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32 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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biosphere
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part of earth that suports life
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ecology
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the scientific study of the interactions of organisms with their environments
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biotic factors
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the living environmental variables that organisms interact with
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abiotic factors
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the non-living environmental variables that organisms interact with
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habitat
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includes all of the biotic and abiotic factors in an organisms environment
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levels of ecology:
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organism
population community ecosystem |
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organism level
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studies an individual's adaptaions for survival
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population level
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all of the individuals of the same species that freely interbreed with eachother
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community level
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all of the populations in an area that can interact with each other
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ecosystem level
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the community and all abiotic factors
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examples of abiotic factors:
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energy source (ultimately, sun)
temp water inorganic nutrients: nitrogen and phosphorous aquatic factors: O2, salinit, currents, tides terrestrial factors: wind, fire |
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the most important factors that determine whether a particulat organism can live in an area are:
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rainfall, temperature, and sunlight
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higher lattitude ->
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less anual sunlight and temperature -> less life -> less photosynthesis
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higher lattitudes have:
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greater seasonal variation in temp and sun b/c of the tilt of the earth (23.5)
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____absorbs moisture
____releases moisture |
descending dry air
ascending warm air |
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rain shadow deserts are caused by:
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water condenses, rises, and cools from oceans. the wind blows the rain towards land, and the mountians sheild the other side from water.
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currents can:
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change the climate of an area by transporting huge quantities of heat from the equatorial regions to the higher latitudes
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biome
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a terrestrial ecosystem described by it's predominant form of plant life
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factors that influence the temp of an area are:
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lattitude, currents, season, altitude
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factors that influence the rainfall of an area are:
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trade winds, rain shadows, high/low pressure
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what lattitudes do most of the deserts occur at? why?
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30 north and south because the trade winds cause there to be descending dry air here which absorbs water.
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tropical forest
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near equator
warm temp high rainfall, highly variable layer forest poor soil |
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savannas
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warm year round
wet and dry monsoon seasons tree growth inhibited by fire and grazing large migratory grazing mammals |
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deserts
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arid
30 N&S latitude rainshadows of mountains may be hot or cold rapid growth following rain vegitation has deep roots and most are suculants (adaptaions for conserving water) animals adapted to drought and extreme temps |
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chaparral
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"place of evergreen scrub oaks"
dense spiny shrubs with tough evergreen leaves mild rainy winters and hot dry summers coastal adapted to periodic fires (some plants can only reproduce after one) |
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temperate grasslands
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mostly treeless due to lack of rainfall, grazing, and fires
cold winter temps deep soil variations in rainfall determine types of grasses (short/long) |
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temperate forests
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midlatitudes with enough moisture to support large trees
most trees are deciduous (loose leaves) seasonal variation in temp |
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coniferous forests
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long cold winters, short wet summers
thin acidic soil and slow decompesition -> poor soil nutrients taiga - band that stretches across N America, Europe, and Asia from alaska to oregon |
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tundra
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N of the taiga, S of the polar ice caps, also on mt. tops
long cold winters, breif warm summers permafrost (permanately frozen ground) - inhibits tree growth and keeps soil moist animals must be migratory or well adapted to the cold lots of insects |
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what are the names of the major terrestrial biomes?
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tundra
coniferous forests temperate forests temperate grasslands chaparral deserts savannas tropical forest |
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which biomes have low seasonal varriation in temp?
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tropical forest, savannas, deserts
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why dont trees grow in the savannah or temperate grassland?
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because of fire and grazing and sometimes lack of rainfall
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