Chapter 4 Flashcards
Niche
Role of an organism in an ecosystem
Niche consists of
What eats you, what you eat where you live, where you breed, when you are active
Why do animals not have similar niches?
Can lead to competition
Why are exotic species not good for ecosystems
Because they lack natural predators to keep the m from over competing the native species. Naturally or from human transportation
What are biomes?
A large geographic are that has specific climate withplants and animals adapted to the area.
What are the four majour biomes in Canada>?
Grasslands, Tundra, Taiga, Desidedeous forest
Biomes in Alberta
Muskeg, Tiaga, Grasslands, Desidedeous forest,
What varys at the bottom of lakes?
Tempurature, light, oxygen, and amount of organisms.
Littoral zone
Frpm the lake shore to the point where you find no more plants. Most productive part of the lake where algae and plants use sunlight for photosynthesis.
Limnetic zone
Area of open where there is enough lit for photosynthesis most lite can be done
Profundal zone
Deepest part of the lake where no light is available
What are plankton?
Autorotrophs and heterotrophs
What are the layers of soil going in order
Litter, top soil, subsoil, bedrock
Soil
Determines what plants ca grow and affect biodiversity
Available water
deters what is able to grow in the soil
Temperature and sunlight
Derters what can live in an area. More sunlight means more photosynthesis
Factors affecting aquatic ecosystems
Chemical evironment (fresh water or salt), Amount of dissolved oxygen, Water pressure
What is an ecotone?
Two areas where both ecosystems meet
What happens in the spring?
THe ice melts and oxygen can dissolve into the water and is stirre into the waves. the cold surface water warms. As it reaches 4°C, it sinks carrying its dissolved O2 with it.
This mixing process is called spring turnover
What happens in the winter?
Water is covered in iced acting as insulator. When there is a lot of snow coverage, no light penetrates, meaning lower oxygen levels.
What happens in the Summer
As the surface water warms above 4°C, it won’t sink. Layers are set up again. There is little movement of O2 from the surface to the depths in the summer. Organisms in
the hypolimnion (bottom level) must rely on O2 reserves brought down during the spring turnover.
* The epilimnion (Top level) may also face an O2 problem. As the water warms up, it can’t hold as much
dissolved O2. During a hot spell, a shallow lake may lose too much O2 that some species (ie.
Lake trout) may die.
What happens in the fall?
Temperatures drop. The surface water cools. When it reaches 4°C, it sinks. This fall turnover renews dissolved O2 levels at lower levels
Biotic potential
How quickly a population can increase in size if conditions were perfect. The four factors are birth potential,
Birth potential
Maximum amount of offspring per each birth potential, capacity for survival, b
