Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
25 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
Biogeography
|
the study of the distribution of patterns of living organisms and how these patterns change over time
|
|
|
Biodiversity
|
the number of different kinds of organisms present in a location
|
|
|
biota
|
the total complex of plant and animal life. (600,000 species of plants and more than twice that of animals).
|
|
|
Flora
|
plants
|
|
|
fauna
|
animals
|
|
|
plankton
|
inhabitants of the ocean
- animals and plants that float |
|
|
neckton
|
animals such as fish and marine mammals that swim freely
|
|
|
benthos
|
animals and plants that live on or in the ocean bottom
|
|
|
linnaean scheme
(biological classification) |
useful for geographers
- based entirely on anatomic similarites |
|
|
binomial system
|
focuses primarily on the morphology of organisms and groups them on the basis of structural similarity
|
|
|
biogeochemical cycles
|
the cycles that allow the biosphere to function properly, chemical substances are recycled continually through these biogeochemical cycles
- first absorbed by an organism, then returned to the air/water/soil through decomposition |
|
|
the flow of energy
|
the sun is the basic energy source on which nearly all life ultimately depends.
|
|
|
photosynthesis
|
when solar energy that reaches earth is fixed (made stable) by green plants.
|
|
|
process of photosynthesis
|
in the presence of sunlight and chlorophyll, a photochemical reactions takes carbon dioxide from the aire and combiness it with water to for the energy rich carbohydrate compounds that we know as sugars while also releasing molecular oxygen
|
|
|
plant respiration
(carbohydrates + O2-> Co2+ H2O+ Energy (heat)) |
when stored energy in the carbohydrates is consumed directly by the plant itself.
stored energy in carbohydrates is oxidized, releasing water, carbon dioxide and heat energy |
|
|
net primary productivity
|
describes the net photosynthesis of a plant community over a period of one year, usually measured in the amount of fixed carbon per unit area
- highest on land withing he tropics, generally diminishes poleward - |
|
|
biomass
|
dry weight of the organic material of a community
|
|
|
hydrologic cycle
|
the movement of water from one sphere to another
-found in residence and in transit -residence: with it's hydrogen chemically bound into plant and animal tissues -transit: as part of the transpiration- respiration stream in which water moves back and forth between the environment and living organisms |
|
|
carbon cycle
|
the transfer of carbon from carbon dioxide to living matter and then back again to carbon dioxide
-starts when carbon dioxide from atmosphere is photosynthesized into carbohydrate compounds(assimilation), in turn respiration by plants and soil returns carbon to the atmosphere in the for of carbon dioxide |
|
|
oxygen cycle |
oxygen is released into the air through photosynthesis is taken up by living organisms in respiration or chemically w/ rocks.
-most oxygen released into the atmosphere is molecular; released when plants decompose water molecules in photosynthesis -sources include atmospheric ozone, oxygen involved in the oxidative weathering of rocks, o2 stored in and sometimes released from carbonate rocks, and various other processes including burning fossil fuels |
|
|
nitrogen cycle
|
-inexhaustible component of the atmosphere
-only a limited number of organisms can use it in its gaseous form -the movement of n2 in and out of the biosphere from forms of nitrogen that can be used by organisms and then back to forms that cannot |
|
|
Nitrogen fixation
|
when nitrogen is converted its usable form (nitrogen compounds a.k.a nitrates) that can be used by plants
-fixed in the atmosphere by lightning and cosmic radiation -also fixed in the ocean by marine organisms |
|
|
phosphorus cycling(mineral cycling)
|
- nutrients follow sedimentary pathways, which involve interchange between biota and earth-ocean environment (phosphorus, calcium, sulfur, copper, and zinc) -in a typical sedimentary cycle the element is weathered from bedrock into the soil. Some of it is then washed down slope with the surface with surface runoff or percolated into the groundwater supply |
|
|
food chains
|
-producers (self-feeders;autotrophs): plants
-consumers (heterotrophs); whatever eats the plants -primary consumers: plant-eating animals -secondary consumers: animals that eat other animals (carnivores;predators) |
|
|
food pyramids
|
kkj
|
