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101 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Abiotic
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non-living
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Biotic
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living components
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What affects the distrubition of life?
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temperature and precipitatin
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Why do world biomes in a graph, overlap one another?
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It is an indicator that the average annual precipitation and average annual temperature are not the only factors that influence their latitude, elevation, and temperature.
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Latitude?
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the distrance measured in degrees north or south from the equator
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What does latitude affect?
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it can influence the characteristics and distribution of biomes because it affects temperature and precipitation
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What does elevation effect?
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the effect on temperature
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Elevation?
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the height of a land mass above sea level.
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What are the 3 major biomes of Canada?
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The boreal forest, the tundra, and the temperate rainforest.
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Ocean currents affect what?
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temperature and precipitation
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Climate
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the long-term pattern of temperature and precipitation
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Latitude
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distance from the equator
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Elevation
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height above sea level
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Winds an currents
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movements of warm and cold masses or air/water
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Climatograph
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a graphical way to show the monthly changes in temperature and precipitation throughout the year
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Biomes
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Large terrestrial ecosystems that have similir environments and exist over a wide area.
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Tundra
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a biome that is cold, permafrost, less that 25cm annually
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Boreal forest
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(35-75cm) conifers, dense, "taiga", canopy.
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Temperate Deciduos forest
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(75-220 cm) ferns with an understory
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Termperate Rainforest
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(200cm - 350cm) coastal ountains, abundant moisture, lots of decay.
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Grassland
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savannas (tropical), greatest variety of herbivores, 25-75cm
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Tropical rainforest
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200-450 cm 20 and 25 degrees celcius, 750+ species of trees, soil: relatively thin and unfertile, roots at top
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Deserts
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less than 25 cm, vegetation is sparse, leaves are small and covered with waxy layer to slow down evaporation.
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Polar Ice
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permanent ice, 8 weeks of straight daylight, annually, specialized redators hunt marine life. (e.g. polar bears)
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Biogeoclimatic zones
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zones divided into 14.
Bio (plants) Geo (land) Climatic (Climate) |
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Adaption
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any gentic trait that improves an organism's chance of surviving and reproducing.
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Natural Selection
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A process that favours the survival of organisms with traits that make them better adapted to the environment.
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Mimicry
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one species resembles another that is poisonous, dangerous or distastefu.
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Coevolution
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Predator and prey species adapt in response to each other's adaptations.
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Biodiversity
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erfers to the variety and variation of organisms within a certain ecosystem or biome for the entire earth.
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Primary Prouctivity
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a measure of the available energy provided by the producers in an ecosystem.
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Extirpratation
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the phenomenon of local extinction which occurs when a species ceases to exist in one area, but still exists somewhere else in the world.
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Keystone species
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species whose presense plays an importantrole in determining the types and numbers of other species in a particular community.
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Niche
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the overall role of an organism in a community including the range of abiotic and biotic conditions that an organism can tolerate.
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Pyramid of energy
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an ecological pyramid that uses blocks of different lengths to represent how much energy is available in each trophic level.
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Pyramid of numbers
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represents the actual number of organism present in each trophic level
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Pyramd of biomass
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representation of total mass of living things in each trophic level.
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Organic matter
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compounds that always contain carbon and hydrogen
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Inorganic matter
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matter that is not of biological origin; may or may not caontain carbon. Usually mineral origin.
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Photosynthesis
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when plants use the Sun's energy CO2+H20 ----> carbohydrates + 02
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cellular respiration (to produce energy)
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carbohydrates+O2----------> CO2+H20
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carbon resevoirs
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[oceans, forests and fossils] absorb more carbon than they release.
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Carbon sinks
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resevoirs that absorb more carbon than they release
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Fossil fuels
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[coal, oil, gas] phtosynthetic organisms that may be compressed to fossil fuels if buried before fully decomposed.
