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27 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Define Ecology
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The scientific study of the interaction between living organisms and their environment.
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What are communities?
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Associations of organisms
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Plants are the essential biotic component; what are the three parts of their job?
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Leaf activity
Photosynthesis/Respiration Biomass |
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What is biomass?
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Net primary productivity
(How much standing organic matter are plants producing? Measured in units/yr) |
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What are the abiotic (environmental) ecosystem components?
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Light, temperature, water, climate, & life zones (vertical/horizontal distribution of organisms)
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What is transpiration?
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Plants act as pumps, processing and secreting water.
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Give a few examples of elemental (biogeochemical) cycles
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Oxygen cycle, carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle
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What is the name for the forces that control distribution of plants & animals on Earth's surface? eg. Saguaro cactus in desert
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Limiting factors
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What are the three types of biotic ecosystem operators?
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Producers (autotrophs)
Consumers (heterotrophs) Decomposers |
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Which model is more accurate than the traditional "food chain?"
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The food web - in the web of life, all components are interrelated.
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What is the name for a predator at the top of the food web/chain?
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Apical Predator
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Arrange the participants on the trophic/food pyramid in order from top to bottom (smallest number to highest)
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Apical predators/Tertiary consumers
Secondary consumers Primary consumers (herbivores) Producers (autotrophs) |
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What forces control biomes?
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Combinations of temperature and precipitation
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What gas is produced by clear-cutting?
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Carbon Dioxide
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Is it more energy-efficient to eat higher or lower on the food chain?
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Lower
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What is the term for species richness of life on Earth?
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Biodiversity
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How does biological evolution deliver biodiversity?
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Adaptation, mutations, geographical changes all contribute to variations in species.
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How does environmental disturbance (fire, volcanic eruption, farming) affect ecosystem stability & diversity?
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It resets ecological succession - more complex communities replace older, simpler communities of plants & animals
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What is a climax ecosystem?
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One as big & full as it can get.
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What is the term for the first (pioneer) species emerging after a disturbance?
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Primary succession
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What is the term for the gradual infilling of a lake or pond?
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Eutrophication
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Explain Malthus' Dismal Theorem.
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As resources double, population increases exponentially, outstripping the resources.
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Name the major terrestrial biomes discussed in class
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Equatorial & Tropical Rain Forest
Tropical Seasonal Forest & Scrub Tropical Savanna Midlatitude Broadleaf & Mixed Forest (aka boreal/taiga) Needleleaf Forest & Montane Forest Temperate Rain Forest Mediterranean Shrubland Midlatitude Grasslands Warm desert & semidesert Cold desert & semidesert Arctic & Alpine Tundra |
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Where on Earth does maximum biodiversity generally occur?
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Near the equator
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What is the purpose of fire ecology?
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Imitating nature by setting deliberate, controlled ground fires to spur succession.
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How does global warming affect the greening front (areas of moisture input)?
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Moisture comes in brief, intense spurts, so water runs off and doesn't saturate earth/plans.
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Why are larger animals more prone to extinction?
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Populations are smaller, and they have fewer offspring which take longer to gestate and to mature.
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