Ecosystem Interactions
RANDOM:
What was the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
Iron Man - released on May 2, 2008
What level of the food chain performs photosynthesis? (Note: you must list both names)
(Primary) Producers/Autotrophs
What 2 things does a climograph show?
Temperature and precipitation
Why does higher turbidity slow photosynthesis?
The cloudiness of the water does not allow sunlight to reach the aquatic plants.
RANDOM:
What is the school that Mrs. Lu is doing her Educational Specialist program through?
Lincoln Memorial University
Why do we need decomposers in ecosystems?
They break down detritus so that nutrients such as carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus can be returned to the soil to help producers grow.
What are the names of organisms that can create glucose in the aphotic zones of aquatic ecosystems?
Chemosynthesizers
Rainforests have high biodiversity and high levels of NPP. However, they have poor, acidic soil quality. Why is this?
The large trees uptake all the nutrients and leave the soil lacking nutrients. This is why it is so bad to cut down the rainforests; it's hard for the trees to grow back.
Rank these 3 aquatic zones from lowest to highest primary productivity:
Littoral zone
Limnetic zone
Benthic zone
Then, explain why!
Lowest: Benthic - no sunlight for photosynthesis
Middle: Limnetic - sunlight and water, but doesn't have many nutrients & plants cannot take root there (mostly algae that blooms there)
Highest: Littoral - next to the shore, so it receives nutrients from run-off, has sunlight & water, plants can take root near the bank on the slope
What is the most important organism in the nitrogen cycle?
Bacteria! - 5 different types
A lion fights another lion for a mate.
A lion fights a hyena for a zebra.
What are these 2 scenarios representing?
Lion vs Lion = Intraspecific Competition
Lion vs Hyena = Interspecific Competition
What scientific law explains the Rule of 10 with trophic pyramids?
Second Law of Thermodynamics: the total entropy (disorder) of an isolated system always increases over time during any spontaneous process.
Explain the difference between deciduous and coniferous forests.
Deciduous: broad-leaved trees that drop their leaves in autumn; typically experience 4 seasons
Coniferous: cone-bearing evergreen trees with needles that stay year-round; thrive in colder climates usually
What do NPP, GPP, and R stand for?
Solve:
A local forest ecosystem has a Net Primary Productivity (NPP) of 12,000 kcal/m²/year. Field measurements show that the trees and plants in this forest expend 8,500 kcal/m²/year during cellular respiration (R).
What is the gross primary productivity of the forest?
NPP: Net Primary Productivity (the energy/glucose left over after plants do cellular respiration)
GPP: Gross Primary Productivity (all the energy/glucose that plants make through photosynthesis)
R: Cellular Respiration (the energy/glucose the plants use to grow and survive)
12,000 = GPP - 8,500
+8,500 +8,500
GPP = 20,500 kcal/m^2/year
What is so different about the phosphorus cycle compared to the other biogeochemical cycles?
There is no atmospheric phosphorus.
Explain the difference between mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism. Also, give an example of each.
All are symbiotic relationships.
Mutualism: both organisms benefit (legumes & bacteria in the root nodules)
Commensalism: one organism benefits and the other is neither helped or harmed (barnacles & whales)
Parasitism: one organism benefits while the other is harmed (tick & dog)
Phytoplankton -> Krill -> Sardines -> Tuna -> Shark
If the phytoplankton produce 78,900 kcal of energy, how much energy will the tertiary consumer receive?
Tertiary consumer = Tuna
Tuna would receive 78.9 kcal of energy.
What is one of the main reasons that biomes are shifting locations? Explain.
Climate change/Global warming - as the Earth gets warmer, tropical and temperate areas are expanding while tundras and taigas are shrinking. Also, biomes are moving towards the poles to try to maintain their climate conditions (precipitation & temperature).
Eutrophication is typically caused by anthropogenic activities. It creates a _____________ feedback loop.
Explain how the process of eutrophication happens.
Positive
Nitrogen and phosphorus from excess fertilizer run-off goes into body of water. Causes an algal bloom. Algae dies. Bacteria feed on algae and do cellular respiration which takes all the oxygen out of the water. Fish die due to hypoxia.
All the dead matter causes bottom sediments to release trapped phosphorus back into the water which starts up the cycle again.
Label the highest sink/reservoir for each of the biogeochemical cycles.
Also, what is a sink?
Hydrologic: ocean
Carbon: ocean
Nitrogen: atmosphere
Phosphorus: geosphere/lithosphere
Sink: sphere of the Earth that the molecules stay in the longest
A predator-prey interaction is the most common type of _____________ feedback loop in the environment.
Draw one and explain how it works.
Negative
Drawing: When the prey population goes up, predator population will go up, that causes prey population to decrease, which causes predator population to decrease. Repeats over and over again. Keeps the ecosystem balanced.
Draw a trophic pyramid with 5 levels. Label each level with an organism, what that organism can be labeled as, and the percentage of energy that each organism would receive.
Hawk (Quaternary consumer - 0.01%)
Snake (Tertiary consumer - 0.1%)
Robin (Secondary consumer - 1%)
Grasshopper (Primary consumer - 10%)
Grass (Producer - 100%)
The Sahara Desert spans a large majority of North Africa. What are 5 defining characteristics of desert biomes?
Poor soil, little precipitation, hot during day/cold at night, low humidity, low NPP, specialized plants, nocturnal animals
If the primary productivity of an estuary is 4,000 kcal/m^2/year, and the primary productivity of the estuary with increased levels of phosphorus is 6,400 kcal/m^2/year, what was the percent increase?
Percent Increase: (new-old)/old
(6400-4000) = 2400
2400/4000 = 0.6
*Move decimal to the right 2 places for percents.
60% increase
Put the following forms of nitrogen in order starting with atmospheric nitrogen.
Ammonia
N2
Nitrites
Ammonium
Nitrates
Organic molecules
Nitrogen Fixation: N2 -> Ammonia -> Ammonium
Nitrification: Ammonium -> Nitrites -> Nitrates
Assimilation: Nitrates -> Organic Molecules (Amino acids/DNA - taken up by producers and eventually passed through food chain)