Chat with AIExam 51: Ecology and the Biosphere
An ecologist who studies the cycling of nutrients and the flow of energy between the biotic and abiotic components of an ecological community is a(n) ____ ecologist.
(32) 
VerifiedD
Chaparral dominates coastal land between ____ latitudes?
(40) VerifiedD
Biologists sometimes damage ecosystems in order to study them. For example, researchers have fogged rainforest trees with insecticides to search for undiscovered species that fall to the ground when poisoned. Others have deliberately added phosphates to natural lakes to study the eutrophication process. What is your ethical position on such studies? Should they be banned, or is the knowledge gained worth the harm they cause?
(35) VerifiedThere are two possible perspectives in answer to this question, both equally correct.
Possible "pro" answer: It is often difficult, if not impossible, to glean information from living systems without disassembling them or altering their normal function. These studies are ethical, because the knowledge gained is well worth the limited harm caused. Damage to one ecosystem may yield information that will prevent similar damage from occurring to many other similar systems. For example, phosphates are now banned from detergents in Florida because they caused eutrophication in the Everglades. Without research, the connection between eutrophication and phosphates could not have been demonstrated.
Possible "con" answer: Biologists, more than any other scientists, should respect the natural world. Especially now, when so many systems are stressed from human activity, it is not ethical to deliberately cause widespread destruction. It will certainly take longer to gain knowledge this way, but the alternative is unacceptable. Pollution, overpopulation, and global warming are bringing the planet near the breaking point, and we must do everything in our power to reverse these trends. Ethical limits that already exist for human and animal experimentation should be extended to ecosystems as well.
Which marine zone is one of the most stressful habitats on Earth?
(29) 
-Answer the question using the accompanying figure. Which letter(s) represent(s) the limnetic zone?
-Answer the question using the accompanying figure. Which letter(s) represent(s) the limnetic zone? (30) Behavioral responses that animals may or may not use are called facultative .
(31) An increase in air temperature will result in ____ water vapor in the atmosphere because warm air holds ____ water vapor than cold air does.
(39) In which of the three vertical intertidal zones is biodiversity the highest? Why?
(34) Some studies suggest that, as global warming progresses, tropical lowland trees may be limited in their ability to move northward because of ____.
(38) Communities near benthic hydrothermal vents survive in perpetual darkness, where no photosynthesis is possible. What do the producers of this ecosystem use as an energy source?
(25) Which weather pattern is characteristic of a La Niña event?
(42) 
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