2B1 Flashcards
(148 cards)
1
Q
An action having cascading effects
A
Butterfly effect
2
Q
What kind of consequences are seen in the butterfly effect?
A
Unforeseen
3
Q
Approach in dealing with environmental problems / ecology
A
Holistic approach
4
Q
True or False: Cascading effects from BE are due to the initial action or the butterfly itself.
A
False, it’s the RESULTING EFFECTS of the initial action
5
Q
Various components come together to form new levels of organization
A
Principle of Emergent Property
6
Q
True or False: The new emerging properties make the whole more vulnerable to change or stress.
A
False
7
Q
Concept that states the whole is more than the sum of its parts
A
Synergy
8
Q
Provides the force to hold structures together
A
Energy
9
Q
Necessary input into earth
A
Solar energy
10
Q
The ability to do work
A
Energy
11
Q
Harmful and short wavelengths are filtered out by gases like
A
Ozone
12
Q
True or False: Most organisms survive within a relatively narrow temperature range
A
True
13
Q
Almost all organisms depend on this for life-sustaining energy
A
Solar radiation
14
Q
Capturers of solar radiation
A
Plants, algae, some bacteria
15
Q
How is solar radiation captured?
A
Photosynthesis
16
Q
Levels of Biological Organization
A
Atom - Molecule - Cell - Tissue - Organ - Organ System - Organism - Population - Community - Ecosystem - Biosphere
17
Q
True or False: Photosynthesis and cellular respiration are complementary processes.
A
True
18
Q
Photosynthesis converts ____ into ____
A
Radiant energy into chemical energy
19
Q
Photosynthesis produces?
A
Glucose and oxygen
20
Q
True or False: Cellular respiration captures energy.
A
False
21
Q
True or False: Photosynthesis releases energy.
A
False
22
Q
True or False: Cellular respiration releases energy.
A
True
23
Q
True or False: Photosynthesis captures energy.
A
True
24
Q
Organisms producing organic material thru photosynthesis
A
Producers
25
The amount of biomass produced by an ecosystem
Productivity
26
The rate at which energy is accumulated in the form of biomass
Gross Primary Productivity (GPP)
27
Amount of biomass found when respiration occurs
Net Primary Productivity (NPP)
28
Factors of ecosystem productivity
1. Organism efficiency
2. Amount of solar radiation
3. Availability of nutrients
4. Moisture or amount of water
5. Climactic factors
6. Degree of maturity
29
The bedrock of most ecosystems
Photosynthesis
30
Primary productivity is a function of?
1. Organism efficiency
2. Size
3. Rate of photosynthesis
31
Extraction of energy from chemical compounds
Chemosynthesis
32
Organisms performing chemosynthesis
Extremophiles
33
Chemosynthesis is for organisms that?
Do not live in habitats that receive sunlight
34
Deals with how energy is transferred in natural processes
Thermodynamics
35
2 laws of thermodynamics
1. energy cannot be created nor destroyed, only transferred.
2. energy transfers result in a loss of energy thru heat
36
True or False: Energy in = energy out
True
37
True or False: Energy is conserved.
True
38
True or False: Individual food chains exist in nature.
False, interconnected and complex food webs
39
Complexity of a food web depends on
1. The number of species
2. Physical characteristics
of an ecosystem
40
Organisms can be identified via what level?
Trophic level
41
Organisms that produce food thru photosynthesis
Producers or Autotrophs
42
Consumers are AKA
Heterotrophs
43
True or False: Secondary consumers eat producers.
False, primary
44
Consumer Classifications
1. Herbivore
2. Carnivore
3. Omnivore
4. Detritivore
45
Plant-eaters
Herbivore
46
Flesh-eaters
Carnivore
47
Plant and flesh-eaters
Omnivore
48
Decomposers
Detritivores
49
Trophic levels can be organized into?
