Ecosystems

Front 1

Watershed

Back 1

A mosaic of land cover types drained by a network of streams. What all rivers flow into.

Front 2

How does watershed influence streams?

Back 2

Precipitation amounts, geology, vegetation types, and human use

Front 3

Seritonous trees

Back 3

Pinecone or other seed case that requires heat from a fire to melt the resins in order to open and release the seed.

Front 4

Tundra

Back 4

-very cold and dark for most of year
-20 cm a year of precipitation
-vegetation=short grasses
-animals=carbou, reindeer, wolves, and ploar bears
-permafrost

Front 5

Alpine Tundra

Back 5

-occurs in the higher mountains of the world and is a severe environment of rock-strewn slopes, bogs and meadows.
-tall mountain above tree line. no permafrost. Rocky.

Front 6

Coniferous Forest

Back 6

-mountain ranges, below tundra
-low temps limit the growing season to a few months each year.
-boreal forest(taiga) huge

Front 7

Taiga

Back 7

-largest expanse of coniferous forest.
-high latitudes of Northern Hemisphere.
-occupies formerly glaciated land.
-caribou, moose, rabbit, squirrel, wolf, lynx, and owl.

Front 8

Temperate Deciduous Forests

Back 8

-well defined growing season in the broadleaf deciduous forests is marked by the autumn leaves.
-oak, beech, maple, shrubs, and ferns.
-squirrels, chipmunks, foxes, deer, black bears, and bobcats.

Front 9

Tropical Rainforests

Back 9

-weather is always warmer, abundant rainfall
-soil is easily eroded when trees are removed
-account for 50% of biological diversity

Front 10

Tropical Seasonal Forests

Back 10

-trees not close together
-availability of sunlight on the forest floor results in dense undergrowth

Front 11

Shrub lands

Back 11

-a shrub is a plant with multiple woody, persistent stems
-waxy leaves, adapted to arid conditions
-subject to burn-off from fires due to dryness
-Chaparral-a dense shrub-land in California
-serotinous trees

Front 12

Grasslands

Back 12

-rainfall greater than 25 cm but not enough to support trees
-subject to fires
-short grass prairies are drier than tall grass
-large grazing ungulates, burrowing mammals

Front 13

Savannas

Back 13

-grasslands that contain some trees

Front 14

Deserts

Back 14

-lack of precipitation
-temperate deserts lie in the rain shadow of mountain barriers or are located far inland
-deep-rooted woody shrubs whose taproots reach the water table
-very shallow roots enabling a quick uptake of water
-many burrowing and nocturnal animals

Front 15

Littoral zone

Back 15

shallow margin, characterized by rooted vegetation

Front 16

Limnetic zone

Back 16

region of open water beyond the littoral zone

Front 17

profundal zone

Back 17

lies beneath the limnetic zone and extends to the bottom of the lake

Front 18

Benthic zone

Back 18

bottom of the lake

Front 19

Nekton

Back 19

free swimming fish

Front 20

Benthos

Back 20

in or on bottom; clams and worms

Front 21

Neuston

Back 21

in or on surface; walk on water

Front 22

Periphyton

Back 22

lives on surfaces of rooted aquatic plants

Front 23

Stratification

Back 23

-water is densest at 4C
-dimictic(mixes 2x per year)
-shallow(<6m deep) or wind exposed lakes don't stratify in the summer (polymictic). Turn over many times per year

Front 24

Oligotrophic

Back 24

-clear water, low productivity, young lake, very desirable fishery of large game fish

Front 25

Mesotrophic

Back 25

between oligotrophic and eutrophic

Front 26

Eutrophic

Back 26

-very productive, rough fish common, lots of nutrients, catfish and carp, poor light penetration, shallow waters

Front 27

Ground Water

Back 27

At the surface or within the soil root zone during all or part of the growing season

Front 28

Hydric soil

Back 28

soils that are characterized by frequent, prolonged water-saturation and low oxygen content, water-logged

Front 29

Specialized vegetation

Back 29

plants adapted for growing in standing water or saturated soils; such as moss, sedges, reeds, cattail, and horsetail,rice, cranberries.

Front 30

Marshes

Back 30

characterized by emergent herbaceous plants(plants, reeds, cattails) water is nutrient rich, slow moving. coastal is affected by tidal action.

Front 31

Swamps

Back 31

dominated by woody plants(hardwoods or evergreens). coastal is affected by tidal action

Front 32

Peatlands(fens)

Back 32

-minerotrophic peatland
-more nutrient rich
-receive water from underground/surfaces
-water is neutral pH, sedges are dominate plant
-decomp is slow, peatland is 1st step in formation of coal

Front 33

Peatland(bogs)

Back 33

-ombrotrophic
-fed exclusively by precipitation
-limited nutrient input, water is very acidic
-sphagnum moss and leatherleaf shrubs are dominate plants, release more H ions

Front 34

Benefits of Wetlands

Back 34

-buffer against hurricanes
-nurseries for fish and shellfish
-flood control
-water purification, slows down flowing water for microbes to affect water
-rest stops for migratory waterfowl

Front 35

Litoral zone

Back 35

between high and low tide mark

Front 36

Benthic zone

Back 36

bottom region

Front 37

Pelagic zone

Back 37

whole body of water

Front 38

Fringing

Back 38

reefs grow seaward from the rocky shores of islands and continents

Front 39

Barrier reefs

Back 39

reefs parallel shorelines of continents and islands and are separated from land by shallow lagoons

Front 40

Atoll

Back 40

rings of coral reefs and islands surrounding a lagoon, formed when a volcanic mountain subsides beneath the surface

Front 41

Radiant Energy

Back 41

shortwave, penetrates glass

Front 42

Heat Energy

Back 42

long wave, trapped by glass

Front 43

Troposphere

Back 43

where most weather events take place

Front 44

Hydrologic Cycle

Back 44

-path of water through environment
-solar energy continually evaporates water stored in the oceans and land and distributes water vapor around globe
-water vapor condenses over land surfaces
-sinkholes are the result of water mining and not putting water back
-a very small percent of the world water is fresh water

Front 45

Global Biochemical Cycles

Back 45

-pathways involve both biotic and abiotic components

Front 46

Reservior

Back 46

source unavailable to producers

Front 47

exchange pool

Back 47

source from which organisms take chemicals

Front 48

biotic community

Back 48

chemicals move through community along food chains

Front 49

Global Biogeochemical(gaseous cycles)

Back 49

element is drawn from and returns to the atmosphere; carbon and nitrogen

Front 50

Global Biogeochemical(sedimentary cycles)

Back 50

element is drawn from soil by plant roots, eaten by consumers, returned to soil by decomposers

Front 51

Carbon Cycle

Back 51

-begins with intake of CO2 during photosynthesis
-Carbon is released in the form of CO2 by cellular respiration either in the plant or in organisms that consumed it.

Front 52

Carbon sinks

Back 52

The parts of the cycle that remove CO2 from the atmosphere(vegetation)

Front 53

Carbon Sources

Back 53

The parts of the cycle that release CO2

Front 54

Nitrogen Cycle

Back 54

Plants take up inorganic nitrogen from the environment and build protein molecules which are later eaten by consumers. N2-NH3-NH4-NO2-NO3-N2

Front 55

Denitrifying bacteria

Back 55

Nitrogen re-enters atmosphere when they break down nitrates into N2 and N2O.

Front 56

Eutrophication

Back 56

nutrient enrichment

Front 57

Phosphorous Cycle

Back 57

leached from rocks and minerals and usually transported in aqueous form