations & bottom of oceans, As water erodes rock, phosphate ions enter
soil à Phosphate taken up by plants & enter food web, Important for nucleic acids and energy transfer
molecules (ATP), Most soils contain little phosphate, so limits plant growth (limiting factor!)
That’s why fertilizers have phosphate. (no gas phase in phase)
39. How have humans intervened in the phosphorus cycle? Removing phosphate salts from mining
Phosphate-rich runoff enters aquatic systems (esp. freshwater) & causes algal blooms (eutrophication)
40. What are the basic parts, including the main sink, of the sulfur cycle? Much of world’s sulfur is in rocks
& minerals & sulfate (SO42-) salts in ocean sediments, S enters the atmosphere from:
Volcanoes & break down of organic matter by anaerobic decomposers releases hydrogen sulfide (H2S),
Sulfate (SO42-) particles come from dust storms & forest fires, In atmosphere sulfur dioxide (SO2)
is converted to sulfur trioxide gas (SO3) & sulfuric acid (H2SO4), Sulfate cycles through food webs
41. How have humans intervened in the sulfur cycle? Factory emissions: sulfur in coal is
released into atmosphere when we burn it, this leads to acidic precipitation (sulfuric acid), Refining
petroleum & Smelting metallic ores (copper, lead, zinc) releases sulfur containing compounds
STUDY FRQ #4 from 2014