Communities, Species, and Conservation

Question 1

What are global scales?

Answer 1

Large-scale patterns that determine ecosystems and biomes, climate, and temperature

Question 2

What drives biology on a large scale?

Answer 2

Climate and geographical patterns (Terrestrial biomes)

Question 3

What drives biology on a small scale?

Answer 3

Environment and resource patterns (Terrestrial communities)

Question 4

True or false: Aquatic environments have the same determinants as terrestrial environments

Answer 4

False

Question 5

What determines patterns of rainfall, sunlight, and energy?

Answer 5

The combination of the rotation of Earth around the Sun, the tilt of the axis, and it’s rotation

Question 6

What are the atmospheric circulation patterns (Cells)?

Answer 6

*Hadley circulation
*Ferrel circulation
*Polar circulation

Question 7

What are prevailing winds?

Answer 7

The winds that blow most frequently from a single general direction at a particular location on the Earth’s surface.

Question 8

What are the three main types of winds?

Answer 8

*Trade winds
*Westerlies
*Polar easterlies

Question 9

Which cell drives heat throughout the planet?

Answer 9

The Hadley cell

Question 10

What is the key role of oceanic circulation?

Answer 10

Regulating the global climate by distributing heat and nutrients.

Question 11

What is El Niño?

Answer 11

A periodic warming of sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean that affects global weather patterns, e.g., wildfires, droughts

Question 12

What is a terrestrial biome?

Answer 12

A climatically or geographically defined area of ecologically similar communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms. They are often referred to as ecosystems

Question 13

What is an ecosystem?

Answer 13

A dynamic complex of plant, animal, and microorganism communities interacting with their abiotic environment as a functional unit.

Question 14

What are the major terrestrial biomes?

Answer 14

*Tropical forest
*Temperate grassland
*Savanna
*Temperate deciduous forest
*Desert
*Coniferous forest (Taiga)
*Mediterranean Scrub
*Tundra

Question 15

What are the small-scale patterns in conditions and resources?

Answer 15

*Local topography
*Local geology and soil
*Variations in the rate of decomposition of organic matter
*Succession

Question 16

What can affect the distribution of biomes?

Answer 16

Altitude and latitude

Question 17

What is the Massenerhebung effect?

Answer 17

Higher elevations within a large mountain range can be relatively warmer and/or have different ecological conditions than expected for that altitude and latitude, especially compared to isolated mountains or lowlands.

Question 18

What is the lapse rate?

Answer 18

The rate at which atmospheric temperature decreases with an increase in altitude (typically in °C/km)

Question 19

Why aren’t aquatic environments comparable to terrestrial environments?

Answer 19

*Thermal stability - Oceans have high thermal capacity, making them slow to heat and cool
*Mixing (homogeneity) - form a continuum with global water and dissolved chemical flow

Question 20

What are the main aquatic biomes?

Answer 20

*Rivers
*Lakes
*Ocean pelagic and benthic zones
*Intertidal zones
*Coral reefs
*Wetlands
*Estuaries

Question 21

What is stream/river ecology impacted by?

Answer 21

*Temperature
*Disturbances

Question 22

What impacts the species composition of stream invertebrate communities?

Answer 22

*pH
*Summer temperature
*Water flow

Question 23

What are the five categories of invertebrate consumers in streams?

Answer 23

*Carnivores
*Shredders
*Collector/Gatherers
*Grazer/Scrappers
*Collector/Filterers

Question 24

What is the photic zone?

Answer 24

The upper layer of a body of water that receives enough sunlight to support photosynthesis.

Question 25

What is the definition of oligotrophic?

Answer 25

A body of water with low nutrient levels

Question 26

What is the definition of eutrophic?

Answer 26

a body of water with high nutrient levels

Question 27

What causes the variation in marine environments?

Answer 27

Availability of mineral nutrients

Question 28

What is the ocean benthos?

Answer 28

The community of organisms that live on, in, or near the seabed

Question 29

What is the pelagic?

Answer 29

Open blue waters that are constantly mixed by wind-driven oceanic currents

Question 30

What determines the zonation of the seashore?

Answer 30

The relative lengths of exposure to air, the action of waves, the height of tides, and the shore slopes

Question 31

What biome has the highest species diversity?

Answer 31

Wetlands

Question 32

What are estuaries?

Answer 32

When salt water meets fresh water, this creates brackish water

Question 33

Do species exist in isolation?

Answer 33

No, they depend on ecosystems and are grouped into communities

Question 34

What is species richness?

Answer 34

The number of species within a community

Question 35

What is species evenness?

Answer 35

The distribution of individuals among the species

Question 36

What is species diversity?

Answer 36

A combination of richness and evenness

Question 37

What is the Shannon-Weaver Index?

Answer 37

Gives a quantitative measure of diversity within a community

Question 38

What is the Rothamsted Parkgrass Experiment?

Answer 38

A species diversity experiment that showed high productivity = high rates of population growth = competitive exclusion

Question 39

What are the dynamics of species richness?

Answer 39

Simple model of how species richness may vary with resource range, niche size, and niche overlap

Question 40

What are the variables that influence species richness?

Answer 40

*Spatial Factors *Temporal Factors *Predictability

Question 41

What are spatial factors?

Answer 41

Underlying productivity (resource richness), predation intensity, environmental complexity (spatial heterogeneity), and environmental harshness

Question 42

What are temporal factors?

Answer 42

Climatic variation, disturbance (succession), and evolutionary age

Question 43

What do stable environments provide?

Answer 43

*Support for specialised species *Species saturation *Higher niche overlaps

Question 44

What does the humpback model of diversity show?

Answer 44

Intermediate levels of disturbance/productivity are optimal for species richness

Question 45

Why do communities disturbed on very extended time scales often lack species?

Answer 45

They are yet to reach equilibrium

Question 46

What is 'Refugia'?

Answer 46

The temperate biomes moved towards the equator during the glaciations, and tropical forests contracted to a limited number of small refuges surrounded by grasslands. This caused pockets of endemism due to isolation and speciation.

Question 47

What does island biogeography suggest?

Answer 47

The number of species decreases as the island area decreases

Question 48

What is the Equilibrium theory of island biogeography?

Answer 48

Species number is balanced by immigration and extinction, the balance is dynamic, and rates vary based on size and isolation

Question 49

What does the Equilibrium theory of island biogeography predict?

Answer 49

*The number of species on an island should eventually become consistent over time *There should be a continual turnover of species, with some immigrating and some going extinct *Large islands should support more species *Species numbers should decline with the increasing remoteness of an island