Biogeochemical Cycles
What are the 4 key elements involved in global geochemical cycling?
Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Sulfur
Which greenhouse gas is increasing in concentration and contributes the most to greenhouse warming?
carbon dioxide (CO2)
What are the main acidic compounds found in the atmosphere?
nitric acid and sulfuric acid
This inorganic molecule is good to have a lot in the stratosphere, but not a lot in the troposphere.
Ozone (O3)
What is the difference between weather and climate?
Weather is referred to the current state of the atmosphere at any given time, whereas climate is the long-term description of weather.
Acidification of the ocean through CO2 emissions will greatly affect marine organisms with what?
External shells (with calcium carbonate)
What panel/group was established by the United Nations and the World Meteorological Organization?
Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC)
What are the two issues that occur because of an increase of nitrogen and sulfur released into the atmosphere?
acid precipitation and nitrogen deposition
The ozone layer in the stratosphere acts as a shield protecting Earth’s surface from this incoming high-energy.
Ultraviolet-B radiation (UVB)
What happens in Estuarine and Marsh communities when there is an influx of Nitrogen deposition?
Eutrophication
Explain what pools and fluxes are pertaining to biogeochemical cycling.
Pools are the amount of elements within components of the biosphere. Fluxes are the rates of movement between pools.
Name an ecological consequence of climate change?
1. movement of biological species towards pole (~500-1000km)
OR
2. elevation shift in vegetation zones (up ~200-860m)
What causes primary production to increase in some ecosystems to increase but cause environmental degradation in another?
Increase in Nitrogen Deposition
These molecular compounds were discovered in the mid 1970s to play a major role in destroying the ozone layer.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
Drought and violent storms are an example of what event?
Extreme Disturbance Events
Delucia’s FACE experiment concluded what key point about forest ecosystems and elevated CO2 concentrations?
May be an important sink for anthropogenic CO2
Plants that rely on ________ for dispersal of seeds may be able to keep up with climate change.
Animals
What is acid neutralizing capacity?
The ability of an environment to counteract the acidity being added to it.
This international agreement called for the reduction and eventual end of production for chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other ozone-degrading chemicals.
The Montreal Protocol
What two elements have tightly coupled cycling through photosynthesis and decomposition?
Carbon and nitrogen
What form of nitrogen is largest in the atmospheric pool and why are nitrogen-fixing bacteria crucial for its cycling?
Dinitrogen (N2); The bacteria are able to convert it to unstable forms that are more chemically usable by other organisms.
Name an ecological process discussed that will be affected by climate change
1. net primary productivity OR
2. decomposition OR
3. nutrient cycling/retention
______ out competes _____ when nitrogen becomes abundant in an environment that typically does not have that much nitrogen.
Fast-growing species, low-nutrient adapted species
The first major reason why ozone is environmentally damaging when it is in the troposphere is because ozone reacts easily with other compounds, resulting in direct harm towards plants and animals, and is considered a strong _________.
Oxidant
Which element has essentially no atmospheric pool, with the exception of dust?
Phosphorus