| A | B |
|---|
| What is a biogeochemical cycle? | It's the process in which elements, chemical compounds, and other forms of matter are passed from one organixm to another and from one part of the biosphere to another. |
| How is it possible for matter to cycle through the biosphere? | Biological systems do not use up matter; instead, they transform it. |
| Name the main processes involved in the water cycle. | Evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, runoff, seepage, root uptake, some back to the ocean. |
| Define evaporation. | The process by which water changes from liquid into an atmospheric gas. |
| Define transpiration. | It's the loss of water from a plant through the leaves. |
| Define condensation. | The process by which a gas is changed into a liquid. |
| What is precipitation. | the depositing of rain, snow, sleet, etc. |
| Explain how evaporation and transpiration are related. | Evaporation is part of the transpiration process. |
| What is the function of nutrients? | Nutrients build tissues and carry out essential life functions in living organisms. |
| What is the difference between how primary producers and consumers get their nutrients? | Primary producers (i.e., plants) usually get nutrients in simple inorganic forms from their environment; consumers get them by eating other organisms. |
| List three important nutrient cycles. | carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, phosphorus cycle. |
| What are the 4 main types of processes in the carbon cycle? | 1. biological processes; 2. geochemical processes; 3. mixed biogeochemical processes; 4. human activities. |
| Give examples of biological processes. | photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition |
| What is the function of biological processes? | They take up and release carbon and oxygen. |
| What is the function of geochemical processes. | erosion and volcanic activity |
| What is the function of geochemical processes? | They release carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and oceans. |
| Give examples of mixed biogeochemical processes. | burial and decomposition of dead organisms and their conversion under pressure into coal and petroleum (fossil fuels) |
| What is the function of mixed biogeochemical processes? | They store carbon underground. |
| Give examples of human activities involves in the carbon cycle. | Mining, cutting and burning forests, and burning fossil fuels |
| What is the function of human activities involved in the carbon cycle? | They release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. |
| How is carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere? | volcanic activity, respiration, human activities (burning fossil fuels & vegetation), and decompostion. |
| What do plants do with the carbon dioxide they take in during the carbon cycle? | The use the carbon to build carbohydrates during photosynthesis. |
| What happens to the carbohydrates that plants build (after taking in carbon dioxide)? | The carbohdrates are passed in the food webs to animals and other consumers who eat the plants. |
| Where is calcium carbonate (CaCO3) formed? | Many marine organisms form it; also, certain marine environments form it chemically. It accumulates in marine sediments and in the bones & shells of organisms. Later, these compounds break down & the C returns to the atmosphere. |
| What happens during photosynthesis? | Plants take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen. |
| What part do animals play in the carbon cycle? | Animals take in oxygen that is given off by plants and release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. When animals die, they decompose and carbon is released into the soil. |
| Why do all organisms need nitrogen? | Organisms need nitrogen to make amino acids, which in turn are used to build proteins. |
| Name some places where nitrogen is found? | N2 makes up 78% of Earth's atmosphere; wastes of many organisms have it; dead and decaying organic matter also does; it's also in several forms in the ocean & other large bodies of water; human activity also adds nitrate to the atmosphere. |
| What is the most abundant form of nitrogen on Earth? | Nitrogen gas is. |
| What is nitrogen fixation? | It is the process of convertin nitrogen gas into ammonia. |
| What is denitrification? | It's the conversion of nitrates into nitrogen gas. |
| What makes a compound organic? | Usually, we say that they are compounds containing carbon, but not all carbon-containing compounds are organic (i.e., methane and propane). So, an organic compound is one containing carbon and constructed in living cells. |
| In the Georgia experiment on corn production, did plowing under legumes or rye produce more corn the following year? | Legumes produced the most using Austrian peas, and rye had the lowest yield. |
| Why is phosphorus important to living organisms? | All living organisms need it as it forms part of molecules like DNA and RNA. |
| Of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorus, which one does NOT enter the atmospher? | phosphorus |
| Where is phosphorous found? | It's mainly on land in rock & soil minerals and in ocean sediments. |
| How does phosphate get into the ecosystem? | Plants absorb it from soil or water, bind it into organic compounds, where it then moves through the food web (from producers to consumers) and to the rest of the ecosystem. |
| What is meant by "primary productivity"? | It's the rate at which organic matter is created by producers in an ecosystem. |
| What is a limiting nutrient? | It's a single nutrient that either is scarce or cycles very slowly, limiting the growth of organisms in an ecosystem. |
| What is an algal bloom? | It's the immediate increase in the amount of algae and other producers that results from a large in put of a limiting nutrient. (see picture, pg. 80) |
| How do farmers try to overcome the phenomenon of a limiting nutrient? | They apply fertilizers to boost productivity. |
| What is the limiting nutrient in stream, lakes, freshwater environments? | phosphorous |
| What's the limiting nutrient in some saltwater environments? | nitgrogen |
| Besides nitrogen, what other limiting nutrients ae found in the ocean? | silica and iron |
| How is land important in the water cycle? | Land lets precipitation runn off into large bodies of water or enter plants through the soil, allowing the water cycle to start again. It also contains groundwater. |
| Look at the carbon cycle. What are the sources of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere? | animal respiration, human activity, decomposition of organic matter, volcanic activity |
| Why is nitrogen fixation important? | It starts the process that makes nitrogen available to organisms that are building proteins. |
