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23 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Energy flow is based on the movement of what element into and out of organisms?
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carbon
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What does primary productivity depend on?
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the uptake of mineral (inorganic) nutrients by plants and living tissues
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What describes the process of transformation of organic nutrients into mineral form and back into organisms?
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internal cycling
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Most essential nutrients are ________ within the ecosystem.
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recycled
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What do all plants require?
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Plants require all essential nutrients in mineral (inorganic) form.
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Describe uptake.
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Nutrients are taken up in the soil solution through the roots and the mineral is transformed from organic to inorganic form.
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What happens to nutrients as plant tissues age and die?
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Nutrients are returned to the soil surface in the form of dead organic matter.
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What is term that describes the process of recycling nutrients within the plant?
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retranslocation
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What term describes the breakdown of chemical bonds of organic molecules?
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decomposition
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What is the key process in the recycling of nutrients within the ecosystem?
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decomposition
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What processes are included in decomposition?
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leaching
fragmentation changes in physical and chemical structure ingestion by decomposers excretion of waste products |
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What group of organisms feed on dead organic matter or detritus?
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decomposers
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_________ are the dominant decomposers of dead animal matter.
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Bacteria
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_______ are the dominant decomposers of plant matter.
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Fungi
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What group of organisms decompose leaves, twigs, and other detritus and are classified by body width?
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invertebrate detritivores
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What is the most commonly used method to examine the decomposition of plant litter?
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litterbags
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What are mesh bags of plant litter used by ecologists to quantify the process of decomposition?
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leaf packs
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What two factors directly affect the rate of organic matter decomposition?
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temperatures and soil moisture (rainfall)
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What is the term that describes the brown/black homogenous organic matter that litter degrades into during the decomposition process?
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humus
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What is the term that describes humus as it becomes embedded into the soil matrix?
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soil organic matter
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What is the process in which plants supplement carbon to microbial decomposers in the rhizosphere (zone around the plant root)?
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soil microbial loop
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What is ingested, digested, and mineralized as it makes its way to the bottom of open water systems?
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particulate organic matter (POM)
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What is present in virtually all ecosystems between the zones of production (photosynthesis) and decomposition?
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vertical separation
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