Prelecture Chapter 54 Ecosystems
Name: _______________________
1. Why is the transfer of energy in an ecosystem referred to as energy flow, not energy cycling?
2. What is the difference between Gross Primary Production and Net Primary Production? What
ecosystem has the highest NPP?
3.
Most of the solar energy that reaches Earth _____.
a. is used by plants for photosynthesis
b. is not captured for use by living things
c. is continually recycled by ecosystems
d. is trapped by greenhouse gases
e. is used by algae for photosynthesis
4. What is production efficiency?
5. Three or four of the following processes are key parts of the carbon cycle. Which one, if any, is not a
key part of the carbon cycle?
a. return of CO2 to the atmosphere by microbial respiration in soils
b. assimilation of atmospheric CO2 by plant photosynthesis
c. return of CO2 to the atmosphere by animal and plant respiration
d. breakdown by decomposers of carbon-containing dead plants and animals
e. All of the above processes are key parts of the carbon cycle.
6. Fill in the table
Nutrient
Reservoir(s)
Forms available to
living things
Major uses to living
things
Carbon cycle
Nitrogen Cycle
Phosphorus Cycle