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Ecosystem Ecology > Chapter 10 and 18 > Flashcards

Chapter 10 and 18 Flashcards

Midterm study (64 cards)

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1
Q

What does a watershed include?

A

interface between atmospheric system, denudation system, and the ecosystem
-slope system is functionally linked – slopes are what connect the watershed together

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2
Q

What are the major watershed basins in America? Europe?

A

Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Mississippi River Basin

Danube River Basin

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3
Q

How does a watershed show organization?

A

Major elements:
-channels
-slopes
-bedrock and regolith (material)- regolith=weathered bedrock without organic matter (not soil yet but is broken down)
-water
Input: precipitation and regolith; ouput: water and mineral runoff

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4
Q

What is the function of an ecosystem?

A

to evacuate runoff and debris from the catchment basin (goal is to evacuate water and debris from the basin);

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5
Q

Stream Order (Strahler)

A

-Stream Order (Strahler)
-headwater streams are 1st order
-order increases when two streams of the same order join
-first order streams may be ephemeral, intermittent, or perennial in relation to ground water connection
-bifurcation ratio

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6
Q

What is the bifurcation ratio? Mean bifurcation?

A

a dimensionless number denoting the ratio between the number of streams of one order and those of the next higher order in a drainage network; measure of proneness to flooding where the greater the bifurcation ratio the greater the chance of flooding
Rb= Nu/Nu+1 where Rb= bifurcation ratio; Nu= number of streams of a given order and Nu+1 = number of streams of next higher order
average Rb= sum/total number of stream orders

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7
Q

ephemeral

A

A stream that has flowing water only during or for a short duration after precipitation events in a typical year.

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8
Q

intermittent

A

streams that only flow at certain times of the year

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9
Q

perennial

A

has flowing water year-round

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10
Q

Areal properties equations: drainage density

A

Dd= L/A
-length of the drainage channel divided by the drainage area
-L is the total sum of all channels

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11
Q

Areal properties: Elongation ratio

A

E= A/L
-basin area divided by basin length
-L is basin length

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12
Q

Areal properties: relief ratio

A

Rh= H/L
-vertical difference divided by basin length

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13
Q

Relief properties

A

-hypsometric integral
-index of the proportion of the basin removed by erosion
-assuming the area was once complete and that now a certain amount has eroded away; measure of erosion (what has been taken away to create the current landscape)
-altitude frequency distribution
-allows us to make meaningful comparisons

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14
Q

Hypsometric integral

A

-index of the proportion of the basin removed by erosion

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15
Q

What materials come from weathering?

A

solids, air, and water

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16
Q

V=Vs+Vv

A

total volume= volume solids+ volume voids

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17
Q

Vv=Vw+Va

A

volume voids= volume of water + volume of air

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18
Q

Voids ratio

A

e=Vv/Vs

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19
Q

Porosity ratio

A

n=Vv/V

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20
Q

Moisture content

A

Ww/Ws X 100

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21
Q

What are the two main sources of energy flow in a system?

A

terrestrial and solar (geothermal is negligible)

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22
Q

High porosity=

A

large spaces

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23
Q

low porosity =

A

small spaces

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24
Q

What implies potential energy?

