Question

name: date: 1/2/17 period 2 environmental science: chapter 2: ecosystem interactions 2.1

1. what is the size of washington d.c. in acres?
2. why do people usually think that wilderness is good for wildlife?
3. why do humans in the city transport much of their energy needs (fuel, food and electricity)?
4. how do ecosystems rely on the suns energy?
5. what is photosynthesis?
6. why do all organisms carry on respiration?
7. what are producers?
8. what are phytoplankton?
9. what is chemosynthesis?
10. what are consumers?
11. distinguish between carnivores, omnivores and decomposers?
12. distinguish between food chain and food web.
13. what is the function of zooplankton?
14. how does energy flow through an ecosystem?
15. what biomagnification?

Explanation:

1. Washington D.C. size: Approximately 68,000 acres.
2. Wilderness - wildlife: Provides habitat, food, and safety.
3. Urban energy transport: Need for resources from outside.
4. Ecosystem - Sun energy: Solar energy drives photosynthesis.
5. Photosynthesis: Process by plants to convert light to chemical energy.
6. Respiration in organisms: To release energy from food.
7. Producers: Organisms that make their own food via photosynthesis.
8. Phytoplankton: Microscopic marine algae, primary producers.
9. Chemosynthesis: Process using chemical energy to make food.
10. Consumers: Organisms that eat other organisms.
11. Carnivores - eat meat; omnivores - eat plants and meat; decomposers - break down dead matter.
12. Food chain - linear sequence of eating; food web - complex network of food chains.
13. Zooplankton function: Eat phytoplankton, food for larger organisms.
14. Ecosystem energy flow: From producers to consumers and decomposers.
15. Biomagnification: Increase in pollutant concentration up the food chain.

Answer:

1. Approximately 68,000 acres.
2. Provides habitat, food, and safety for wildlife.
3. Because cities need to import resources from outside to meet energy needs.
4. Solar energy drives photosynthesis, which is the base of most food - webs.
5. The process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods.
6. To release energy stored in food molecules like glucose.
7. Organisms that produce their own food through photosynthesis.
8. Microscopic marine algae that are primary producers in aquatic ecosystems.
9. A process in which organisms use chemical energy to produce organic compounds.
10. Organisms that obtain energy by eating other organisms.
11. Carnivores eat other animals, omnivores eat both plants and animals, and decomposers break down dead organic matter.
12. A food chain is a linear sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy pass as one organism eats another. A food web is a more complex network of multiple food chains.
13. They eat phytoplankton and serve as food for larger aquatic organisms.
14. Energy flows from producers (plants) to primary consumers (herbivores), then to secondary consumers (carnivores/omnivores) and so on, with some energy lost as heat at each level.
15. The increase in concentration of a pollutant, such as a heavy metal or a pesticide, in the tissues of organisms at successively higher levels in a food chain.