Concepts | Questions | Media Resources |
48.1 The nature of ecosystems
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- The biosphere, where all living things exist, consists of ecosystems.
- In an ecosystem, organisms interact with one another and with the abiotic environment.
- Trophic (feeding) relationships are essential to the workings of an ecosystem.
- Autotrophs are self-feeders: photoautotrophs capture solar energy and produce organic nutrients. Heterotrophs, on the other hand, take in preformed organic nutrients.
| - How does the hydrosphere (oceans and other waters of the world) moderate temperatures?
Answer - What are the three gases present in the atmosphere that are important to life and how are they important?
Answer - What happens to energy and materials (nutrients) within an ecosystem?
Answer - How do heterotrophs and autotrophs obtain food?
Answer - What is the importance of decomposers in an ecosystem?
Answer - True or false: All energy contained within an organism is acquired by another when it is consumed.
Answer
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Summaries of major points- The earth
- The biotic community
- Autotrophs
- Heterotrophs
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48.2 Energy flow
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- Solar energy enters biotic communities via photosynthesis, and as organic nutrients pass from one trophic level to another, heat is returned to the atmosphere.
- Nutrients cycle within and between ecosystems in global biogeochemical cycles.
| - A diagram that describes who eats whom within an ecosystem is called a ___________________.
Answer - What is a trophic level and what organisms are found in the first three trophic levels?
Answer - What is an ecological pyramid?
Answer
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Summaries of major points- Ecosystems
- Food webs and ecological pyramids
- Trophic levels
- Ecological pyramids
Art Quizzes
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48.3 Global biogeochemical cycles
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- Biogeochemical cycles are gaseous (carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle) or sedimentary (phosphorus cycle).
- The addition of carbon dioxide (and other gases) to the atmosphere is associated with global warming.
- The production of fertilizers from nitrogen gas is associated with acid deposition, photochemical smog, and temperature inversions.
- Fertilizer also contains mined phosphate; fertilizer runoff is associated with water pollution.
| - What are the parts of a biogeochemical cycle?
Answer - What are reservoirs of carbon?
Answer - What are greenhouse gases and what do they do?
Answer - What is the importance of nitrogen-fixing bacteria?
Answer - What effect can phosphate and nitrogen runoff from human activities have on aquatic communities?
Answer
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Summaries of major points- Biogeochemical cycles
- The hydrologic cycle
- The carbon cycle
- Carbon dioxide and global warming
- The nitrogen cycle
- The phosphorus cycle
- Phosphorus and water pollution
Art Quizzes
Animations
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