Exam 22: Biogeochemical Cycles

Explain the difference between the two basic types of biogeochemical cycles, using specific examples of each.

Atmospheric sulfur dioxide returns to Earth in rain as weak sulfuric acid.

Describe how atmospheric carbon dioxide levels fluctuate daily, seasonally, and geographically. Explain why such fluctuation occurs.

Which of the following nutrients is produced by photosynthesis?

Without the cycling of water, biogeochemical cycles would cease.

In ________ biogeochemical cycles, the main reservoirs of nutrients are the soil, rocks, and minerals.

All nutrients flow from the nonliving, to the living, and back to the non-living components of the ecosystem in a path known as a(n)________ cycle.

The ________ is the largest pool of nitrogen.

The sulfur biogeochemical cycle is a sedimentary cycle with essentially no gaseous cycle.

In the era post-nuclear testing (after the 1950s), there was a movement to switch from breast-feeding to a formula diet due to the high levels of radiation in breast milk.

There is more carbon per unit of soil in cold polar regions than in the warm tropics.

Which of the following is NOT a major reservoir for phosphorus?

Describe a pathway of nitrogen from the atmosphere into the body tissue of an herbivore.

Nutrients with a sedimentary cycle enter the ecosystem via the atmosphere.

The element ________ is a basic constituent of all organic compounds and is involved in the fixation of energy by photosynthesis.

Which of the following does NOT cause a loss of nutrients from an ecosystem?

Which of the following nutrients is most closely linked to the energy cycle in ecosystems?

Describe three ways that nutrients can be lost from an ecosystem.

The ability of the surface waters of the ocean to take up carbon dioxide is governed by the reaction of carbon dioxide with the ________ ion to form bicarbonates.