Biology: Sustainability, Photosynthesis, and Consumers
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Questions and Answers

What does sustainability primarily aim to achieve in human interactions with the natural world?

  • Minimizing resource consumption at all costs
  • Maximizing economic growth regardless of environmental impact
  • Reducing human population to decrease resource demand
  • Ensuring interactions can continue indefinitely (correct)

    • Which factor is critical for a population to maintain sustainable yields?

  • Population sizes that can fluctuate significantly
  • High reproduction rates exceeding natural disasters
  • Eliminating natural predators to enhance growth
  • Harvesting at a rate lower than the population's growth capacity (correct)

    • What characterizes a sustainable ecosystem?

  • Constant introduction of new species to maintain balance
  • Absence of species diversity
  • Continuous recycling of nutrients and energy from the sun (correct)
  • Dependence on non-renewable energy sources

    • How can human systems achieve sustainability?

    <p>By maintaining balance with nature and avoiding overexploitation</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What defines unsustainable practices in resource management?

    <p>Exceeding the growth capacity of species through harvesting</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a potential outcome of achieving sustainability in society?

    <p>Long-term equilibrium with natural resources</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which statement about primitive societies and sustainability is true?

    <p>Many maintained sustainable practices for thousands of years</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following best describes the concept of sustainable yields?

    <p>Maintaining a harvest rate that allows for natural population recovery</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What percentage of energy is typically transferred from one trophic level to the next in an ecosystem?

    <p>10 percent</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following statements about food chains and food webs is true?

    <p>Food webs demonstrate more complexity than food chains.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following elements is NOT a key element in living organisms?

    <p>Gold</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary role of producers in an ecosystem?

    <p>To harness energy from the sun through photosynthesis</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In the photosynthesis equation, what is produced alongside glucose?

    <p>Oxygen</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following spheres is NOT part of the biosphere?

    <p>Exosphere</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What commonly characterizes a food web compared to a food chain?

    <p>More organisms occupy multiple trophic levels.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which macromolecule is primarily synthesized during photosynthesis?

    <p>Glucose</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary consequence of cultural eutrophication?

    <p>Rapid growth of algae due to nutrient excess</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following has NOT traditionally been used by farmers to combat pests and soil erosion?

    <p>Chemical herbicides</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What was a significant change in agriculture brought about by the Industrial Revolution?

    <p>Enhanced efficiency through machinery</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How much of the global land is occupied by agriculture?

    <p>38%</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What impact does excessive fertilizer use have on water sources?

    <p>Leads to groundwater and surface water pollution</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one of the primary purposes of glucose produced by photosynthesis in plants?

    <p>To combine with minerals to form organic molecules.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What has happened to the percentage of crops lost to pests despite the tripling of pesticide use since 1970?

    <p>Remained constant</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What occurs to the majority of glucose consumed by animals?

    <p>It is oxidized for energy.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which process is responsible for breaking down organic matter and returning nutrients to the ecosystem?

    <p>Decomposition by detritus feeders and decomposers.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a major concern related to current irrigation practices?

    <p>Depletion of groundwater resources</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following statements about organic farming is true?

    <p>It promotes biodiversity and soil health.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the result of energy flow through an ecosystem?

    <p>Energy is transferred from one trophic level to another.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What percentage of food consumed by consumers is generally converted to body tissue?

    <p>10 - 40%</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of these factors does NOT affect the biotic potential of a population?

    <p>The presence of environmental resistance.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Why is only a small fraction of energy passed on from one trophic level to the next?

    <p>Most of the preceding biomass is not consumed.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following statements about cellulose in detritus feeders is true?

    <p>Decomposition requires mutualistic microbes to aid digestion.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one main consequence of water logging on irrigated land?

    <p>Accumulation of salts in the soil</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is meant by the term 'Green Revolution'?

    <p>High yielding varieties introduced worldwide</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which statement about factory-style farming is accurate?

    <p>It causes environmental degradation.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What percentage of the USA's grain crop is used for animal feeding?

    <p>70%</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How does the accumulation of animal manure in developed countries typically impact the environment?

    <p>It leads to surface water contamination.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a significant environmental effect of converting tropical rain forests to pasture in Latin America?

