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31 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Ecology
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The study of the interactions between organisms and their environment that determine distribution and abundance.
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Aldo Leopold and Rachel Carson
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Published Sand County Almanca (1949) and Silent Sprint (1962).
-raised awareness about land ethic (preserve integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community) -raised awarness of pesticide use (Clear Lake) |
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Lvls of bio considered in ecology
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Biosphere, landscapes, communities, species, populations and individuals
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Scientific Method in an ecological study
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1)Make observations (develop questions)
2)Form hypotheses 3)Design Study 4)Collect Data 5)Analyze Data 6)Interpret biologically |
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Descriptive vs functional approach
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Functional = proximate cause (why)
Descriptive = what is happening |
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Three types of ecological studies and what they are used for?
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1)Lab: control variables to reveal causes
2)Field: Experiments/ observations in natural environment (larger scale) 3)Theoretical: Models to predict (can be huge scale) |
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8 Ecological Maxims
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1)Never do just one thing. (Think clear lake)
2)Everything goes somewhere 3)No pop can incr forever 4)No free lunch 5)Evolution matters - don't view things as static 6)Time matters 7)Space matter 8)Life impossible w/o species interactions |
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What is the general pattern of air circulation and what drives it?
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Diff amnts of solar radiation at different latitudes cause air to heat, rise, and cool adiabatically (expand w/ heat exchange)
-leads to a series of air circulations cells 1)0-30º Hadley - trade winds [wet tropics, seasonal savanna, and deserts as move north] 2)30-60º Ferrell - westerlies [chaparral and temperate zone] 3)60-90º Polar - [tundra and polar zones] |
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What drives ocean currents and what is their effect?
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Surface wind moves water, but Coriolis effect causes it to move at an angle (clockwise direction in N) meaning W coasts always have cool water coming from tropics.
-therefore less rain on W coasts -upwelling at W coasts and polar zones bring nutrients back to surface |
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What causes local variations in biomes?
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1)Mountains: rain shadow and elevation effects
2)ENSO/PDO (∆s in ocean surface T) 3)Nearness to shore: more ∆ over year in continental climates |
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What climatic factors are most important in determining location of biomes?
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Precipitation and temperature
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Name the three terrestrial biomes found in MN and describe them in terms of vegetation, climate, soils, biodiversity and disturbance patterns.
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--------------Boreal Forest --|--Decidous Forest ---|----Prairie
Rainfall: ----450-510mm-------410-460------------------60-410 Temp: 20-22.5º 21.5 - 25º 20-25º Growing ssn: 90-100 100-130 120-180 Vegetation: pines, spruce basswood, maple grass Species rich: 3 1 2 NPP: 3 1 2 Soil: acidic fertile lots organic |
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What factors determine the forest-prairie boundary?
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Disturbance due to fire and decrease in precipitation.
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Most disturbed biomes?
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Prairie, chaparral, and deciduous forest, b/c good for farming.
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More sustainable agriculture?
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1)Polyculture
2)Cover crops 3)Better herbicides pesticides 4)crop rotations 5)small farms 6)heritage seeds |
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Name all terrestrial biomes and state vegetation, climate, and biodiversity.
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1)Tundra: short plants to survive cold, permafrost and short growing season - below freezing most of yr w/ low precip - low biodiversity
2)Boreal Forest(Taiga) - coniferous trees - seasonal w/ cold winters - lowish biodiversity 3)Temperate Grasslands(Prairie) - tall/short grass - seasonal temp and precip - med biodiversity 4)Temperate shrubland/woodland(Chaparral or Mediterranean): small trees/shrubs - very seasonal moisture that mostly in winter, in S Ferrell cell, asychrony b/t precip and T - low biodiversity 5)Desert - few plants(succulents ephemerals) - all year low precip and hot - low biodiversity 6)Tropical rainforest - all year high pricip and warm temps - very high biodiversity - tall vegetation driven by competition for light (canopy, understory, floor) = multilayered 7)Temperate deciduous - multilayered - high biod. - high seasonality w/ synchronous moisture and temp 8)Tropical dry forest - very seasonal precip, warm all yr - multilayered - not lot of fires - high biodiversity 9)Tropical savannas - very seasonal precip - med biod. - fires frequent 10)Temperate evergreen - high biodiversity - low-high rainfall w/ cool-warm temps(basically in a lot of places w/ nutrient poor soil) |
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What are the aquatic ecosystems and their distinguishing features?