A

slope

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25
What converts potential energy to kinetic energy and how?
relief converts it to kinetic energy through velocity
26
What kind of energy can a rainstorm produce? What happens when water/ice hits the ground?
1-mechanical energy as it does work on the inorganic and organic particles of the land surface – work of erosion;-outputs in form of latent heat and frictional heat as material moves relative to static material 2-also heats it from the friction of the moving object against something not moving
27
Hydrologic cycle equation
* P=R+(E+T)+(ΔS+ΔG) * Precipitation = runoff + (evaporation + transpiration) + change in water + change in groundwater
28
What is the denudation system?
weathering system
29
What is a major effect of the denudation system?
-positive feedback that denudation has upon itself through its processes; -interplay between original gradient, and leveling off of the ground as it moves through the denudation process
30
what are abiotic factors?
physical factors such as sunlight, temperature, wind patterns, etc
31
What is conbiotic and why is it important?
with life; argument that materials, space/sunlight, temperature, pH, salinity, dissolved oxygen (do), soil chemistry, atmospheric chemistry  life impacts all of these factors, everything we measure is something that has been impacted by biotic factors
32
What do all living organisms have?
genotype, phenotype, envirotype
33
What is a genotype?
genetic attributes
34
What is a phenotype?
morphological, physiological, behavioral attributes
35
What is an envirotype?
environmental attributes
36
What is the lifeform of a plant?
the vegetative form of the plant body
37
What is the lifeform spectra?
a hereditary adjustment to the environment, and it can therefore reflect functional relationships -where buds are on the plant/tree in question tells you about the environment in which it grows -shows correlation of vegetation with climate and existence of bioclimatic zones with characteristics lifeforms -where budding occurs tells you about the climate in which it grows in; how the plant functions in its environment
38
What is the functional lifeform classification?
Shows correlation of vegetation with climate and existence of bioclimatic zones with characteristics lifeforms
39
What does vertical structure show?
stratification optimizing* the utilization of available light energy -optimizing variables: two or more combinations of things for example optimizing amount of light and water -maximizing variable: one variable; ex-the amount of light
40
What does horizontal structure show?
areal distribution – location and pattern -measured: degree of presence: measure of its actual contribution to the community (density-species cover) -detection and analysis of pattern -point-centered quarter method -measurement of cover -nested hierarchy of quadrants
41
What is the competition exclusion principle?
no two species can occupy exactly the same niche (one outcompetes the other)
42
What is a habitat?
- places in which an organism lives (functional definition of a niche) a holistic, synthetic concept involving both inorganic and organic aspects of space -organisms respond to the environment and act to modify it -the idea of the stage set is simple and misleading; niche construction is at play
43
How can phenology change?
changes the presence and pattern throughout the day or year; hunting browsing, nesting, mating, resting -over a seasonal period a species uses the environment differently -plants go through an annual cycle
44
gross production
how much photosynthetic material; total amount that the plant is able to get
45
net production
(primary production = photosynthetic activity) = gross production – respiration
46
How does structural organization dictate functional relationships?
The pattern emerges from the happenings – to facilitate the transfer of energy and resources, namely the trophic organization of producer, consumer, and decomposer -pattern emerges from the happenings -to facilitate the transfer of energy and resources, namely the trophic organization of producer, consumer, and decomposer -energy flow model from sunlight through different parts of the ecosystem there becomes a pattern as energy moves through it
47
What are the pyramids of productivity?
Pyramid of numbers and pyramid of biomass
48
What does the pyramid of biomass show?
decline in standing biomass from the producer to top carnivore level as energy available to support it decreases. -plants grow very fast and they can feed the organisms higher above it so there are more of the organisms above it
49
What is an ecological niche?
functional role occupied by an organism
50
What is a trophic niche?
an animal’s place in the biotic environment; its relation to food and predators (Elton 1927) -where it lives, what it does, how it is constrained by other organisms?
51
What is a fundamental niche?
theoretical portion of the hypervolume that would be occupied by the species unconstrained by others
52
What is a realized niche?
where the organism actually lives
53
What is niche segregation?
extent to which niche space is mutually exclusive how species differences have arisen
54
What is divergent evolution?
ecological niche paralleling divergent evolution of the species the process whereby groups from the same common ancestor evolve and accumulate differences, resulting in the formation of new species.
55
What is convergent evolution?
the result of stimulus of similar niche opportunities and pressures the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time.
56
What is co-evolution?
the process of reciprocal change that occurs between pairs of species or among groups of species as they interact with one another -diversity begets diversity
57
Hutchinson's hypervolume
fundamental and realized niche
58
Idea of species diversity
Competitive exclusion principle Niche segregation Divergent evolution Convergent evolution Co-evolution
59
What is fundamental functional activity?
assimilation and utilization of energy and respiration
60
How is space organized? Landscape?
* Landscape ecology (structure and function) * Ecological Mosaic - Patches, corridors, and matrix -what is the minimum that can be isolated out? -ecosystem trophic module (ETM) is spatially constrained to the foraging area of the social group of the largest predator
61
What is the ecosystem trophic module?
spatially constrained to the foraging area of the social group of the largest predator
62
Ecological mosaic: patches
a forest patch is a group of trees that
63
Ecological mosaic: corridors
cluster of forest patches
64
Ecological mosaic: matrix
combinations of forest patches and clusters of forest patches with other landscape types

Ecosystem Ecology (11 decks)

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