Ecology And Evolution Fall 2013

Front 1

biosphere

Back 1

The highest level of organization of ecological systems is the___________-the thin layer surrounding the Earth that supports all of life.

Front 2

Individual
population
community
ecosystem
landscape
biome
biosphere

Back 2

What is the hierarchy of ecological systems?

Front 3

theory

Back 3

an integrated set of hypotheses that together explain a broader set of observations than any single hypothesis

Front 4

models

Back 4

abstract, simplified representations of real systems

Front 5

environmental science

Back 5

examines the impact of humans on the natural environment and as such covers a wide range of topics including agronomy, soils, demography, agriculture, energy, and hydrology, to name but a few

Front 6

habitability

Back 6

ability of the physical environment to support life

Front 7

weather

Back 7

the combination of temperature, humidity, precipitation, wind, cloudiness, etc. occurring at a specific place and time

Front 8

climate

Back 8

long-term average pattern of weather

Front 9

latitude and seasons and cycles

Back 9

intercepted solar radiation varies by___________

Front 10

66.5 degrees N and 66.5 degrees S

Back 10

what latitude is the temperate zone?

Front 11

zero degrees

Back 11

What latitude is the equator?

Front 12

23.5 degrees N and 23.5 degrees S

Back 12

what latitude is the tropic zone

Front 13

troposphere

Back 13

what atmospheric region is where most life occurs and most climate/weather events occur?

Front 14

convective circulation

Back 14

___________= less dense, warmer air rises and creates vertical currents

Front 15

coriolis effect

Back 15

deflection in the pattern of air flow due to differences in rotation speed.

Front 16

Hadley cell

Back 16

0 degrees at the equator, air rises and cools, drops moisture, what type of cell is this?

Front 17

air sinking, dry

Back 17

What happens to air and weather at 30 degrees?

Front 18

air rising, wet

Back 18

What happens to air and weather at 60 degrees?

Front 19

air sinking, because cool, dry
Polar cell

Back 19

What happens to air and weather at 90 degrees and what type of cell is this?

Front 20

solar energy, wind, Earth's rotation

Back 20

what creates ocean currents?

Front 21

gyres

Back 21

-2 main circular water motions occurring in each ocean
-rotation varies by hemisphere

Front 22

rain shadow

Back 22

forms on the leeward side of a mountain (or range) due to the loss of moisture from air as it travels up and over the mountains from the windward side

Front 23

microclimates

Back 23

-local conditions that so not match the general climate profile of the larger region surrounding them
-variations in light, heat, moisture exist

Front 24

Earth's orbit and tilt
solar activity

Back 24

variations in Earth's climate system operate on timescales ranging from decades to thousands of years, because of variations in:

Front 25

75-95%

Back 25

water is the essential substance of life. __________% of the weight of all living cells is water

Front 26

75%

Back 26

water covers _____% of the Earth's surface and is the dominant environment on Earth.

Front 27

97%

Back 27

What percent of the Earth's water is saltwater

Front 28

3%

Back 28

what percent of Earths water is freshwater

Front 29

2%

Back 29

what percent of the Earths freshwater is ice

Front 30

hydrologic cycle (aka water cycle)

Back 30

-process by which water cycles between land and the atmosphere
-solar radiation is the driving force because it provides energy for the evaporation of water

Front 31

precipitation

Back 31

water falls from the atmosphere

Front 32

infiltration

Back 32

occurs when water reaches soil and filters down to ground water

Front 33

interception

Back 33

when water is kept from the soil somehow and evaporates

Front 34

evaporation

Back 34

water molecules gain enough energy to escape other water molecules

Front 35

transpiration

Back 35

evaporation from the inside of a plant through its stoma

Front 36

evapotranspiration

Back 36

the total amount of evaporating water from the surfaces of the ground and vegetation

Front 37

ground water

Back 37

some water entering the soil seeps down to an impervious layer of clay or rock to collect as _______

Front 38

frequency distribution

Back 38

a count of the number of observations (frequency) having a given score or value

used to display continuous data

Front 39

natural selection

Back 39

process by which traits enhancing survival and reproduction are passed on more frequently to future generations than those that do not