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Carbon source
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more carbon is released than stored
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Carbon cycle
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the cycling of carbon through ecosystems
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GreenHouse Gases
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act like the glass of a greenhouse by trapping heat from the sun in the atmoshpere resulting in the "Green House Effect"
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Oxygen cycle
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describes the path of oxygen through ecosystems
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Aerobic respiration
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O2 releases energy in carbohydrates
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Anaerobic respiration
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O2 is not need to release energy in carbohydrates
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Nitrogen cycle
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the movement of nitrogen between the abiotic and biotic components of the bioshpehere is called the Nitrogen Cycle
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Nitrogen fixation
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when nitrogen from nitrogen gas, is "fixed" with hyrogen to produce ammonium
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Legumes
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Crops with nitrogen fixing bacteria in the nodules of their roots
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Nitrate
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a highly soluable form of nitrogen containing both N2+ 02
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Denitrification
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a group of bacteria converts ammonia and nitrate back to nitrogen gas in this process
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Phosphate cycle
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describes the path of phosphorus weathering off sedimentary and metamorphic bedrock in Earth's crust
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Phosphate ions
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are soluable in water and can be dissolved out of rock into soil or water environments through the process of weathering
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Mycorrhizae
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[myco] fungus that increases the solubility of phosphate making t more readily availbale for the plant.
in return, the plant provides carbohydtraes for the fungus during photosynthesis |
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Competition
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organisms make use of the same resource so that their niches overlap.
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Interspecific competition
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competition between different species
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Intraspecific competition
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when organisms of the smae species compete
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Resource Partioning
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different species have different traits that allow them to use a resource at a different tiem, place or way.
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Adaptive Radiation
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when species adapt differently to changes to the environment
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Proliferation
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species: numbers of individuals with ech new trait increases
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foreign species
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species that are not native to that particular ecosystem.
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ecological succession
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the gradual change in types of plants that represent the structure of a community
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pioneer species
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arrvie first, colonize the environment
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primary succesion
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begins in an area that is lifeless and alcking nutrients. eventually makes soil
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climax community
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a developed, complex, stable ecosystem
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secondary succession
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begins in an area that already has soil and sediments but wehre there has been a significant disturbance (fire etc.)
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ecology
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the study of how organisms interact with eachother
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organism
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first and simplest level of organization. Studied by behaviours, functions and body structures that an organism has to have to survive its habitat.
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habitat
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the region in which an organism lives
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population
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second level of organization, all organisms of the same species share a habitat. Study how the numbers of organism cahnge over time.
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community
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third level of organization. all the different populations in a particular area interact
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ecosystem
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4th and most complex level of organization includes the living community as well as the physical environement in which organisms live
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biosphere
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the total area of the Earth where living things are found (including the soil, atmosphere and ocean)
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Dynamic Equilibrium
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the type of balance where there is continuous change but the overal system remains stable.
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Limiting Factor
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the most critical factor determining types of organisms hat can exist in an ecosystem.
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Nutrients
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elements and compounds organisms need to grow and live.
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Producers/Autotroughs
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organisms that make their own food, using energy from the sun in a process called phototsynthesis
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Phytoplankton
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microscopic algae
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consumers/heterotrophs
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ingest other organisms and break down the chemical bonds within those organisms to obtain energy
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herbivores and primary consumers
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eat producers
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zooplankton
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eats phytoplankton
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carnivores
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only eats other consumers
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detrivores
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consumers that feed on waste material in an ecosystem
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decomposers
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special type of consumer that breaks down comples molecules found in dead organisms and waste matter into simple molecules
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biodegration
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decomposers making nutrients contained in waste and dead matter available once again, through this process
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predation
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consumer captures and eats another organims when a predator eats prey
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"predatory-prey" cycle
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rise and fall in the populations of predator and prey.
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symbiosis
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any close relationship between 2 different species
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symbiosis
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any close relationship between 2 different species
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mutualism
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a relationship in which both species obtain some benefit from the interaction
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commenalism
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one organism benefits while the other species is unaffected
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parasitism
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one organism lives/feeds on or in the body of another organism called the host
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how do parasites benefit?
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get nutrients from the host
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trophic level
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the position of the organism in relation to the order of nutrient energy transfers
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food chain
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pathway taken by nutrients and energy through the trophic levels is called a food chain.
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food web
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a more accurate picture of nutrient and energy pathways in an ecosystem is illustrated by this.
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ecological pyramid. food pyramid
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a pyramid diagram that shows the pathway of energy through an ecosystem
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