Biosphere
This biome experiences below-freezing average annual temperatures, extremely low rainfall, and lacks tree species.
Tundra
What is Condensation
The collection and cooling of water vapor in the atmosphere
What is atmospheric carbon called?
Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
Because plants and animals cannot absorb atmospheric Nitrogen gas directly, they rely on... (2 things)
Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria for Nitrogen Fixation
Deep, sprawling root systems and thick water-storing tissues are critical plant adaptations for what biome.
The desert
What is the process of the ground soaking up precipitation. Eventually recharging underground aquifers.
Percolation and Infiltration
This primary human activity releases massive amounts of stored greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, directly warming the planet.
Burning fossil fuels
What role do decomposers such as earthworms play in the Nitrogen cycle?
Decomposers cause ammonification when breaking down dead organisms, returning Nitrogen to the soil.
As the sunlight is setting, a forest vulture is consuming a dead organism on top of a granite rock that has a few mushrooms growing on it. Describe the decomposer in this scenario.
The mushrooms
Replacing native forests and grasslands with impervious concrete surfaces causes this hydrological step to dramatically increase during storm events
Runoff
A vast ecosystem—such as the Amazon Rainforest absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere through photosynthesis than it releases. This is known as a...
Carbon sink
What is the process in which plants absorb usable nitrogen such as nitrates and ammonia.
Plants absorb usable nitrogen through Assimilation
In an ocean ecosystem, coral, tiger sharks, and sea turtles are swimming in the sunlight, saltwater, and oil that was unfortunately spilled during an accident.
What are the abiotic factors?
Sunlight and saltwater
Large-scale deforestation in tropical rainforests disrupts the water cycle by reducing what process?
Transpiration
When is a fossil fuel deposit considered a carbon sink and when is it a considered a carbon source?
Carbon Sink: When it is undisturbed.
Carbon Source: When it is being re-released by humans.
How is Nitrogen returned back into the atmosphere?
Denitrifying Bacteria convert Nitrates into N2 through Denitrification.
What specific adaptations do animals require to survive the desert. (Must include 2)
Nocturnality
Burrowing
Camouflage
Water retention
What is the result of over pumping underground aquifers near the coast
Salt intrusion (Salt water will invade the space the well draws from)
How does ocean pollution impact the ocean's capabilities as a Carbon Sink?
Ocean pollution harms the phytoplankton which use photosynthesis to absorb CO2
What is the difference between Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria and Nitrifying Bacteria?
Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria convert atmospheric N2 into ammonia. While Nitrifying Bacteria use that ammonia to create Nitrites and Nitrates.
The removal of a keystone predator like the wolf from Yellowstone leads directly to what ecological disaster?
The decimation of the Producers due to the increased herbivore population
Why would a farmer purposely design his land to collect water rather than runoff immediately?
To increase infiltration and percolation, recharging his underground aquifers for plant and human use.
How does releasing CO2 and other greenhouse gases create a positive feedback loop in the tundra?
As more CO2 is released, more permafrost is melted which increases CO2, which melts even more frost, which continues and continues.
What would occur to local aquatic life that received agricultural runoff full of fertilizer.
Harmful algal blooms would occur and over consume the oxygen in the water, resulting in eventual organism death. (Eutrophication)
What affect would the local destruction of bacteria have on the nitrogen cycle
The plants in that area would struggle to obtain Nitrogen to create the essential Nucleic Acids and Proteins