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1)Rivers(lotic): river continuum concept, pattern of ripples/pools, main channel and benthic bottom and hyporheic zone below
2)Lakes(lentic): plankton and fish in pelagic zone, oligotrophic [cold, low nutrients, high O2] vs eutrophic [opposite] lakes, yearly turnover as T changes 3)Open Ocean(pelagic): area that sunlight penetrates, must adapt to stay near surface, low NPP per area but high in sum 4)Deep Ocean (benthic): low T and high P, high nutrients detritus 5)Shallow Ocean - kelp forest: holdfasts attach to solid substrate, must be grazed 6)Shallow ocean - coral reef: built from the shells of corals, high NPP, and very high biodiversity 7)Nearshore - salt marshes: more temperate, emergent plants(rise out of water), high nutrients from rivers, must deal w/ flooding from tides 8)Nearshore - mangroves: more tropical, adapted to live in and out of water, must cope w/ salt |
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What are the main causes and types of fires?
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Types:
1)Surface - quick, burn litter layer and herbaceous plants 2)Crown - in canopy 3)Ground - slow/hot, through peat bogs or coal seams Causes: -lightening (70%) or human |
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What are pros/cons of fires?
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Pros:
1)Incr diversity 2)removes invasive species 3)recycles nutrients 4)helps seed dispersal /germination 5)reduce disease Cons: 1)kill trees/animals 2)erosion on cleared land 3)property damages 4)hurt logging/tourism industries 5)negatively affect C budget |
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How did 1988 Yellowstone fire affect fire policy?
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Taught about different types of forest that rely on stand clearing fires (like yellowstone) and low-intensity surface fires (ponderosa pine forest)
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What is the value of the LTER stations?
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Help us to study and understand the biomes. Discovered El Niño and teach us abt climate change.
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What are the soil layers?
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-O = organic rich layer
-A = mineral soil mixed w/ organics -B = material leached from A -C = weathered parent material |
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Characteristics of mountain biomes?
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-lots wind
-isolated and unique -affected more by elevation than latitude |
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Explain common garden experiments?
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Demonstrate how much difference w/in a species is due to acclimitization and how much to adaptation (ecotypes w/ gentic change.)
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What are tolerance limits? What is their importance?
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The degree to which an organism can survive stressful conditions. All w/in a range (not too little or too much) of heat, minerals, water, etc.
-basically Shelford's law of tolerance They determine theoretical geographic distribution |
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How do endotherms and ectotherms vary? Why does body size matter?
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Endotherms = keep homeostatsis of temperature w/in their body controlled by metabolic rate.
-Strategies: Use countercurrent H exchange to account cool limbs, torpor to survive cold nights, and hibernation to survive cold winter, eat a lot to stay warm -have a zone of thermal neutrality, below which they must increase metabolic rate to stay warm Ectotherms = Regulate body temp by managing heat exchange w/ environment. -linear graph of metabolic rate to heat until heat kills/stresses them SA:V matters b/c bigger an organism the lower their SA and the easier it is to maintain a T. Its hard for shrews, must eat a lot. |
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Compare adaptation and acclimatization.
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Acc = short term physiological / morphological changes (eg trout ∆ enzyme expression based on Temp)
-Ex: Frost hardening and extracellular ice nucleation Adap = genetic changes (either allele frequency or code variation) -Ex: jackrabbits large ears, Allen's Rule(smaller extremities in colder climates), Burgman's rule(body size incr in colder climates) |
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Factors determining heat budget.
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SR = IRin - IRout +/- Hconvection +/- Hconduction +/- Hevap + Hmet
-Note metabolism heat mainly for animals and most crucial for endotherms. -Conduction = direct H transfer -Convection = H carried by moving air and water |
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What are the facts on climate change?
-greenhouse affect -CO2 change in industrial era -global temp changes in next 100yrs -T changes mitigation |
-CO2: 315ppm in 1960 to 370ppm 2000
-Mitigate = don't destroy biodiversity in other ways, don't deforest and destroy evapotranspiration. -100yrs: incr of less 2.5ºC to >4.5ºC |
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What are responses of species to climate change?
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1)Range shifts: kill species on mountains/islands
2)Adaptive plasticity = ∆ in lifestyle or gene pool 3)Extinction (Ex: golden toad Mesa Verde) |
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Climate changes affect on oceans?
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1)Incr in T
2)Decr in pH (acidify) 3)Red in carbonate ions 4)Decr in diversity, incr in disease 5)Decr NPP |