Front 40

evolution

Back 40

genetic change in populations of organisms across generations

Front 41

environmentalism

Back 41

activism with a stated aim of protecting the natural environment, particularly from negative impacts of human activities

Front 42

ecology

Back 42

scientific study of the relationships between organisms and their environment

Front 43

landscape

Back 43

an area of land or water composed of a patchwork of communities and ecosystems

Front 44

environment

Back 44

_____ includes the physical and chemical conditions as well as the biological or living components of an organisms surroundings

Front 45

relationship

Back 45

________ includes interactions with the physical world as well as with members of the same and other species

Front 46

ecosystem

Back 46

the environment that includes both the physical conditions and the array of organisms that coexist with in its confines

Front 47

1. biotic
2. abiotic

Back 47

the ecosystem consists of 2 basic interacting components: the living__1___ and the nonliving )___2___

Front 48

population

Back 48

a group of individuals of the same species that occupy a given area

Front 49

community

Back 49

all populations of different species living and interacting within an ecosystem are referred to collectively as a ______

Front 50

biomes

Back 50

broad scale regions dominated by similar types of ecosystems, such as tropical rain forest, grasslands, and deserts, are referred to as ________

Front 51

Ogallala Aquifer

Back 51

-World's largest known aquifer
-underlies the Great Plains of the US
-ground water is depleted in many areas of this aquifer
-water is leftover from last ice age, about 10,000 years ago

Front 52

viscocity

Back 52

measure of force necessary to separate molecules

Front 53

epilemnon
thermocline
hypolimnon

Back 53

name the layers of the ocean

Front 54

epilemnon

Back 54

which layer of the ocean is warmer, lighter water

Front 55

hypolimnon

Back 55

which layer of the ocean is colder, denser water

Front 56

thermocline

Back 56

which layer of the ocean is the area where temperature declines rapidly

Front 57

nutrient and gas distribution

Back 57

what do the layers of the ocean affect

Front 58

0.01-0.02%

Back 58

what is the solute concentration of freshwater

Front 59

3.5%

Back 59

what is the solute concentration of oceans

Front 60

0%

Back 60

what is the solute concentration of the atmosphere

Front 61

diffusion

Back 61

tendency of molecules to move from a region of high concentration to one of lower concentration

Front 62

-layers don't mix well
-temp stratified
-surface water gets DO from atmosphere and photosynthetic organisms
-deeper water has benthic organisms using DO with little replacement

Back 62

Reasons for DO stratified in some lakes

Front 63

-mixing with air at the surface
-high amount of phytoplankton
-cold, dense water sinks at the poles and takes DO with it
-deep water currents may take 1,000s of years to circulate

Back 63

reasons for 0xygen distribution in oceans

Front 64

CO2 buffer system

Back 64

what system generally acts as a buffer and keeps the pH of water within a narrow range

Front 65

ocean horizontal currents

Back 65

-occur from density differences, heating and cooling, Earth rotation, and wind
-influence global climate
-transport heat, nutrients, pollution, and larvae of many marine species

Front 66

upwelling

Back 66

flow of cold, deep water towards the surface

Front 67

downwelling

Back 67

surface currents converge and forces warm, oxygenated water down

Front 68

intertidal ecosystems

Back 68

-where the ocean meets the land
-between the uppermost reach of the high tide and the lowest limit of the low tide
- high biodiversity

Front 69

estuaries

Back 69

-where rivers flow into the ocean
-habitat for shorebirds, shellfish, and many fish
-transitional zone for many fish species
-affected by development, pollution, habitat alteration, water shortages, and overfishing

Front 70

tidal overmixing

Back 70

-occurs when heavier seawater sinks as lighter freshwater rises
-happens every 12 hours

Front 71

observation
question
hypothesis
prediction
test hypothesis
results

Back 71

what are the steps of the scientific method, in order

Front 72

intraspecific

Back 72

relationships within the same species

Front 73

interspecific

Back 73

relationships between different species

Front 74

cation exchange capacity (CEC)

