Exam 2: Environmental Systems: Matter, Energy, and Ecosystems

The total amount of chemical energy produced by autotrophs, such as plants and phytoplankton, is called gross primary production. The energy that remains after plants use some of the gross primary production to fuel their own metabolism is known as ______________

In what ways are macromolecules essential to life? Describe the structures of three and describe their major role(s) in organisms.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is ______________

Skin, hair, muscles, and enzymes are all made up of ______________

In all ecosystems energy is eventually lost to the environment via ______________

Biological nitrogen fixation (nitrogen fixation that is performed by living organisms) is carried out by ______________

______________ is defined as the number of protons plus the number of neutrons.

Read the following scenario and answer the question below. Glass Lake, located in a valley in low forested mountains, for many decades of the 19th and early 20th centuries was a favorite picnic, recreation, and fishing site for people in surrounding towns and farms. However, in the middle of the 20th century, a trend began in which the privately-owned farms in the Lakeʹs watershed were purchased by large agribusinesses. The decision was made to grow a profitable crop. The demand for quality farmland resulted in the sale of most of the family-owned establishments and a large increase in the area of land under cultivation. Most of the forests were cut to acquire the land needed for crops. The use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides increased several fold by the end of the century. In addition, the combined population of the lakeside villages quadrupled during the same time. The lake experienced a slow degradation of water quality and biodiversity. Sport fishing declined and the lake became murky while the sediments in the lake increased in depth. -The same expert found that dissolved phosphorus and nitrogen levels were more than ten times what they were seventy years ago. The primary sources of these are very likely from .

An example of a positive feedback loop ______________

______________ are the primary water-insoluble components of cell membranes.

Use the figure above to answer the following question. -The figure suggests that the biological pH values displayed in the graph (are) ________________

Aquifers are ______________

Of the following, ______________ is not a macromolecule.

Briefly explain the overall processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration. Include a brief explanation of autotrophs and heterotrophs in your answer.

Plants release water vapor through their leaves; this process is called ______________

Net primary productivity is ______________

Use the figure above to answer the following question. -A decrease of one unit in the pH scale above represents a tenfold increase in the hydrogen ion concentration of a solution. For example, a solution having a pH of 4 is 10 times more acidic than a solution with a pH of 5. If acid precipitation rain changes the pH of a pond from 7.5 to 6.5, the level of hydrogen ion has changed by a factor of ___________________

The trophic level of ʺproducersʺ includes ______________

______________ are composed of amino acids.

During the light reactions of photosynthesis, the solar energy absorbed by chlorophyll is used to ______________