    <p>Loss of biodiversity</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What impact do ruminant animals have on climate change?

    <p>They produce methane through belching.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What proportion of the world's croplands is used to feed animals?

    <p>25%</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Study Notes

    Sustainability

    • A system or process is sustainable if it can be continued indefinitely without depleting energy or materials
    • Sustainable yields are a key component of forestry and fishery practices
    • Harvesting trees or fish at a rate exceeding their natural growth rate is unsustainable
    • Sustainable ecosystems recycle nutrients, maintain species diversity, and use solar energy sustainably

    Producers and Photosynthesis

    • Plants are producers and convert sunlight to chemical energy through photosynthesis
    • Photosynthesis: 6CO2 + 6H2O → C6H12O6 + 6O2
    • Chlorophyll absorbs light energy to split water molecules, releasing oxygen and creating glucose
    • Glucose is used for plant growth, storage (starch, oils), and to form other organic molecules

    Consumers

    • Consumers obtain energy by consuming other organisms
    • Cellular respiration breaks down glucose for energy: 6O2 + C6H12O6 → 6CO2 + 6H2O
    • Only a small fraction of consumed food is converted to body tissue, the rest is used for energy or waste

    Detritus Feeders and Decomposers

    • Detritus is mostly cellulose, a major source of food for decomposers and detritus feeders
    • Decomposers (e.g., bacteria, fungi) use oxygen to break down organic matter, releasing nutrients, water, carbon dioxide, and heat
    • Termites have symbiotic relationships with microbes in their gut to digest cellulose

    Food Chain and Food Web

    • Food Chains represent linear flow of energy from producers to consumers
    • Food Webs reflect more complex feeding relationships, where organisms can occupy multiple trophic levels

    Biotic Potential vs Environmental Resistance

    • Biotic Potential: the ability of populations to increase under ideal conditions
    • Factors Affecting Biotic Potential:
      • Reproduction rate
      • Generation time
      • Length of reproductive period
      • Survival rates of offspring
    • Environmental Resistance: factors limiting population growth
      • Predation
      • Competition
      • Parasitism and Disease
      • Lack of resources (food, water, shelter)

    Carrying Capacity

    • Carrying Capacity: the maximum population size a particular environment can support over a long period
    • Factors Affecting Carrying Capacity:
      • Food availability
      • Water supply
      • Shelter
      • Climate
      • Predator and prey relationships

    Modern Industrialized Agriculture

    • Modern Agriculture relies heavily on machinery, fertilizers, pesticides, and high-yielding crop varieties
    • Increased efficiency has led to increased food production but also environmental consequences
    • Consequences of Modern Agriculture:
      • Reliance on fossil fuels for machinery
      • Land use change (loss of forests and wetlands)
      • Water depletion and pollution from irrigation and fertilizer runoff
      • Pest resistance to pesticides
      • Genetic erosion (loss of biodiversity)

    Animal Farming and its Environmental Consequences

    • Animal farming has a significant impact on land use, resource consumption, and environmental pollution
    • Factory-style farming:
      • High grain consumption for livestock feed
      • Manure management issues
      • Pollution from animal waste
      • Greenhouse gas emissions (methane)

    Effects of Animal Farming

    • Rangeland degradation
    • Loss of biodiversity
    • Climate change from methane emissions
    • Nutrient pollution from animal waste

    Subsistence Farming

    • Small-scale farming practiced for local food production and consumption
    • Often relies on traditional techniques such as crop rotation and animal manure
    • Can have a minimal environmental impact if practiced sustainably

    Cultural Eutrophication

    • Accelerated eutrophication caused by human activities
    • Nutrient enrichment of water bodies due to agricultural runoff, sewage disposal, industrial waste
    • Leads to algal blooms, oxygen depletion, and ecosystem degradation

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    Description

    This quiz covers key concepts of sustainability, the role of producers in photosynthesis, and the function of consumers in energy transfer within ecosystems. Understand how sustainable practices benefit our environment, how plants convert sunlight into energy, and how consumers derive energy from other organisms. Test your knowledge of these fundamental ecological principles.

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