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ENST 1001 > Chapter 2 > Flashcards

Chapter 2 Flashcards

1
Q

Abiotic Components

A

Factors such as light, temperature, wind, water, and soil characteristics. They
play an important role in determining the distribution of biotic components. (p. 62)

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2
Q

Aerobic

A

Organisms that require oxygen. (p. 51)

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3
Q

Aichi Targets

A

Proportions of terrestrial (and freshwater) and marine ecosystems to be designated as
protected areas by the year 2020, agreed under the Convention on Biological Diversity. (p. 75)

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4
Q

Apex Predators

A

Super-predators at the very top of the food chain. (p. 56)

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5
Q

Assimilated Food Energy

A

The proportion of ingested energy actually absorbed by an organism

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6
Q

Atmosphere

A

The layer(s) of gas-containing air that surrounds the earth. (p. 44)

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7
Q

Autotrophs

A

Organisms that produce their own food, generally via photosynthesis (e.g. plants) but
sometimes via chemosynthesis.

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8
Q

Biodiversity

A

The variety of life forms that inhabit the Earth. It includes genetic diversity, species diversity,
and ecosystem diversity. (p. 70)

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9
Q

Biodiversity Hotspots

A

Areas with high numbers of endemic species. They are found mainly in tropical
forests. (p. 73)

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10
Q

Biomass

A

Living matter. Total biomass is the sum of all living material, or of all living material of particular
species, in a given environment. (p. 50)

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11
Q

Biomass Pyramid

A

Related to the fact that in terrestrial ecosystems, greater biomass generally exists at
the level of primary consumers, with the least total biomass at the highest trophic levels. In marine
ecosystems the pyramid is inverted, with greater biomass at the highest trophic level, while the primary
consumers, phytoplankton, at any given time comprise much less biomass but reproduce rapidly.
(p. 56)

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12
Q

Biome

A

A number of ecosystems classified together according to their similar dominant vegetation
and animal types. (p. 62)

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13
Q

Biotic Components

A

Those parts of ecosystems that are living; organisms. (p. 62

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14
Q

Bottom-up control

A

Ecosystems that are seemingly dominated by prey populations. (p. 54)

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15
Q

Calorie

A

The amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of one gram (1 ml) of water by
1°C. (p. 46)

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16
Q

Carnivores

A

Organisms that consume only animals. (p. 51)

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17
Q

Cellular respiration

A

Metabolic processes through which living cells produce energy. (p. 50)

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18
Q

Chemoautotrophs

A

Producer organisms that convert inorganic chemical compounds into energy. (p.
50)

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19
Q

Chlorophylls

A

Green pigments in plant cells that absorb sunlight, thus enabling plants to capture solar
energy. (p. 50)

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20
Q

Commensalism

A

An interaction between two species that benefits one species and neither harms, nor
benefits, the other. (p. 68)

21
Q

Community

A

All of the populations of all species in a particular environment. (p. 61)

22
Q

Competitive Exclusion Principle

A

The principle that competition between two species with similar
requirements will result in the exclusion of one of the species; no two species can occupy the same
niche in the same area. (p. 67)

23
Q

Consumers

A 
Heterotrophs that cannot produce their own food and must get it by eating or decomposing
other organisms (in economics, those who use goods and services). (p. 50)
24
Q

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

A

An international treaty that emerged from the World
Summit on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 that requires signatories, including
Canada, to develop biodiversity strategies, identify and monitor important components of biodiversity,
develop endangered species legislation/protected areas systems, and promote environmentally
sound and sustainable development in areas adjacent to protected areas. (p. 73)

25
Q

Cryosphere

A

The frozen portion of the hydrosphere. (p. 44)

26
Q

Decomposer Food Chain

A

A specific nutrient and energy pathway in an ecosystem in which decomposer
organisms (e.g. bacteria and fungi) consume dead plants and animals as well as animal wastes.
Decomposer food chains are essential for the return of nutrients to soil and carbon dioxide to the
atmosphere. Also called detritus food chain. (p. 51)

27
Q

Ecological Redundancy (Functional Compensation)

A

The presence of many species in an ecosystem
such that the chance of other species combining to fulfill the ecological role of a depleted one is
high. Where a given role in an ecosystem (e.g., as decomposer or as prey) can be fulfilled by more
than one species within that system. (p. 54)

28
Q

Ecosphere

A

The entire global ecosystem, which includes the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere.
These three spheres combine to produce the conditions necessary for life. (p. 43)

29
Q

Ecosystem

A

A community of organisms occupying a given region, the physical and chemical environment
of that region, and all the interactions amongst organisms and their environment. Short for
ecological system. (p. 61)

30
Q

Ecosystem Diversity

A

The variety of ecosystems in an area. (p. 71)

31
Q

Endemism

A

A concept of biodiversity where a species confined to, or exclusive to, a specific area.
(pp. 55, 73)

32
Q

Energy

A

The capacity to do work; found in many forms, including heat, light, sound, electricity, coal,
oil, and gasoline. (p. 46)

33
Q

Energy Efficiency

A

The amount of total energy input of a system that is transformed into work or
some other usable form of energy. May be as low as 1 per cent. (p. 56)

34
Q

Entropy

A

A measure of disorder. The second law of thermodynamics applied to matter says that all
systems proceed to maximum disorder (maximum entropy). (p. 47)

35
Q

Epiphytes

A

Plants that use others for support but not nourishment.

36
Q

Estuaries

A

Coastal regions, such as inlets or mouths of rivers, where salt water and fresh water mix.
(p. 57)

37
Q

Euphotic Zone

A

Zone of the ocean to which light from the sun reaches. (p. 55)

38
Q

Extirpated

A

An official designation assigned by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife
in Canada to any indigenous species or subspecies or geographically separate population of fauna or
flora no longer known to exist in the wild in Canada but occurring elsewhere

39
Q

Facts

A

Observations widely accepted as truthful. (p. 42)

40
Q

Food Chain

A

Specific nutrient and energy pathway in an ecosystem proceeding from producer to consumer.
Along the pathway, organisms in higher trophic levels gain energy and nutrients by consuming
organisms at lower trophic levels. (p. 51)

41
Q

Food Web

A

A complex intermeshing of individual food chains in an ecosystem, with many competing
organisms and energy paths. (p. 54)

42
Q

Functional Connectivity

A

The behavioural responses of organisms to physical links among habitat
patches. (p. 69)

43
Q

Generalist

A

A species with a very broad niche where few things organic are not considered a potential
food item, making them successful in anthropogenic environments. (p. 67)

44
Q

Genetic Diversity

A

The variability in genetic makeup among individuals of the same species. (p. 70)

45
Q

Glaciation

A

Period of global cooling when alpine glaciers increase and continental ice sheets cover
and scour vast land masses. (p. 65)

46
Q

Grazing Food Chains

A

Food chains where energy transfer among organisms is directly dependent on
solar radiation as the primary source of energy, and where the producers (plants) are eaten by organisms
that are subsequently eaten by other organisms. (p. 51)

47
Q

Gross Primary Productivity (GPP)

A

The total amount of energy produced by autotrophs (mainly

plants) over a given period of time. (p. 57)

48
Q

Habitat

A

The environment in which a population or individual lives. (p. 67)

49
Q

Heat

A

The total energy of all moving atoms. (p. 46)

ENST 1001 (8 decks)

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