Back 74

total number of negatively charged sites on soil particles

basic measure of soil quality

Front 75

topsoil

Back 75

__________= O and A horizons, most nutritive for plants

Front 76

horizon

Back 76

_________=each layer of soil

Front 77

Gleization

Back 77

soil is too wet for aerobic bacteria to decompose organic material

Front 78

podzolization

Back 78

acidification of soil by conifer needles

Front 79

laterization

Back 79

-heavy leaching of nutrients
-common in the tropics and subtropics

Front 80

salinization

Back 80

-salt deposits near the soil surface
-occurs in very dry climates due to high irrigation levels

Front 81

leaching

Back 81

__________= dissolved particles )including nutrients) moving down through horizons

Front 82

weathering

Back 82

the physical, chemical, or biological processes that break down rocks to help form soil

Front 83

parent material

Back 83

= the base geologic material of soil (lithic material)

Front 84

calcification

Back 84

-upward movement of alkaline salts (CaCo3) to topsoil
-evaporation and water uptake by plants exceed precipitation

Front 85

disintegrated rock
organic matter
water
gases
nutrients
microorganisms

Back 85

what are the soil system components?

Front 86

soil order

Back 86

broadest level of soil classifaication

Front 87

geology
climate
vegetation

Back 87

regional differences in _______, __________, and __________ give rise to characteristically different soils.

Front 88

soil

Back 88

-medium for plant growth and a habitat to a diversity of animal life
-a system that includes interactions between biotic and abiotic processes

Front 89

PAR - photosynthetically active radiation

Back 89

light in the spectrum that plants can actually use

Front 90

sunflecks

Back 90

__________ can account for 70-80% of the solar energy reaching the ground in forest environments

Front 91

primary productivity

Back 91

amounts of biomass given in unit of time- amount of carbon fixing

Front 92

evapotranspiration
primary productivity

Back 92

LAI can be used to predict/estimate...

Front 93

leaf area index (LAI)

Back 93

= the area of leaves per unit ground area

Front 94

wilting point

Back 94

occurs when plants can no longer extract water from the soil

Front 95

forest vs meadow
10% reflected 20% reflected
2% reaches ground 5%reaches ground

Back 95

Forest vs Meadow
How much light is reflected and how much reaches the ground in each of the above environments?

Front 96

absorption and reflection

Back 96

the vertical gradiant and quality of light in terrestrial environments are determined by the _________and _________ of solar radiation by plants

Front 97

-fur, feathers, fat-insolation
-body size
-metabolism
-behavior (basking, hibernation)

Back 97

what adaptations do terrestrial animals have to maintain temperature homeostasis?

Front 98

dormancy
antifreeze

Back 98

what adaptations do terrestrial plants have to maintain temperature homeostasis?

Front 99

-epithelial tissues
-breathing modifications
-kidney, salt pumps, etc.

Back 99

what adaptations do terrestrial animals have for minimizing water loss?

Front 100

-cuticles (waxy coating)
-dermal tissues (regulate exchange with the environment)
-CAM photosynthesis

Back 100

what adaptations do terrestrial plants have for minimizing water loss?

Front 101

capillary water

Back 101

water held between soil particles by adhesion

Front 102

field capacity

Back 102

when water fills all of the pore spaces and is held by capillary forces

Front 103

saturated

Back 103

when there's more water than the pore space can hold and excess water drains from the soil

Front 104

water balance

Back 104

to minimize water loss and replace lost water

Front 105

dessication

Back 105

loss of water, probably the greatest constraint imposed by terrestrial environments

Front 106

homeostasis and proper temperature range and a water balance

Back 106

organisms must maintain...

Front 107

homeostasis

Back 107

the right amount of water and solutes through osmoregulation

Front 108

O-organic
A-topsoil
E-eluviation (leaching)
B-subsoil-increased clay and salt concentration
C-decomposed rock (broken up)
R-rock (solid)

Back 108

name the layers of the soil

Front 109

soil color

Back 109

indicates the soil's composition and fertility

Front 110

soil texture

Back 110

determined by the size of the soil's particles

Front 111

loams

Back 111

-a mixture of the different textures of soil
-best for plant growth

Front 112

soil structure
-too few, soil cements together
-too many, roots cant penetrate

Back 112

a measure of soil's "clumpiness", medium clumpiness is best

Front 113

soil pH

Back 113

soil characteristic that affects cation exchange