Exam 3: Ecosystems: What Are They and How Do They Work

Part of the solar energy striking the earth generates winds.

-In the figure above, notice that heat is lost by each component of the ecosystem, and that the sun is shown entering at only one point in the system.Explain how this is representative of the two laws of energy (two laws of thermodynamics).

Ecologists do not make use of most new technologies, preferring to continue the "muddy-boots biology" style of research.

Transfer of energy through food chains or webs is very efficient, making a lot of energy available to organisms.

Most producers capture sunlight to produce energy-rich carbohydrates through photosynthesis.

How much of the earth's water supply is available as accessible liquid freshwater?

-Examine the figure above.Notice the amount of average net primary productivity gets smaller and smaller as you move down the list of terrestrial ecosystems and, similarly, in the list of aquatic ecosystems.What is the common factor in the terrestrial system that causes the decline? What is the common factor in the aquatic system that causes the decline there?

The reason we observe a "pyramid" of energy flow instead of an energy flow "cube" is because the low ecological efficiency of biological systems limits the numbers of organism in the higher trophic levels.

A group of individuals of the same species living in the same place at the same time is a(n) ____________________.

Destruction of tropical rain forests will help accelerate ____________________.

Fossil fuels and minerals are found in the

Much of the earth's sulfur is stored in

Scientists have less than _____ percent of the ecological data they need to evaluate the ecosystems in the United States.

In the plains states of the U.S.(Kansas, Nebraska, Texas, etc.) agricultural withdrawal of groundwater from aquifers has greatly exceeded the supply.Explain why removal of this resource will have long-term effects on the hydrologic cycle.

Use the Figure above to answer the following question(s). -Indicate the letter at which humans would be found?

Decomposers are mainly bacteria and ____________________.

Which of the following terrestrial ecosystems or life zones produces the highest net primary productivity per year?

Which of the following is a way that humans harmfully impact the water cycle?

Which of the following statements is false?

Deep sea habitats are an exception to the first principle of sustainability, in that they use a non-solar source of energy.