Ecological pyramids
50
Ecological pyramids can be presented in 3 ways
1. Biomass (by weight or density)
2. Numbers of organisms
3. Energy available per trophic level
51
Rule stating that only 10% of energy is present in the next higher trophic level.
10% Rule
52
What enables ecosystems to function efficiently?
1. The flow of energy
2. The cycling of materials
53
Cycles of key elements
Biogeochemical Cycles
54
Factors of ecosystem productivity can best be found in
The Amazon Rainforest
55
When water in the atmosphere condenses
Precipitation
56
Gas to liquid then solid
Precipitation
57
Liquid to a gas
Evaporation
58
Solid to a gas
Sublimation
59
Gas to solid
Deposition
60
Responsible for the formation of clouds
Condensation
61
Water pulled across the surface to the lowest point of land
Runoff
62
What evaporates water?
Solar energy
63
Role of wind in the water cycle
Distributes water vapor worldwide
64
Explain the water cycle.
- Water from the ocean
- Solar energy evaporates water
- Winds distribute water vapor worldwide
- Water condenses to form precipitation OR percolates through porous rock and soil to reach groundwater
- Organisms release moisture (humans = respiration and perspiration, plants = transpiration)
- Moisture enters atmosphere or goes to lakes, streams, other water bodies
- Water returns to the ocean again
65
The carbon cycle begins with?
Photosynthesis
66
Explain the carbon cycle.
- Organisms take up CO2, performs carbon fixation
- Organisms exhale CO2 in respiration
- Larger organic molecules become part of the cellular structure
- Carbon be locked up in certain rocks
- Carbon can be deposited in limestone deposits, sediments and deep-ocean deposits are released via volcanic activity
- Carbon sinks store carbon
- When carbon is released faster than natural recycling systems, the atmosphere warms and traps greenhouse gases
67
Carbon can be locked up in the form of?
Calcium carbonate
68
Calcium carbonate is used in shell and skeleton formation of marine organisms like?
Protozoans and corals
69
Materials that store carbon
Carbon Sinks
70
Greenhouse effect happens when
Carbon is released faster than natural recycling systems can keep up
71
True or False: Our atmosphere is 98% nitrogen.
False, 78%
72
True or False: Nitrogen is unstable.
False
73
Nitrogen exists in the air as
Stable, two-atom form of atmospheric nitrogen
74
True or False: N2 can be used by both plants and bacteria.
False, only bacteria
75
Kind of bacteria using nitrogen
Nitrogen-fixing bacteria
76
N2 is combined with?
Hydrogen
77
N2 with H makes
ammonia and ammonium
78
How is nitrite formed?
Bacteria combine with ammonia and ammonium
79
Process of Nitrification
- From nitrogen in the atmosphere, nitrogen-fixing bacteria combine N2 with hydrogen
- N2 with hydrogen makes ammonia and ammonium
- Bacteria combine with ammonia and ammonium to make nitrite and nitrate
- Now green plants can absorb and use this
80
Nitrogen Cycle
- Process of nitrification
- Nitrogen reenters the environment thru decomposition and excretion
- Fungi and bacteria decompose organisms and release ammonia and ammonium
- Ammonia and ammonium are available for nitrate formation
- Excretion of dung and urine contain nitrogenous compounds
- Denitrifying bacteria break down nitrates back into N2 that return to the atmosphere
81
What does excess nitrogen cause?
Algal blooms and excess plant growth
82
Starving water of oxygen
Eutrophication
83
Phosphorus is locked up in
Rocks or salts
84
True or False: Phosphorus can be transported in water.
True
85
Nitrogen-fixing bacteria contain what enzyme?
Nitrogenase enzyme
86
Phosphorus Cycle
- Producers take inorganic phosphorus, pass onto trophic level to consumers
- Detergents and fertilizers wash away as runoff and move to the ocean
- Excess phosphorus causes excess fertilization causes eutrophication
87
What has sped up the the use and movement of phosphorus?
Mining
88
True or False: Releasing phosphorus is usually a rapid process.
