| Nutritional Requirements of Plants |
| 1. | Describe the ecological role of plants in transforming inorganic molecules into organic compounds. |
| 2. | Define the term essential nutrient. |
| 3. | Explain how hydroponic culture is used to determine which minerals are essential nutrients. |
| 4. | Distinguish between macronutrient and micronutrient. |
| 5. | Name the nine macronutrients required by plants. |
| 6. | List the eight micronutrients required by plants and explain why plants need only minute quantities of these elements. |
| 7. | Explain how a nutrient’s role and mobility determine the symptoms of a mineral deficiency. |
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| The Role of Soil in Plant Nutrition |
| 8. | Define soil texture and soil composition. |
| 9. | Explain how soil is formed. |
| 10. | Name the components of topsoil. |
| 11. | Describe the composition of loams and explain why they are the most fertile soils. |
| 12. | Explain how humus contributes to the texture and composition of soils. |
| 13. | Explain why plants cannot extract all of the water in soil. |
| 14. | Explain how the presence of clay in soil helps prevent the leaching of mineral cations. |
| 15. | Define cation exchange, explain why it is necessary for plant nutrition, and describe how plants can stimulate the process. |
| 16. | Explain why soil management is necessary in agricultural systems but not in natural ecosystems such as forests and grasslands. Describe an example of human mismanagement of soil. |
| 17. | List the three mineral elements that are most commonly deficient in agricultural soils. |
| 18. | Explain how soil pH determines the effectiveness of fertilizers and a plant’s ability to absorb specific mineral nutrients. |
| 19. | Describe problems resulting from farm irrigation in arid regions. |
| 20. | Describe actions that can reduce loss of topsoil due to erosion. |
| 21. | Explain how phytoremediation can help detoxify polluted soil. |
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| The Special Case of Nitrogen as a Plant Nutrient |
| 22. | Define nitrogen fixation and write an overall equation representing the conversion of gaseous nitrogen to ammonia. |
| 23. | Explain the importance of nitrogen-fixing bacteria to life on Earth. |
| 24. | Summarize the ecological role of each of the following groups of bacteria.
a. ammonifying bacteria
b. denitrifying bacteria
c. nitrogen-fixing bacteria
d. nitrifying bacteria |
| 25. | Explain why improving the protein yield of crops is a major goal of agricultural research. |
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| Nutritional Adaptations: Symbiosis of Plants and Soil Microbes |
| 26. | Describe the development of a root nodule in a legume. |
| 27. | Explain how a legume protects its nitrogen-fixing bacteria from free oxygen, and explain why this protection is necessary. |
| 28. | Describe the basis for crop rotation. |
| 29. | Explain why a symbiosis between a legume and its nitrogen-fixing bacteria is considered to be mutualistic. |
| 30. | Explain why a symbiosis between a plant and a mycorrhizal fungus is considered to be mutualistic. |
| 31. | Distinguish between ectomycorrhizae and endomycorrhizae. |
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| Nutritional Adaptations: Parasitism and Predation by Plants |
| 32. | Name one modification for nutrition in each of the following groups of plants:
a. epiphytes
b. parasitic plants
c. carnivorous plants |
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