Campbell Biology

Lisa A. Urry

Chapter 37

Soil and Plant Nutrition - all with Video Answers

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Chapter Questions

Problem 1

The inorganic nutrient most often lacking in crops is
(A) carbon.
(C) phosphorus.
(B) nitrogen.
(D) potassium.

James Thierer

James Thierer

Numerade Educator

Problem 2

Micronutrients are needed in very small amounts because
(A) most of them are mobile in the plant.
(B) most serve mainly as cofactors of enzymes.
(C) most arve supplied in large enough quantities in seeds.
(D) they play only a minor role in the growth and health of the plant.

KP

Kristine Plasky

Numerade Educator

Problem 3

Mycorrhizae enhance plant nutrition mainly by
(A) absorbing water and minerals through the fungal hyphae.
(B) providing sugar to root cells, which have no chloroplasts.
(C) converting atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia.
(D) enabling the roots to parasitize neighboring plants.

James Thierer

Numerade Educator

Problem 4

Epiphytes are
(A) fungi that attack plants.
(B) fungi that form mutualistic associations with roots.
(C) nonphotosynthetic parasitic plants.
(D) plants that grow on other plants.

KP

Kristine Plasky

Numerade Educator

Problem 5

Some of the problems associated with intensive irrigation
(A) soil salinization.
(C) land subsidence.
(B) overfertilization.
(D) aquifer depletion.

James Thierer

Numerade Educator

Problem 6

A mineral deficiency is likely to affect older leaves more than
(A) the minineral is a micronutrient.
(B) the mineral is very mobile within the plant.
(C) the mineral is required for chlorophyll synthesis.
(D) the mineral is a macronutrient.

KP

Kristine Plasky

Numerade Educator

Problem 7

The greatest difference in health between two groups of plants
of the same species, one group with mycorrhizae and one group
without mycorrhizae, would be in an environment
(A) where nitrogen-fixing bacteria are abundant.
(B) that has soil with poor drainage.
(C) that has hot summers and cold winters.
(D) in which the soil is relatively deficient in mineral nutrients.

James Thierer

Numerade Educator

Problem 8

Two groups of tomatoes were grown under laboratory
conditions, one with humus added to the soil and one a
control without humus. The leaves of the plants grown
without humus were yellowish (less green) compared with
those of the plants grown in humus-enriched soil. The best
explanation is that
(A) the healthy plants used the food in the decomposing leaves of the humus for energy to make chlorophyll.
(B) the humus made the soil more loosely packed, so water penetrated more easily to the roots.
(C) the humus contained minerals such as magnesium and iron need for the synthesis of chlorophyll.
(D) the heat released by the decomposing leaves of the humus caused more rapid growth and chlorophyll synthesis.

KP

Kristine Plasky

Numerade Educator

Problem 9

The specific relationship between a legume and its mutualistic
Rhizobium strain probably depends on
(A) each legume having a chemical dialogue with a fungus.
(B) each Rhizobium strain having a form of nitrogenase that works only in the appropriate legume host.
(C) each legume being found where the soil has only the Rhizobium specific to that legume.
(D) specific recognition between chemical signals and signal receptors of the Rhizobium strain and legume species.

James Thierer

Numerade Educator

Problem 10

DRAW IT Draw a simple sketch of cation exchange, showing
a root hair, a soil particle with anions, and a hydrogen ion
displacing a mineral cation.

KP

Kristine Plasky

Numerade Educator

Problem 11

EVOLUTION CONNECTION Imagine taking the plant out of
the picture in Figure $37.12 .$ Write a paragraph explaining how
soil bacteria could sustain the recycling of nitrogen before land
plants evolved.

James Thierer

Numerade Educator

Problem 12

SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY Acid precipitation has an abnormally
high concentration of hydrogen ions $\left(\mathrm{H}^{+}\right)$ One effect of
acid precipitation is to deplete the soil of nutrients such
as calcium $\left(\mathrm{Ca}^{2+}\right)$,potassium $\left(\mathrm{K}^{+}\right)$, and magnesium $\left(M g^{2 +}\right)$. Suggest a hypothesis to explain how acid precipitation
washes these nutrients from the soil. How might you test
your hypothesis?

KP

Kristine Plasky

Numerade Educator

Problem 13

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY In many countries,
irrigation is depleting aquifers to such an extent that land
is subsiding, harvests are decreasing, and it is becoming
necessary to drill wells deeper. In many cases, the withdrawal of groundwater has now greatly surpassed the aquifers' rates
of natural recharge. Discuss the possible consequences of this
trend. What can society and science do to help alleviate this
growing problem?

James Thierer

Numerade Educator

Problem 14

WRITE ABOUT A THEME: INTERACTIONS The soil in which
plants grow teems with organisms from every taxonomic
kingdom. In a short essay (100-150 words), discuss examples of
how the mutualistic interactions of plants with bacteria, fungi,
and animals improve plant nutrition.

Leah Lampen

Numerade Educator

Problem 15

Making a footprint in the soil seems like an insignificant
event. In a short essay ( 100-150 words), explain how a
footprint would affect the properties of the soil and how
these changes would affect soil organisms and the emergence
of seedlings.

James Thierer

Numerade Educator