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Questions and Answers
Which type of bacteria uses chemical energy to produce carbohydrates?
Which category of consumers consumes dead plant and animal remains by chemically breaking down organic matter?
What process do algae and plants use to build living tissues through the use of sunlight?
Which of these consumer types primarily eats plant leaves, roots, seeds, or fruits?
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Which type of autotroph is known as primary producers due to their role in storing energy that is available for other organisms?
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What is the primary reason why energy flow in an ecosystem is described as a one-way stream?
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Why are food webs typically more complex than food chains?
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In ecological terms, why is it difficult to predict the response of food webs to environmental changes?
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What role do decomposers and detritivores play in the detritus pathway of an ecosystem?
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In an ecological pyramid, why is only a small portion of energy available to organisms at the next trophic level?
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What significant contribution did German chemists make to nitrogen utilization?
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Why is phosphorus considered essential to life?
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What is a limiting nutrient?
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Why do farmers use fertilizers for crop growth?
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In aquatic ecosystems, which nutrient is often limiting in the ocean?
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In freshwater environments, which nutrient is often limiting?
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Which process is responsible for returning carbon dioxide to the atmosphere through the respiration of plants and algae?
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What role do certain types of bacteria play in the nitrogen cycle?
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Through which mechanism is carbon dioxide exchanged between the atmosphere and the oceans?
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What geological process involves carbon dioxide combining with calcium and magnesium to form insoluble compounds?
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What happens to carbon removed from the geosphere when fossil fuels are burned?
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Study Notes
Nitrogen and Phosphorus Cycles
- German chemists developed an industrial process to remove nitrogen gas from the atmosphere and transform it into usable fertilizer forms.
Nitrogen Cycle
- Human activity through this process fixes more nitrogen than all natural processes combined.
Phosphorus Cycle
- Phosphorus is essential to life as it is part of molecules such as DNA and RNA.
- Phosphorus does not cycle through the atmosphere.
Limiting Nutrients
- A limiting nutrient is a nutrient whose supply limits productivity.
- Nutrient limitation in soil is the reason farmers use fertilizers to maximize crop growth.
- Most fertilizers contain nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, which help plants grow better in poor soil.
Nutrient Limitation in Aquatic Ecosystems
- In ocean ecosystems, nitrogen is often the limiting nutrient.
- Seawater contains 0.00005 percent oxygen.
- In streams, lakes, and freshwater environments, phosphorus is typically a limiting nutrient.
Studying That Suits You
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Description
Take this quiz to test your knowledge of the Dewey Decimal Classification system, a method of organizing books in libraries by subject.