False, very slow
89
Phosphates are commonly used for?
Detergents and fertilizers
90
A more common pollutant in marine systems
Nitrogen
91
A more common pollutant in freshwater systems
Phosphorus
92
Anything that controls the growth of a population of a species
Limiting factors
93
True or False: Limiting factors can only be abiotic factors.
False, can be both biotic and abiotic
94
What keep an organism from expanding everywhere
Limiting factors
95
The maximum population size of a species that an ecosystem can sustain
Carrying Capacity
96
3 Limiting Factors
1. Environmental factors
2. Competition with other species
3. Predation, parasitism, disease
97
Rule that states that growth is limited by essential factors in the shortest supply
Law of the minimum
98
True or False: Competition can occur among plants
True
99
True or False: You can still produce even when you're dead.
False
100
What kind of competition happens among species?
Interspecific competition
101
Each environmental has a minimum and maximum level, called?
Tolerance Limits
102
Essence of the law of the minimum
Equilibrium is the best range
103
Essential factor that is extremely scarce or closest to tolerance limits
Critical Factor
104
A function in the ecosystem
Niche
105
The survival of an organism depends on this role
Niche
106
A role or profession
Niche
107
An address
Habitat
108
Classifications of Niche
1. Broad or Generalists
2. Narrow or Specialists
1. Fundamental NIche
2. Realized Niche
109
Can tolerate a wider range of environmental conditions
Broad or Generalists
110
Narrow range of tolerance for environmental conditions
Narrow or Specialists
111
True or False: Generalists are found in undisturbed sites.
False, narrow or specialists
112
Can be found in degraded or distorted sites
Broad or Generalists
113
The total environment a species can exploit without biotic restraints
Fundamental Niche
114
The potential area an organism can maximize without other competition
Fundamental Niche
115
True or False: The fundamental niches of species may overlap.
True
116
The potential role niche
Fundamental Niche
117
The actual role niche
Realized Niche
118
The resources a species can utilize in the presence of other species
Realized Niche
119
Species exerting greater influence than others with a strong impact
Keystone Species
120
True or False: Keystone species are proportionate to its abundance.
False, disproportionate
121
Common example of keystone species
Apex predators
122
Keeping species at lower trophic levels in check
Trophic Cascade
123
True or False: Keystone species are predators.
False
124
Species that physically modify their ecosystems
Ecosystem Engineers
125
A species is excluded from a niche by another due to competition
Principle of Competitive Exclusion
126
True or False: Competition lets us see the realized niche.
Principle of Competitive Exclusion
127
Example of ecosystem engineers
Beavers
128
True or False: Two species can occupy the same niche at the same time.
False, one will outcompete the other
129
Competition lets us see the realized niche of an organism, which depends on
1. Nature of the organisms
2. Nature of the habitat
3. Not necessarily just purely a function of size or population
130
A relationship where 2 species interact with each other and changes affect each other
Coevolution
131
A cooperative relationship between organisms
Symbiosis
132
All persistent biological interactions
Symbiosis
133
Relationship where both species benefit from one another
Mutualism
134
Relationship where one species benefits, the other is unharmed
Commensalism
135
Relationship where one species benefits, the other is harmed
Parasitism
136
Which species benefits in parasitism?
The parasite
137
Which species is harmed in parasitism?
The host
138
Trend of gradual developments occurring in an environment
Succession
139
Plants that can perform photosynthesis
Hemiparasitic plants
140
What do you call the stages in succession
Sere, Sera/seral stages
141
The stable stage
Climax Community
142
What species start succession?
Pioneer species/generalists
143
True or False: Specialist species have ease of mobility and colonization
False, generalist
144
A climax community is mainly populated by what kind of species
Specialist species
145
When succession starts on an extreme, bare area
Primary Succession
146
When succession stars in an area with colonizers not previously present there
Primary Succession
147
When succession occurs with a new community existing after a disturbance in an already existing community
Secondary Succession
148
