Exam 15: Ecosystems, Biomes, and Cycles of Life

Organisms are not selective in their uptake of chemical elements. Basically, they will take what they can get.

The deep-water areas of the pelagic zone is called the

Different biomes that coexist in a particular geographic region constitute a __________ .

Of the following, which is a primary producer?

The rate of soil formation depends on the rate of plate tectonics.

What factors affect the depth of the photic zone?

Assume the following environmental scenario: Constant high temperatures; precipitation; vigorous bacteria activity in the soil. There is a lot of weathering and leaching of water, which leaves a large amount of iron oxides and aluminum oxides in the soil. What is the most likely color of the soil?

The entire sequence of horizons from the surface to the underlying bedrock constitutes the soil __________ .

In general, residence times are short in the geosphere, long in the atmosphere and biosphere, and intermediate in the hydrosphere.

The process of converting fixed nitrogen back to molecular nitrogen and then releasing it to the atmosphere is called __________ .

Organisms that live on land are fundamentally the same as organisms that live in aquatic environments.

A system that supports and sustains life must have a continually renewed source of energy and a sink for heat energy.

What are the four major classes of Earth's terrestrial biomes.