Environmental Science Ch. 3

Front 1

Define: Ecology

Back 1

The study of interactions among and between organisms in their abiotic environment;Broadest field in biology. “eco” house & “logy” study of

Front 2

Define: Biotic

Back 2

Living environment, including all organisms.

Front 3

Define: Abiotic

Back 3

Non living or physical environment, including living space, sunlight, soil, participation, etc.

Front 4

Define: Species

Back 4

A group of similar organisms whose members freely interbreed

Front 5

Define: Population

Back 5

A group of organisms of the same species that occupy that live in the same area at the same time

Front 6

Define: Community

Back 6

All the populations of different species that live and interact in the same area at the same time

Front 7

Define: Ecosystem

Back 7

A community and its physical (abiotic) environment

Front 8

Define: Landscape

Back 8

Several interacting ecosystems

Front 9

Biosphere contains earth’s communities, ecosystems and landscapes, and includes:

Back 9

Atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere.

Front 10

Define: Atmosphere

Back 10

Gaseous envelope surrounding the earth

Front 11

Define: Hydrosphere

Back 11

Earth's supply of water

Front 12

Define: Lithosphere

Back 12

Soil and rock of the earth's crust

Front 13

Define: Energy

Back 13

The ability or capacity to do work
Chemical, radiant, thermal, mechanical, nuclear, electrical

Front 14

What does energy exist as?

Back 14

Stored energy (potential energy)
Kinetic energy (energy of motion)

Front 15

Define: Thermodynamics

Back 15

Study of energy and its transformations

Front 16

Define: System

Back 16

System- the object being studied
Closed system & Open System

Front 17

Define: Closed System

Back 17

Does not exchange energy with surroundings (rare in nature) - Greenhouse

Front 18

Define: Open System

Back 18

Exchanges energy with surroundings

Front 19

First Law of Thermodynamics

Back 19

Energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can change from one form to another
Ex: organisms cannot create energy they need to survive- they must capture it from another source

Front 20

Second Law of Thermodynamics

Back 20

When energy is converted from one form to another, some of it is degraded to heat
Heat is highly entropic (disorganized)
Focus is on quality

Front 21

Photosynthesis

Back 21

Biological process by which energy from the sun (radiant energy) is transformed into chemical energy of sugar molecules

Front 22

Cellular Respiration

Back 22

The process where the chemical energy captured in photosynthesis is released within cells of plants and animals. This energy is then used for biological work
Creating new cells, reproduction, movement, etc.

Front 23

Energy Flow

Back 23

Passage of energy in a one-way direction through an ecosystem
Producers
Primary consumers
Secondary consumers
Decomposers

Front 24

Consumers

Back 24

Herbivore – eat plants, ex. ?
Carnivore – eat animals, ex. ?
Omnivore – eat plants and animals, ex. ?
Humans ?

Front 25

Food Chains- The Path of Energy Flow

Back 25

Energy from food passes from one organisms to another
Each “link” is called a trophic level

Front 26

Food Chains- The Path of Energy Flow; List the trophic levels

Back 26

1)producers (plants)
2)primary consumers (rodent)
3) secondary consumers (snake)
4) tertiary consumers (eagle)
5) decomposers (mushrooms)

Front 27

Energy Flow Through Trophic Levels: Simplified:

Back 27

rule of 10; there is a 10% transfer of energy to the next level

Front 28

Ecological Pyramids

Back 28

Graphically represent the relative energy value of each trophic level
Important feature is that large amount of energy are lost between trophic levels to heat

Front 29

What are the three main types of ecological pyramids?

Back 29

Pyramid of numbers
Pyramid of biomass
Pyramid of energy

Front 30

Pyramid of Numbers

Back 30

Illustrates the number of organisms at each trophic level
Usually, organisms at the base of the pyramid are more numerous
Fewer organisms occupy each successive level

Front 31

What doesn't the Pyramid of Numbers do?

Back 31

Does not indicate the biomass of the organisms at each level or the amount of energy transferred between levels

Front 32

Lynx - Hare

Back 32

When the population size of the hare increases there is more food for the lynx to eat. As a result the lynx population also increases. The large lynx population will kill more hares so the hare population decreases. This will also cause the hare population to decrease.

The population sizes for the lynx and hare fluctuate every few years. Neither population gets too big as the predator and the prey keep each population in balance.

Front 33

Pyramid of Biomass

Back 33

Illustrates the total biomass at each successive trophic level
Biomass: measure of the total amt of living material, Biomass indicates the amount of fixed energy at a given time,
Illustrates a progressive reduction in biomass through trophic levels

Front 34

Biomass: Ants

Back 34

Ants are the ecologically dominant animals of tropical rainforests, comprising up to 94% of arthropods and 86% of the biomass in samples from the canopy.

Front 35

Pyramid of Energy

Back 35

Illustrates how much energy is present at each trophic level and how much is transferred to the next level
Most energy dissipates between trophic levels

Front 36

Pyramid of Energy: Explain why there are so few trophic levels

Back 36

Energy levels get too low to support life
Example: Tiger

Front 37

Pyramid of Energy Example: Tiger

Back 37

Indian tiger territory size may be 20-30 square miles; tigers in eastern Russia may have territories up to 400 square miles.

Front 38

Gross Primary Productivity (GPP)

Back 38

Total amount of energy that plants capture and assimilate in a given period of time

Front 39

Net Primary Productivity (NPP)

Back 39

Plant growth per unit area per time
Represents the rate at which organic material is actually incorporated into the plant tissue for growth

Front 40

GPP – cellular respiration = NPP

Back 40

Only NPP is available as food to organisms

Front 41

Human Impact on NPP

Back 41

Humans consume more of earth’s resources than any other animal--which contributes to extinction. Humans’ high consumption represents a threat to planet’s ability to support both human and non-human inhabitants

Front 42

Humans represent what % of land-based biomass? What % of NPP do they use?

Back 42

Humans represent 0.5% of land-based biomass
Humans use 32% of land-based NPP