Sustainable Ecosystems and Climate Change: Unit Review

(a) Hydrosphere; (b) biosphere; (c) lithosphere; (d) hydrosphere (water in any state; it is held in the atmosphere).

Earth gets almost no new matter, so atoms are reused; energy is lost as heat to space, so new sunlight is always needed.

Biosphere: trees burn. Atmosphere: CO₂, smoke and soot released. Lithosphere: ash adds minerals; bare soil erodes. Hydrosphere: sediment and nutrients wash into streams.

Level 2: 4 000 kJ; level 3: 400 kJ.

(210 ÷ 3 000) × 100% = 7%.

The energy pyramid, because energy is lost as heat at every level.

Add: respiration, decomposition, combustion (any two). Remove: photosynthesis (or dissolving in the ocean).

Plants photosynthesize faster than respiration and decomposition release CO₂.

44 ppm ÷ 20 years = 2.2 ppm per year.

Nitrification; denitrification; nitrogen fixation.

It comes mainly from slow rock weathering and has no gas form, so little is available.

Adding phosphorus caused the algae bloom; it strengthened the case for limits on phosphate in detergents.

6CO₂ + 6H₂O → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂ (with light energy).

Any two: chloroplast vs. mitochondrion; light only vs. all the time; producers only vs. almost all organisms; stores energy vs. releases energy; takes in CO₂ vs. releases CO₂.

The products of each process are the reactants of the other, so matter cycles between them.

The first: same richness, but higher evenness.

One pest or disease can wipe out the whole crop because every plant is the same species.

Its dams create wetlands that many other species depend on.

Granite has little buffering capacity, so acids weren't neutralized.

Gases are less soluble in warmer water.

Any three: high organic matter, crumbly structure, good infiltration, many organisms, no compaction or erosion.

(a) Secondary (soil remains); (b) primary (no soil).

Lynx need time to reproduce after food becomes plentiful: a time lag.

It recycles nutrients, opens jack pine cones, lets light in and creates a patchwork of habitats.

Extra nutrients → algae bloom → algae die → decomposers use oxygen → fish die.

Example: zebra mussels filter plankton, taking food from native species (or emerald ash borer kills ash trees; Phragmites crowds out wetland plants).

A pushed-too-far ecosystem may shift to a new equilibrium and not recover even when the pressure stops.

Climate (a long-term average).

4 × 28 = 112 t CO₂e.

Any two: CO₂ rise matches fossil fuel use; isotope fingerprint; Sun's output not increasing; stratosphere cooling while lower atmosphere warms.

Physical (any two): temperature, sea level, ocean pH, sea ice, glaciers, lake ice, permafrost. Biological: earlier flowering/migration, range shifts, coral bleaching.

6 days over 2 decades = 3 days per decade earlier.

5.0

(a) Mitigation; (b) adaptation; (c) both.

Keep warming well below 2 °C and pursue 1.5 °C.

They have a narrow temperature tolerance and need oxygen-rich cold water, which warming reduces; they often can't move to new waters.

Exposure: facing a hazard. Sensitivity: depending on what's changing. Adaptive capacity: resources, knowledge and decision-making power to respond.

Supplies must be flown in at higher cost; projects are delayed; access is less reliable.

Examples: SmartICE, Indigenous Guardians, Wataynikaneyap Power grid connection, city heat-alert programs.

Beans' root bacteria fix nitrogen; squash shades and protects soil; three crops together are more resilient.

A fraction adjusts to the population size (feedback) and stays below regeneration; a fixed number can collapse a shrinking population.

A Haudenosaunee teaching to consider the effects of decisions seven generations into the future.

Right source, rate, time, place.

160 − 50 − 40 = 70 kg/ha.

It captures methane from manure and burns it for energy instead of letting it escape.