Chapter 6. Chapter 6: Ecosystems and Nutrient Cycling
How do important nutrients like carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycle...
Guiding Question 6.4
How do important nutrients like carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycle through ecosystems?
Why You Should Care
As you have learned, the Earth is a closed system for matter; elements required for life travel through the biosphere in cycles. Understanding the carbon cycle is important because it relates directly to food production and global climate change. The nitrogen and phosphorous cycles are essential for plant growth, and when not functioning properly can lead to eutrophication—pollution caused by "fertilizing" bodies of water, which can cause fish kills and poisonous red tides.
Test Your Vocabulary
Choose the correct term for each of the following definitions:
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| The process in which all organisms break down sugar to release its energy, using oxygen and giving off CO2 as a waste product. | |
| Movement of carbon through biotic and abiotic parts of an ecosystem. Carbon cycles via photosynthesis and cellular respiration as well as in and out of other reservoirs such as the oceans and soil. It is also released by human actions such as fossil fuel burning. | |
| An organism that converts solar energy to chemical energy via photosynthesis. | |
| Series of natural processes by which the nutrient phosphorus moves from rock to soil or water, to living organisms, and back to the soil. | |
| The living (organic) components of an ecosystem, such as the plants and animals and their waste (dead leaves, feces). | |
| Continuous series of natural processes by which nitrogen passes from the air to the soil, to organisms, and then returns back to the air or soil through decay or denitrification. | |
| Abiotic or biotic component of the environment that serves as a storage place for cycling nutrients. | |
| An organism that obtains energy and nutrients by feeding on another organism. | |
| The nonliving components of an ecosystem, such as rainfall and mineral composition of the soil. | |
| Conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into a biologically usable form, carried out by bacteria found in soil or via lightning. |
1.
In the carbon cycle, plants release carbon back to the environment as ________ through the process of ________.
| A. |
| B. |
| C. |
| D. |
4.
Click on the part of the carbon cycle diagram that matches the term light energy.
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13.
Remember, it's best to try to do review questions without the help of your text the first time.
Which of the following are forms of nitrogen that plants can use as a nutrient? (Check all that apply.)
Molecular nitrogen (N2)
Ammonia (NH3)
Amonium (NH4+)
Nitrate (NH3-)
17.
Unlike the carbon and nitrogen cycles, the phosphorus cycle does not appreciably include:
| A. |
| B. |
| C. |
| D. |
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