Explain why lightning strikes can be dangerous even when an individual is not directly struck.
Lightning strikes are dangerous whether an individual is or is not in the path of the discharge. The current propagated by a lightning strike is actually what is harmful and the current can pass through the ground after striking. This means that even near-misses can be dangerous as the current travels through the ground.
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Explain why energy in most ecosystems must flow from the sun, then to autotrophs and finally to heterotrophs, in that order.
Most of the energy in ecosystems enters as sunlight, so it is the principal source of energy for the biosphere. Autotrophs are organisms that can convert sunlight, solar radiation, into chemical energy that they and other organisms can use. Heterotrophs cannot utilize sunlight directly to make their food, so energy can only flow to them after passing through autotrophs.
Ecosystem productivity is principally limited by _______.
Explain how waste heat is inevitable in ecosystems.
Energy is neither created nor destroyed by chemical processes, merely transferred. Since energy is also lost every time energy is transferred between organisms, that lost heat must go somewhere. That lost energy becomes waste heat in the environment.
When sunlight strikes Earth, approximately _______.
Which of the following is not a direct fate of the energy flowing through photosynthesis?
Which of the following is not true about energy in ecosystems?
What percentage of a lower trophic level’s energy flows to the next higher trophic level?
Explain why cold-blooded organisms like reptiles have a higher rate of secondary productivity than warm-blooded mammals.
Secondary productivity is the rate at which consumers convert chemical energy into their own biomass. This rate is based on the organism’s metabolism, because organisms with higher metabolisms have to consume more energy to maintain their metabolic processes relative to how much energy is converted into their biomass. Reptiles have slower metabolisms than mammals and do not consume as much energy relative to their body mass as mammals, giving them a higher rate of secondary productivity.
What percentage of a lower trophic level’s energy flows to the next higher trophic level?
When sunlight strikes Earth, approximately _______.
Which of the following is not a direct fate of the energy flowing through photosynthesis?
Ecosystem productivity is principally limited by _______.
Why is energy flow through an ecosystem dependent upon continual energy transformations?
Energy must continually be transformed into forms organisms can use. Producers convert light energy into chemical energy, and organisms transform that chemical energy through metabolism to power growth, movement, and other life processes. Some energy is released as heat during every transfer, so ecosystems need a continual supply of new energy.
Explain why lightning strikes can be dangerous even when an individual is not directly struck.
Lightning can send electrical current through the ground and along conductive objects. The current may spread out from the strike point or travel through wiring, plumbing, and other paths. As a result, a person nearby can be shocked by ground current or a nearby conductive path even if the lightning does not hit them directly.
Explain why cold-blooded organisms like reptiles have a higher rate of secondary productivity than warm-blooded mammals.
Reptiles use less energy than mammals to maintain their body temperature because they rely on external heat sources. As a result, more of the energy they obtain from food can be used for growth and reproduction, increasing their rate of secondary productivity.
Explain how waste heat is inevitable in ecosystems.
Energy transformations in organisms are never completely efficient. During metabolism and each transfer between trophic levels, some chemical energy is released as heat. This waste heat disperses into the environment and cannot be recycled as usable energy by the ecosystem.
Which of the following is not true about energy in ecosystems?
Explain why energy in most ecosystems must flow from the sun, then to autotrophs and finally to heterotrophs, in that order.
Most ecosystems receive energy from sunlight. Autotrophs capture that light and convert it into chemical energy through photosynthesis. Heterotrophs cannot produce their own food, so they get this stored energy by eating autotrophs or other organisms. Thus, energy flows from the sun to autotrophs and then to heterotrophs.
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