Biomes
This is the largest biome on Earth, characterized by cold-tolerant coniferous trees
Taiga (boreal forest)
Which process has resulted in an increase in atmospheric CO2 levels over the last 200 years?
Fossil fuel combustion
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Identify the phrase that matches this definition:
The rate at which producers capture and store a given amount of chemical energy as biomass in a given length of time.
Gross Primary Productivity (GPP)
If 10,000 kcal of energy is available at the level of the producers, what is the amount of energy available at the level of tertiary consumers?
10 kcal
Which food chain found on the Serengeti Plain is in the correct sequence from lowest trophic level to highest?
a) shrubs-gazelles-cheetahs-decomposers
b) shrubs-decomposers-cheetahs-gazelles
c) gazelles-decomposers-cheetahs-shrubs
d) decomposers-cheetahs-shrubs-gazelles
a) shrubs-gazelles-cheetahs-decomposers
This biome is characterized by four distinct seasons and broadleaf trees that lose their leaves every winter (deciduous trees)
What is a seasonal deciduous forest?
The presence of which two nutrients are typically responsible for cultural eutrophication in freshwater and marine ecosystems?
Nitrogen and phosphorus
Bonus +200: What is harmful about cultural eutrophication?
What is the formula for NPP?
NPP = GPP - plant respiration
What is a trophic level?
The specific position that an organism occupies in a food chain based on the energy it receives
At which trophic level do organisms use a process that produces oxygen as a waste product?
Producers
This biome is characterized by warm annual temperatures, a scattering of trees, and distinct wet / dry seasons
Savanna
Identify three major carbon reservoirs.
Sedimentary rock (limestone), oceans, fossil fuel deposits, atmospheric CO2, and vegetation
The NPP of an ecosystem is 1 kg C/m2/year, and the energy needed by the producers for their own respiration is 1.5 kg C/m2/year. The GPP of such an ecosystem would be
a) 0.5 kg C/m2/year
b) 1.5 kg C/m2/year
c) 2.0 kg C/m2/year
d) 2.5 kg C/mr/year
d) 2.5 kg C/mr/year
Describe the 10% Rule.
When energy moves between trophic levels, only 10% of the energy is made available for the next higher level.
This is the main reason for why there are dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico.
Overuse of synthetic fertilizer --> nutrient runoff --> algae blooms --> hypoxia due to high rates of decomposition.
This biome encompasses most of California's coastal ecosystems. It is characterized by very distinct wet and dry seasons with fires frequently occurring during the dry seasons.
Shrubland
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What are two key things that differentiate the phosphorus cycle from other biogeochemical cycles?
- Phosphorus does not enter the atmosphere but remains primarily in rock and soil minerals
- It is part of a slow biogeochemical cycle
Which aquatic biome has the lowest net primary productivity, measured as kilocalories of energy produced per square meter per year?
Open ocean
True/false: photosynthesis is a carbon source.
False
Bonus +100: Explain why
Which is produced during photosynthesis?
I. glucose
II. sulfur
III. carbon dioxide
a) I only
b) III only
c) I and III
d) II and III
a) I only
This biome is characterized by cold winters and hot summers with few trees.
Temperate grassland
Briefly describe five steps of the nitrogen cycle.
1. Nitrogen fixation: N2 to NH3/NH4+ or NO3-
2. Nitrification: NH3 to NO3-
3. Assimilation: incorporation of NO3- into biological tissues
4. Ammonification: organic nitrogen compounds to NH3/NH4-
5. Denitrification: NO3- to N2
Identify three aquatic biomes that have the highest overall primary productivity
Estuary, wetlands, coral reef
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The energy available for use by consumers and other parts of the ecosystem, after respiration is taken into account
NPP
The chemical reactions that occur during ocean acidification.
H2O + CO2 --> H2CO3
carbon dioxide mixes with water and becomes carbonic acid.
+300 points: Describe the chemical reactions that occur that causes marine organisms to not be able to build their shells.