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Unit 2 Basic Ecology Part 1
Name____________________________________________
Earth Systems (biosphere/ecosystem)
Textbook Chapters= all of chapter 7 and part of chapter 6; part of chapter 4
System is a network of relationships among parts, elements or components that interact with and influence one another
through the exchange of energy, matter, or information. In a closed system energy enters the environment, but matter
does not. In an open system both matter and energy are exchanged between a system and the surrounding
environment.
Sometimes a system’s output can serve as input to the same system; this is called a feedback loop. Feedback loops can
be negative or positive feed back loops.
1. Describe and give an example of each of these feedback loops.
Negative feedback loop:
Positive feedback loop:
2. List the ecological levels of organization from most inclusive to least inclusive.
3. Biosphere is the area on Earth where conditions are optimal for life to exist. What are the three Earth systems that
make-up the biosphere?
The atmosphere is the thin membrane of air around the planet.
4. List and describe the gas composition of the atmosphere.
5. The atmosphere can be divided into the following layers:
Troposphere
Stratosphere
Mesosphere
Thermosphere
6. What is the relationship between altitude and pressure in the atmosphere?
7. What is the relationship between altitude and temperature in the atmosphere?
The hydrosphere consists of Earth’s water found in liquid water, ice, and water vapor.
8. Describe the distribution of water in the hydrosphere.
9. Define the following terms associated with the hydrologic cycle.
Condensation:
Evaporation:
Transpiration:
Precipitation:
Percolation:
Runoff:
Infiltration:
10. What process(es) are directly driven by the sun?
11. What process(es) remove water from the atmosphere?
12. What processes return water to the atmosphere?
13. What are ways in which humans disrupt the hydrologic cycle?
The rock and sediment is considered the geosphere. It can be divided into compositional and physical layer.
You are familiar with the compositional layers crust, mantle and core.
14. The five physical layers are listed below:
Lithosphere:
Asthenosphere:
Mesosphere:
Outer core:
Inner core:
Plate Tectonics shapes the Earth’s geography. The Earth’s internal heat causes the mantle to flow, pushing rock
up and down. Movement along plate boundaries leads to mountain formation, earthquakes, and volcanic
activity.
15. Describe the types of tectonic plate boundaries.
Divergent plate boundaries:
Transform plate boundaries:
Convergent plate boundaries:
Over geological time, rocks are heated, cooled, broken down and reassembled in the rock cycle.
16. Three main types of rock are Igneous rock, Sedimentary rock, and Metamorphic rock.
Describe how each are formed and give examples of each.
17. The biosphere is the most inclusive level of ecological organization. Explain how to differentiate between
ecosystem, community and population levels of organization.
18. What are three factors that sustain living organisms on the Earth?
The distribution of a species in an ecosystem is determined by the levels of one or more physical or chemical
factors being within the range tolerated by that species.
19. Explain the Limiting Factor Principle. Draw and label the graph on range of tolerance.
20. One component of an ecosystem is the biotic factors such as living organisms. The two main categories of living
organisms are producers and consumers. Explain the difference between each.
21. What is the difference between photosynthesis, chemosynthesis and respiration?
22. List and describe the different levels of consumers.
23. Distinguish between food chains and food webs. What does the direction of the arrows in a food chain/food web
indicate?
24. What is a trophic level? Be able to identity different trophic levels in a food chain or web.
25. Available energy, biomass, and population numbers in an ecosystem can be illustrated in pyramids. The pyramids
illustrate ecological efficiency. Explain what is meant by ecological efficiency.
26. What is the 10% rule? Be able to calculate available energy, biomass, on population numbers using the 10% rule.
27. Briefly explain how the 1st and 2nd Laws of Thermodynamics can be related to food chains/food webs.
Production of biomass takes place at different rates among different ecosystems. GPP and NPP can be limiting
factors of an ecosystem.
28. Explain the difference between GPP and NPP. Write an equation for calculating GPP, NPP and rate of respiration.
With new environmental conditions, ecosystems and community structures can change; one group of species is
replaced by another. Ecological succession is the gradual change in species composition of a given area.
29. There are two types of ecological succession. Name and give examples of each.
30. What is ecological restoration? Give examples of where this might be occurring.
Unlike energy, matter cycles within the ecosystem. Nutrient cycles/biogeochemical cycles are global recycling
systems that interconnect all organisms. Nutrient atoms, ions, and molecules continuously cycle between air,
water, rock, soil, and living organisms. These cycles include the carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and
water cycles. They are connected to chemical cycles of the past and the future.
Carbon Cycle
31. Identify the two processes that circulates carbon in a short term cycle.
32. Explain what is meant by the long carbon cycle.
33. What processes removes carbon from the atmosphere?
34. What processes put carbon into the atmosphere?
35. How do humans intervene with the carbon cycle?
36. What are some environmental problems that results from human intervention in the carbon cycle?
Nitrogen cycle
37. What organism is important in allowing producers and consumers to access nitrogen?
38. Give the chemical formulas and definitions for the following terms associated with the nitrogen cycle. Nitrogen
fixation:
Nitrification:
Assimilation:
Ammonification:
Denitrification:
39. What process(es) returns nitrogen to the atmosphere?
40. What process or natural events are used by bacteria to harness nitrogen?
41. How do humans affect the nitrogen cycle?
42. What are some environmental problems that results from human intervention in the nitrogen cycle?
Phosphorus cycle
43. Where are the major reservoirs of phosphorus located?
44. How is the phosphorus cycle different than the water, carbon, and nitrogen cycles?
45. What natural process releases phosphorus into the living part of the biosphere?
46. What are ways in which humans introduce phosphates into the environment disrupting the phosphorus cycle?
47. What are some environmental problems that results from human intervention in the phosphorus cycle?
Sulfur cycle
48. List natural ways sulfur enters the atmosphere.
49. List ways in which humans contribute to sulfur being added to the atmosphere.
50. What are some environmental problems that results from human intervention in the sulfur cycle?