Apes Test- 2Nd Quarter

Front 1

Phosphorus Cycle: Basic Facts

Back 1

- Phosphorus is a key part of DNA and energy storage molecules, such as ATP, in cells
- Plants require DNA and ATP
- Because of low phosphorus levels in soil, it becomes a limiting factor for plant growth on land unless it is added directly to soil as fertilizer

Front 2

Phosphorus: Human Activities and Their Effects

Back 2

- Humans remove large amounts of phosphorus to make fertilizer
- Phosphorus levels are reduced in tropical forests as they are cleared
- Humans add excess phosphates to aquatic systems by runoff and sewage treatment plants, causing eutrophication (algal blooms)

Front 3

More Phosphorus!

Back 3

- Movement of phosphorus goes through the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere (not atmosphere because it is only a solid)
- Found in water, soil, and living organisms
- Makes up part of RNA/DNA molecules that store energy
- Building block for bones and teeth
- Guano (bird pooooooo)
- Could run out because fertilizer runs into the ocean and then the phosphorus stays there for millions of years

Front 4

Sulfur Cycle: Basic Facts

Back 4

- Sulfur Dioxide: colorless, odorless gas
- Circulates through the biosphere
- Stored in underground rocks and minerals and deep under ocean sediments

Front 5

Sulfur enters through natural sources

Back 5

- Hydrogen Sulfide enters through volcanic eruptions, bacterial processes, flooded swamps, and other sources
- Sulfate salts come from sea spray, dust storms, and forest fires --> Absorbed through plant roots

Front 6

Natural Sources of Sulfur: Marine Algae

Back 6

- Produce large amounts of volatile dimethyl sulfide
--> Tiny drops serve as nuclei for condensation of water
--> Change in emissions can effect cloud cover and climate
--> Converted into sulfur dioxide; becomes a component of acid rain

Front 7

Human Sources of Sulfur

Back 7

- SO2 added to the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels
- Also convert sulfur-containing metallic mineral ores into free metals such as copper, lead, and zinc

Front 8

Water Cycle

Back 8

- Located in the hydrosphere
- Continuous movement of water in all states on Earth
- Controlled by the sun
- Evaporation, evapotranspiration, precipitation, runoff, infiltration, condensation, sublimation (snow or ice to water vapor)
- Human Water Cycle: take in water, nutrition absorbed by organs, excreted

Front 9

Human Effects on Water Cycle

Back 9

- Use water faster than can be replenished
- Clearing land increases flooding because runoff has nowhere to go
- Increased global warming because water cycle speeds up and there is more water vapor (greenhouse gas)

Front 10

Nitrogen Cycle (Steps 1-3)

Back 10

1. Nitrogen Fixation: gaseous nitrogen to ammonia (NH3)
--> Cyanobacteria
--> Rhizobium
2. Nitrification: 2 step process
--> Nitrites (NO2-) to Nitrates (NO3-)
--> Specialized aerobic bacteria
3. Assimilation: plant roots absorb inorganic ammonia, ammonium ions, and nitrate ions
--> Used to make proteins, amino acids, and DNA

Front 11

Nitrogen Cycle (Steps 4-5)

Back 11

4. Ammonification: occurs during decomposition by bacteria; convert organic compounds with nitrogen to make:
--> Ammonia (NH3)
--> Water-soluble salt containing Ammonium ions (NH4+)
5. Dentrification: mostly anaerobic bacteria
--> Convert NH3 and NH4+ back into N2 and N2O; both gases released into atmosphere

Front 12

Inorganic Commercial Fertilizers (NPK: Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium) --> Pros

Back 12

- Makes soil nutrient rich
- Increases crop yields
- Easily obtained transport

Front 13

Inorganic Commercial Fertilizers: Cons

Back 13

- Runoff--> Eutrophication
- Some nutrients are in limited supplies
- Does not add humus
- Does not add all nutrients that may be needed

Front 14

Carbon Cycle: Basic Facts

Back 14

- Carbon Cycle: the movement of carbon in its many forms between the biosphere, atmosphere, oceans, and geosphere
- Carbon exists in the nonliving environment as carbon dioxide, carbonate rocks, coal deposits, and dead organic matter
- Carbon is used in the biotic world by photoautotrophs (plants & algae) that convert CO2 to organic matter as well as chemoautotrophs (bacteria & archaea)

Front 15

Why is carbon important to ecosystems?

Back 15

- Carbon is essential to ecosystems for photosynthesis, the production of food from light
- Marine organisms also use dissolved CO2 molecules for shells and skeletons
- In decaying plant matter, carbon creates fossil fuels

Front 16

Missing Carbon

Back 16

- If too much carbon dioxide is in the carbon cycle, the temperature will increase; if too much is removed by the carbon cycle, the atmosphere cools
- This determines the types of life that can survive in various environments
- Currently the increase of CO2 is only half the expected amount from burning fossil fuels
- Increased CO2 levels increase photoautotroph production
- The evidence of this phenomenon includes increased growth of forests, increased phytoplankton, and uptake by desert soils

Front 17

Carbon Cycle: Effects of Human Activity

Back 17

- When CO2 is in the form of fossil fuels, it is not part of the carbon cycle
- Humans add carbon to the cycle by using fossil fuels and by cutting down CO2-absorbing trees & plants

Front 18

Evolution

Back 18

- Chemical Evolution --> 1 billion years
- Biological Evolution --> 3.7 billion years
- Stanley Miller: experiments involving chemical evolution
--> Simulated Earth's early atmosphere

Front 19

Evolutionary Tree

Back 19

- Bacteria before plants
- Organelles (chloroplasts, mitochondria) existed before Eukaryotes and have DNA
--> Endosymbiotic relationship between organelles and cell

Front 20

The World

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- Pangaea (225 million years ago) --> Plate tectonics separated the land and where species lived
- Our current world formed 65 million years ago
- Humans have existed for a very small period of time ("2 seconds before midnight')

Front 21

Mutations

Back 21

- Good or bad change in DNA
- Natural Selection ("Survival of the Fittest"): Ability to survive environmental change and pass on one's genes to fertile offspring
--> Adaptive Traits

Front 22

Coevolution

Back 22

Species evolve together to the benefit of both species

Front 23

Rapid Change

Back 23

Hybridization --> two different species reproduce (i.e. mules)

Front 24

Ecological Niches

Back 24

Role of the organism in the ecosystem

Front 25

Fundamental Niche

Back 25

Full range of chemical, biological, and physical resources available to an organism

Front 26

Realized Niche

Back 26

The part of the fundamental niche the organism occupies

Front 27

Specialist Species

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Narrow niche

Front 28

Generalist Species

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Broad niche

Front 29

Stabilizing Selection

Back 29

Favors intermediate populations

Front 30

Disruptive Selection

Back 30

Favors extreme forms of the population

Front 31

Speciation

Back 31

Population splits up and different environmental conditions lead to different selective pressures and evolution into two different species

Front 32

Geographic Isolation

Back 32

Leads to reproductive isolation --> Allopatric Speciation

Front 33

Background Extinction

Back 33

Occurs because environmental conditions change
--> Estimated 1 to 5 species per year goes extinct per 1 million species

Front 34

Mass Extinction

Back 34

Occurs when extinction rates exceed background extinction rates

Front 35

Figure 4-14 (p.95)

Back 35

- Recombinant DNA: Genetic material of two organisms
- Transgenic Plants: Plants with new traits