Andres Rangel

Review Questions Unit 5 Energy Flow

4.2 Energy Flow
What are different types of organisms that occupy a food web?
Producers, consumers, and decomposers.
What are the units used in a pyramid of energy?
Energy, area, and time. Joules.
Why do energy pyramids normally have five or fewer levels?
Energy pyramids normally start with a primary producers and then moving up towards more and
more consumers until there is no more energy. This normally lasts till the tertiary consumers.
What do energy pyramids normally look like?
They start with a base of sunlight, then primary consumers, then secondary consumers, and
then tertiary consumers.
Why are there fewer carnivores then herbivores in an ecosystem?
Carnivores depend on herbivores, whilst herbivores depend on plants, which are much more
available to them.
What is the difference between a food chain and a food web?
A food chain goes in a linear direction, while a food web can go in various directions. A food web
is also made up of many food chains.
2.9 Photosynthesis
What type of light is least likely to be absorbed by a plant?
Green light is reflected, while all other lights are absorbed therefore plant leaves
appear green.

Light from the sun is composed of a range of wavelengths

Chlorophyll absorbs wavelengths

How can the rate of photosynthesis be directly measured?

By the production of oxygen or the uptake of carbon dioxide, or indirectly by an increase in
biomass.
How do temperature, light intensity, and carbon dioxide concentration affect the rate of
photosynthesis?
Temperature:
Increased molecular collisions
Enzymes denature
If kept increasing above the optimum temperature then photosynthesis starts to
decrease very rapidly.

Light intensity:
Visible light is important for chlorophyll
Positive correlation between light intensity and photosynthesis
At a high light intensity, photosynthesis reaches a plateau and so
does not increase any more.

Carbon dioxide concentration:

CO2 is essential for the production of carbohydrates

 Positive correlation between CO2 concentration and

photosynthesis
As the carbon dioxide concentration increases so does the rate of
photosynthesis.

What is the role of chlorophyll in photosynthesis?

Absorbs energy from light
What happens in the light-independent reactions of photosynthesis?
Light dependent reaction
Energy absorbed by chlorophyll/protein complex is used to produce ATP
Photolysis of water: Energy absorbed by chlorophyll is used to split water
molecules, forming oxygen and hydrogen
C2 Communities and Ecosystems
How is energy passed from one trophic level to the next?
Energy decreases as it moves up trophic levels because energy is lost as metabolic heat when
organisms from the next level consume the organisms from one trophic level.
Describe the characteristics of the different biomes?
Dessert
Near equator
Temperature: hot daytime, temperature drops at night due to dry weather
Moisture: low precipitation (less than 30 cm per year)
Characteristics of vegetation and animals: kangaroos, cacti
Environmental challenges facing the biome: rainless limited food and water
resources, and looser soil due to human activity

Grassland

Location: temperate and savannah grassland

Temperature: highly seasonal conditions with a pronounced dry

season.

Moisture: rainfall of 10-35 in.

Characteristics of vegetation and animals: dominated by grasses
and other plants
Environmental challenges facing the biome: land loss, fires, global
warming
Scrubland
Location: west costal regions and the Mediterranean region
Temperature: warm, with mild, wet winters and long dry summers
Moisture: low rainfall (80% of rain occurs on winter)
Characteristics of vegetation and animals: grassland desert type,
aromatic herb
Environmental challenges facing the biome: droughts, fires, land
loss
Temperature deciduous forest
Location: middle of Europe, mostly Asia
Temperature: has 4 seasons (70 degrees on summer)

 Moisture: rainfall 30-60 in per year

Characteristics of vegetation and animals: lynches, moss, small
plants, red squirrel
Environmental challenges facing the biome: invasive insects,
animal overgrazing

Tropical Rainforest
Location: near the equator
Temperature: 20C - 35C.
Moisture: heavy rainfall
Characteristics of vegetation and animals: forest floor, understory
layer, canopy layer and emergent layer
Environmental challenges facing the biome: mining, clearing out
tropical forest to make transit roads.
Tundra
Location: near the north pole
Temperature: -34 degrees=winter, 3-12 degrees= summer
Moisture: 15-25 cm
Characteristics of vegetation and animals: lynches, mosses, polar
bears
Environmental challenges facing the biome: global warming
melting snow, oil spills
What do the terms gross production and net production mean?
Gross production: total amount of energy trapped in organic matter produced by plants
Net production: energy lost through respiration
What happens to species diversity during primary succession?

How do you interpret a Gersmehl diagram?

Model of nutrient storage and flow for terrestrial ecosystems
Three storage compartments: biomass, litter, soil
Arrows represent nutrient flows
Thickness of arrow represent rates of nutrient flow
Input: nitrogen, carbon, and minerals from weathered rock
Output: leaching and runoff
Flows: leaf and needle fall from biomass to litter, and uptake of nutrients from soil
by plants
C3 Impacts of humans on ecosystems (biomagnification)
Why are carnivores more affected by biomagnification then organisms lower on the food
chain?
As each individual eats contaminated food, it builds up these chemical substances
When large number of contaminated individuals are eaten, they pass on a high
concentration of chemicals to the predator
DDT- insecticide
Human effects: reduced fertility, genital birth defect, cancer