Study Solutions
The first step in ecosystem restoration is to ________. ANS restore the physical structure
Which of the following locations are major reservoirs for carbon in the carbon cycle? ANS the ocean,
atmosphere, and fossilized and live plant and animal biomass
Consider the food chain of grass → grasshopper → mouse → snake → hawk. About how much of the
chemical energy fixed by photosynthesis of the grass (100 percent) is available to the hawk? ANS
0.01%
Use the following figure to answer the question.
On the diagram of the nitrogen cycle, which number represents nitrite (NO2)? ANS 3
Use the following figure to answer the question.
Consider the global nitrogen cycle depicted in the figure. How are humans altering this cycle? ANS
industrial nitrogen fixation
If the flow of energy in an arctic ecosystem goes through a simple food chain, perhaps involving humans,
starting from phytoplankton to zooplankton to fish to seals to polar bears, then which of the following
could be accurate? ANS Fish can potentially provide more food for humans than seal meat.
Why is it that satellites, using wavelength reflectance technology, detect variable levels of productivity
across Earth's oceans, rather than an increase toward the equator? ANS NPP in Earth's open oceans
could differ due to variability in depth, the presence of coral reefs, or by ocean currents.
How is net ecosystem production (NEP) typically estimated in ecosystems? ANS by measuring gas
exchange from vegetation as well as estimates of respiration by all other organisms
, Which of the following is an accurate statement regarding mineral nutrients in soils and their implication
for primary productivity? ANS Phosphorous is sometimes unavailable to producers due to leaching.
To recycle nutrients, an ecosystem must have, at a minimum, ________. ANS producers and
decomposers
Matter may be gained by, or lost from, ecosystems. How does this occur? ANS Matter can move from
one ecosystem to another.
Use the following figure to answer the question.
In the ecosystem figure, which unit of the food web has the potential to lose the most energy as heat?
ANS primary producers
Many of the organisms in the ocean are nutrient-limited. If you wanted to investigate this phenomenon,
one reasonable approach would be to ________. ANS experimentally enrich some areas of the ocean
and compare their productivity to that of untreated areas
How does inefficient transfer of energy among trophic levels result in the typically high endangerment
status of many top-level predators? ANS Top-level predators are destined to have small populations
that are sparsely distributed.
Use the following figure to answer the question.
What treatment results that were presumably part of the experimental design are not fully depicted in the
graph? ANS An indicator of net primary production outside the treatment area at depth and at 30 m
deep
Why does a vegetarian leave a smaller ecological footprint than an omnivore? ANS Eating meat is an
inefficient way of acquiring photosynthetic productivity.
Use the following figure to answer the question.