Biosphere Matter and Energy Cycles Quiz

Nutrients and Energy Transfer

• A nutrient is a substance that provides nourishment essential for an organism's growth, maintenance, and survival.
• Algae and plants play a primary role in the food chain as producers, converting sunlight into chemical energy through photosynthesis.
• The law of conservation of mass states that matter cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed or converted from one substance to another.

Energy Transfer and Nutrient Cycling

• Nutrients are essential for organisms to function, providing the necessary building blocks for growth, development, and maintenance.
• The inefficiency in energy transfer at higher levels of the food web is attributed to the loss of energy as heat, a result of the second law of thermodynamics.
• As matter and energy move through an ecosystem, they are transformed and transferred from one level to the next, with some energy being lost as heat.

Key Roles and Processes

• Algae and plants are the primary producers of the food chain, providing the nutrients needed for organisms to function.
• The law of conservation of mass ensures that matter is cycled and recycled within an ecosystem, with nutrients being reused and transformed.
• Energy is transferred from one level to the next in the food web, with some energy being lost as heat, resulting in a decrease in available energy at higher levels.