Ecosystems - Exam Guide

Multiple Choice Exam Ecosystems 1. What is an ecosystem? -A biological community of interacting organisms 2. What is NPP? How do you calculate it? -NPP means Net Primary Productivity which means the total chemical energy produced by autotrophs.The way you calculate NPP is by taking the production of plant biomass equals GPP minus the carbon that is lost to respiration. NPP=GPP-R 3. What is GPP? How do you calculate it? - GPP stands for gross primary productivity, which means the total chemical energy produced from sunlight through the photosynthesis of plants. You can calculate it by using this equation:GPP=NPP+R 4. How do NPP and GPP change in different biomes? 5. What is the biosphere? -The sum of all the planet’s organisms and the inhabitat portions they interact 6. Describe each of the following a. Symbiosis: An interaction between 2 different organisms where they live in close proximity b. Mutualism:A relationship that benefits 2 organisms c. Parasitism: The parasite depends on the host while doing them harm d. Competition: Organisms that seek the same resources that have a relationship e. Predation: One species hunt or kill a different species 7. Differentiate between producers and consumers -Producers use photosynthesis to make their own food/sugars, while consumers consume the producers. 8. Explain how energy is transferred through the trophic levels of an ecosystem -Energy decreases as it moves up the trophic levels, because energy is lost when organisms from one trophic level are consumed by organisms from the next level. 9. What is a keystone species? How can you tell if an animal is a keystone species? -A keystone species are organisms that have a large effect on the habitat. A way you can tell if a specific animal is a keystone species i s by removing it from the ecosystem, then you would be able to see if the biodiversity of the ecosystem had been reduced. 10. Compare and contrast intraspecific vs interspecific competition -Interspecific are members from different species competing, while intraspecific means competition from the member of the same species 11. What is resource partitioning? -Species adapt to competition by evolving to use use different resources, or by using shared resources 12. What is competitive exclusion? -When one interspecific species excludes all resources from another 13. What is eutrophication? Why does it happen and what are the impacts on aquatic ecosystems? -A body of water having high nutrients but low oxygen. Eutrophication occurs because of nitrogen pollutants from industries traveling into a water source. The effect is that there is an overgrowth of algae, the anoxic can kill aquatic organisms. Biogeochemical Cycles 14. Describe the nitrogen cycle: -Nitrogen becoming biologically active and enters the biosphere and lithosphere 15. Where are the largest pools of nitrogen? Of carbon? Of phosphorus? -Nitrogen→ ocean & atmosphere, Carbon→ Ocean, phosphorus→ soil 16. Describe nitrogen fixation: -Combines nitrogen with hydrogen to form ammonia 17. Describe the carbon cycle: -Describes the routes that carbon takes through the environment 18. Describe the phosphorus cycle: -A process that moves phosphorus from these sinks to living matter 19. Describe the hydrologic cycle: -Summarizes how water flows as a solid, liquid, and gas through our environment. 20. What is the significance of the Haber-Bosch process ? -It enabled people to artificially fix nitrogen, gently enhancing agriculture. Energy 21. Write the equation for cellular respiration? C6H12O6+6CO2+6H2O+ATP