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;
16 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
ecosystems |
consists of all the organisms living in a community and its abiotic factors |
|
|
trophic relationships |
energy flows and nutrient cycles |
|
|
trophic efficency |
percentage of production transferred from one trophic level to the next - about 5-20% ex: caterpillar gets 1/6 of energy from leaf, rest goes to poop |
|
|
green world hypothesis |
-plants have defenses against herbivores -nutrients limit herbivores -competition and predator/prey interactions check herbivore densities |
|
|
nutrient cycles |
biological and geochemical processes move nutrient between organic and inorganic parts ex: nitrogen, phosphorous, water CO2 |
|
|
decomposition |
decompose organic material and return elements to inorganic reservoirs |
|
|
Gross Primary Production (GPP) |
total primary production in an ecosystem total photosynthesis + carbon fixation |
|
|
Net Primary Production (NPP) |
GPP - energy used by primary producers for respiration -only available for consumers -rainforests have highest productivity -ocean unproductive -put fertilizer in ocean with iron, increase productivity |
|
|
evapotranspiration |
amount of water annually transpired by plants and evaporated from a landscape |
|
|
Hubbard Brook Experiment |
constructed a dam to monitor water and mineral loss cleared cut forest and sprayed valley with herbicides higher N2 runoff in deforested area -the return of soil nutrients lost due to acidification will take decades or longer |
|
|
Anthropogenic Effects |
human population is distrupting chemical cycles throughout biosphere 1/3 of N2 fixation comes from humans |
|
|
eutrophication |
increased nutrient availability leads to excessive algal production, break down and use too much oxygen, large animals die from lack of oxygen |
|
|
Acid precipitation |
combustion of fossil fuels releases sulfur, causes acid precipitation H+ ions replace other ions in soil, drains nutrients, leads to defoliation |
|
|
DDT |
insecticide made by humans, insects developed resistance, doesn't break down in environment |
|
|
FACTS-I Experiment |
how elevated levels of CO2 influences tree growth -maintained elevated level of CO2 in circles |
|
|
Ozone |
protects life on earth from radiation depleting from chlorine releasing pollutants produced by human activity sky is blue bc refraction and ozone |
