Cycles
Which cycle moves carbon through living and nonliving things?
What is the carbon cycle?
What happens to an ecosystem when a key species is removed?
It becomes less stable
Variety of living organisms
What is biodiversity?
Which organisms play a key role in recycling nutrients?
What are decomposers/bacteria?
Where does the main source of energy come from?
What is the sun?
A drought reduces plant growth. What happens to herbivores?
They decrease
How does high biodiversity affect stability?
Increases stability
Why is nitrogen important to living organisms?
It is used to build proteins and DNA
Which trophic level would have the greatest impact on a food web if it were removed?
What are producers?
Pollution kills decomposers. What happens to nutrient cycling?
What is one effect of decreased biodiversity?
Ecosystem becomes less stable
Why is less energy available at higher trophic levels?
What is energy lost as heat?
This process causes toxin concentrations to increase at higher trophic levels in a food chain.
What is biomagnification?
An interaction in which one organism benefits and the other is not affected.
What is commensalism?
High biodiversity is a sign of a healthy ecosystem? True/False
True
What happens if the nitrogen cycle is disrupted?
Plant growth decreases
A toxin enters a food chain. Which organism is MOST affected and why?
Top predators, because of biomagnification
Study of the interactions of living things and their environment.
What is ecology?