Energy Flow and Matter Cycling Quiz

Energy Flow in Ecosystems

• Energy flows through ecosystems, starting with solar energy.
• Much energy is released as heat during cellular respiration.

Matter Cycling

• Matter cycles through ecosystems in biogeochemical cycles, including carbon, nitrogen, and water cycles.
• Examples of matter in these cycles include nutrients, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water.

Carbon Cycle Outline

• Carbon cycles between: atmosphere, plants, animals, soil, oceans, fossil fuels, and human activities.
• Key processes include photosynthesis, feeding, defecation, cellular respiration, death, and decomposition.

Carbon Cycle Steps & Stores

• Atmosphere: Carbon exists as carbon dioxide (CO2).
• Plants: Absorb CO2 during photosynthesis.
• Animals: Consume plants, transferring carbon into their bodies, releasing CO2 through respiration.
• Soil: Dead organisms decompose, storing carbon as organic matter.
• Oceans: Absorb CO2, storing it as dissolved carbon or in marine organisms.
• Fossil Fuels: Buried carbon over millions of years becomes coal, oil, and gas.
• Human Activities: Burning fossil fuels and deforestation release stored carbon as CO2.

Carbon Cycle Diagram Representation

• Storages are boxes; flows are arrows.

Carbon Stores (Reservoirs)

• Reservoirs hold carbon for varying times.
• Carbon remains in equilibrium with the environment.
• Input equals output (equilibrium).

Organic vs. Inorganic Carbon Stores

• Organic: Found in living organisms or derived from them (organisms, crude oil, natural gas).
• Inorganic: Non-living forms (oceans, atmosphere, soil).

Carbon Sinks & Sources

• Sinks: Carbon accumulates over time (Input > Output).
• Sources: Carbon is released into the cycle (Input < Output).

Examples of Carbon Sinks

• Fossil fuel deposits.
• Permafrost.
• Carbonate rocks.

Examples of Carbon Sources

• Volcanic eruptions.
• Cars & industrial processes.
• Forest fires.

Forests as Carbon Stores/Sources/Sinks

• Store: Standing forest.
• Source: Deforestation.
• Sink: Young regrowing forest (absorbs more than it releases).

Carbon Sequestration

• Capturing atmospheric CO2 and storing it in solid or liquid form.
• Examples include trees absorbing CO2 into biomass, and fossilization of organic matter.

Fossil Fuel Impacts

• Extraction and burning are major CO2 emission sources, disrupting atmospheric balance and warming the planet.

Agricultural Practices Affecting Carbon Cycle

• Sources: Heavy tillage, monocultures, draining wetlands, long-term cropping deplete soil carbon.
• Sinks: Reduced tillage, crop rotation, cover cropping improve soil carbon.

Ocean Acidification

• Increased dissolved CO2 from human activity (fossil fuels, agriculture) leads to ocean acidification.
• CO2 reacts with water to form carbonic acid, releasing hydrogen ions.
• Carbonate ion concentration decreases, weakening shells of marine life.

Alleviating Carbon Cycle Impacts

• Develop low-carbon technologies.
• Reduce fossil fuel burning, soil disruption, and deforestation.
• Implement carbon capture techniques (e.g., reforestation, artificial sequestration).

Weather vs. Climate

• Weather: Short-term atmospheric conditions (temperature, precipitation, wind).
• Climate: Long-term average weather patterns.

Biomes Definition

• Large geographical areas with distinct plant and animal life adapted to local climate & environment.

Biome Abiotic Factors

• Precipitation.
• Temperature.
• Insolation (solar radiation).

Biome Examples (and their characteristics)

• Temperate Rainforests: Evergreen and deciduous trees, high biodiversity, varying temp & precipitation.
• Tropical Rainforests: Lush vegetation, high temp, high precipitation, high biodiversity.
• Hot Deserts: Sparse vegetation, high temp (hot days, cold nights), low precipitation, low biodiversity.
• Arctic Tundra: Low temp, low precipitation, permafrost, low diversity.
• Tropical Grasslands: Grasses and some trees, varying temp & precipitation, moderate biodiversity.
• Freshwater Biomes: Diverse plant and animal life, varying conditions.
• Marine Biomes: High biodiversity, varying conditions (esp. temperature with depth).

Climate Graphs

• Bar graphs show precipitation; line graphs display temperature.

Earth's Rotation and Revolution

• Rotation creates day and night.
• Revolution (Earth orbiting the Sun) creates the seasons.

Solar Insolation & Earth's Curvature

• Earth's curvature impacts solar energy distribution, impacting temperatures differently at different latitudes.

Tricellular Model of Atmospheric Circulation

• Describes global air circulation patterns (Hadley, Ferrel, Polar cells).

Zonation

• Changes in community along an environmental gradient (elevation, latitude, tidal level).

Succession

• Ecological changes in a community over time.

Primary Succession

• Occurs on newly exposed surfaces (no prior community).

Secondary Succession

• Occurs in areas with existing soil after a disturbance.

Productivity

• Rate energy/biomass production in an ecosystem.

Seral Communities, Seres, and Seral Stages

• Intermediate communities in succession.
• Collection of communities in a successional stage.
• The various communities during a succession stage.

Pioneer, Intermediate, and Climax Communities

• Pioneer: First organisms (hardy species, short life cycle).
• Intermediate: Small plants/shrubs, increasing soil development.
• Climax: Stable communities, diverse, balanced.

Natural and Anthropogenic Disturbances

• Natural (fire, flood); Anthropogenic (deforestation, farming).

Biogeochemical Cycles

• Essential for maintaining Earth's system and continuous element availability to organisms.

Dive into the intricacies of energy flow and matter cycling in ecosystems. This quiz covers the processes of the carbon cycle, including photosynthesis, respiration, and decomposition, highlighting the vital interactions between different components of ecosystems.