Ecosystem Dynamics: Assess the effect of

fertilizers on the phosphorus cycle

Question 1: What nutrient should we investigate as possible cause of the decrease on the yield of
whean?
✓ All three nutrients
– Sulfur
– Phosphorus
– Nitrogen

Question 2: What nutrient seems to be causing the decrease on the whean yield over the last 5
years?
✓ Phosphorus
– All three nutrients have caused the decline
– Sulfur
– Nitrogen

Question 3: What can we do to solve the problem with phosphorus and increase the whean yield?
✓ Use a phosphorus enriched fertilizer
– Nothing
– Plant Whean at a higher density
– Stop cultivating Whean

Question 4: What should we do to analyze whether fertilizer would affect the phosphorus cycle?
✓ Analyze the cycle before and after adding fertilizer
– Measure the phosphorus concentration of rocks in the soil
– Analyze the cycle only after the addition of the fertilizer
– Analyze the cycle only before the addition of the fertilizer

Question 5: Since autotrophic organisms can only take up soluble phosphorus, are organic and
adsorbed phosphorus compounds important for our crops?
✓ Yes, because there are processes in the soil that can transform them into Soluble
Phosphorus
– No, because they are part of the abiotic phosphorus pool
– Yes, because the structure of the soil depend on them
– No, because they have no biological use

Question 6: What is the concentration of phosphorus in the measured water of our samples?
✓ 0.05 mg/L
– 5.00 mg/L
– 0.01 mg/L
– 0.25 mg/L

Question 7: Why is soluble phosphorus especially important among all the phosphorus fractions?
✓ Because it is the only form of phosphorus that photosynthetic organisms can take up
– Because it cannot be transformed into any other phosphorus compound
– Because it is the form in which phosphorus is stored in the soil
– Because it is the most abundant in the soil

Question 8: What process can transform rocks (phosphorus minerals) into soluble phosphorus?
✓ Weathering
– Evaporation

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 – Precipitation
– Desorption

Question 9: Do you think that the use of the fertilizer on the fields caused the growth of these
microscopic organisms??
✓ Yes, nutrients from the fertilizer may have leached to the lakes
– No, fertilizers cannot cause that effect
– Yes, and we should completely stop using fertilizer
– No, the lakes are too far

Question 10: Why did some phosphorus fractions increase more than others?
✓ Because different processes occur at different rates
– Because the different fractions are independent from each other
– Because it may have rain more
– Because there may have been a mistake in our calculations

Question 11: Based on your findings, which process or processes may have primarily caused the
bloom of microscopic organisms in the lake?
✓ Leaching, runoff and erosion
– Atmospheric deposition
– Mineralization
– Desorption and dissolution

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