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Biology IB YR12-13 > D4.2 Stability and Change > Flashcards

D4.2 Stability and Change Flashcards

1
Q

stability

A

the ability to maintain or support systems and processes continuously over time

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2
Q

requirement for stability in ecosystems

A

continual supply of energy, nutrient recycling, diversity of organisms and climate

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3
Q

what increases stability and how

A

complex ecosystems
increased number of niches
increases species and genetic diversity

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4
Q

tipping point

A

a critical threshold when even a small change can have dramatic effects and cause a disproportionately large response in the overall system.

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5
Q

equilibrium

A

state of balance among components of a system

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6
Q

changes are caused by

A
  • human population growth
  • resource consumption
  • habitat transformation and fragmentation
  • energy production and consumption
  • climate change
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7
Q

what are most tipping points linked to

A

climate change

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8
Q

what would increase in Co2 lead to

A

increased global mean temperature
melting of ice and permafrost

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9
Q

amazon features

A

rainforest biome spanning over 9 countries
6 million km^2
1/2 of the planets tropical foresrs

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10
Q

why is burning and deforestation happening in the amazon

A

to make space for grazing land or housing, timber, illegal mining

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11
Q

fires are caused by

A

increased frequency of drought conditions

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12
Q

causes of deforestation

A

loss of large areas
prevents reestablishment of rainforests

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13
Q

what is a large area of forest needed for

A

generation of atmospheric water vapour

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14
Q

Percentage change for forest

A

[Change in forest / initial forest] x 100

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15
Q

mesocosm

A

Closed environment that allows a small part of a natural environment to be observed under controlled conditions

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16
Q

disadvantage of mesocosm

A

Studying natural ecosystems can be difficult because there are so many variables that can’t be controlled

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17
Q

advantage of mesocosm

A

able to control variables, except independent and dependent

both aquatic and terrestrial can be used

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18
Q

advantage of natural ecosystem

A

realistic
actual environmental conditions

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19
Q

disadvantage of natural ecosystem

A

Variable conditions

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20
Q

advantages of laboratory ecosystems

A

Able to control variables

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21
Q

disadvantage of laboratory ecosystems

A

Unrealistic and possibility of disputed relevance and applicability to natural ecosystem

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22
Q

eutrophication

A

The natural or artificial enrichment of a body of water, particularly with respect to nitrates and phosphates

natural and human causes

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23
Q

Example of things that cause eutrophication

A

Extra nutrients from fertilizer runoff from surrounding land

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24
Q

steps of eutrophication

A

High levels of nutrition for cave from fertilizer
Rapid growth
Block light to underwater plants that die
bacterial feed on these
Removal of oxygen from water
results in the death of many aquatic organisms

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25
Keystone species
A species which has a disproportionate large effect on community structure relative towards abundance
26
example of keystone species
Agouti of South and Central America Feeds or nuts of Brazilian nut tree Hardwood species and among the oldest and tallest trees in the Amazon only animal with teeth, strong enough to open the Brazil nuts, tree seed boards to access nuts
27
What would happen if Agouti werent there
Tree species would eventually die
28
Sustainability
The responsible maintenance of ecological systems so that there is no reduction of conditions for future generations, ensuring the long-term variability of a system
29
renewable resource
Continue to exist despite being consumed replenish themselves naturally
30
terrestrial plant species as a renewable resource
Trees are renewable, provided they are replanted at the same rate as harvestation
31
what are trees used for
paper, cardboard, furniture, food, medicine, rubber
32
scots pine
1 of the 4 main logged trees replanting needs to exceed number of trees act down
33
what to forests provide
important storage of carbon
34
marine fish
important source of food for many human population
35
use of fish
most populations are exploited commercially as food sources harvested from common waters
36
overfishing of cod
cod led to a collapse of fish stocks
37
overfishing
if fish are persistently overfished, stocks will rapidly deplete till they collapse and can no longer support a commercial fishery
38
sustainable fishing practices
methods of catching fish that dont diminish the stock
39
MSY
maximum sustainable yield
40
maximum sustainable yield
maximum average catch that a stock can sustain over a long period of time
41
growing fish population is indicated by
having a larger number of younger fish can indicate whether fishing methods are sustainable or not
42
physical factors affecting agriculture sustainability
precipitation temperature spoil pests location
43
environment factors affecting agriculture sustainability
pollution habitat loss reduction in biodiversity and soil erosion
44
soil erosion
process that can occur when the impact of water of wind detaches and removes soil particles, causing the soil to deteriorate
45
fertile soil
non renewable source once depleted can take a significant time to restore its fertility makes land available much lower now
46
leaching
the loss of water soluble nutrients from the soil
47
loss of nitrates
reduction in protien synthesis and growth in plants
48
agrochemical
a chemical used in agriculture such as a pesticide or a fertiliser added to increase productivity
49
non biodegradable pesticides leads to
bio magnification
50
pesticides that are biodegradable are used to
minimize environmental damage
51
carbon footprint
the amount of Co2 released into the atmosphere because of the activities of a particular individual, organisation or community
52
what has led to an increase in carbon footprint
demand for unseasonal foods has increased the global transport of food, which has increased the carbon footprint
53
natural effects
nutrients being added from decomposing biomass and run off from idea
54
human causes for eutrophication
run off of fertilisers/manure, domestic waste water containing phosphates from detergents, non-treated sewage, leading of mineral nutrients
55
effects of eutrophication
- net primary productivity usually higher compared with unpolluted water and may be indicated by extreme algal or bacterial blooms - diversity of primary producers changes and finally decreases - length of food chain decreases due to algal - algal bloom gives way to cyanobacteria which are toxic to wild animals
56
last effect of eutrophication
fish community gets dominated by coarse fish who can survive without oxygen
57
BOD
Biochemical oxygen demand
58
Biochemical oxygen demand
a measure of the amount of dissolved oxygen required to break down the organic material in a given volume of water through aerobic biological activity
59
BOD is affected by
number of aerobic organisms rate of respiration
60
BOD is the difference between
the oxygen level of a sample of water initially and after 5 days at 20 degrees c
61
what affects food chains
non biodegradable toxins
62
increased concentrations
consumers feed on a number of organisms so accumulate toxins
63
cultivated crops
artificially selected to be high yielding limited resistance to local parasites
64
pesticide
chemical that is used to control organisms that are a danger to crops or herds have improved productivity but generated problems in the environment
65
DDT effect
causes rapid death even in low concentration retained in fatty tissue of animals
66
bioaccumulation
the build up of non biodegradable or slowly bio degradable chemicals in the body
67
DDT
chemical substance becomes more concentrated not recognised as a toxin and is not excreted
68
biomagnification
the process by which chemical substances become concentrated in the tissues of organisms at higher trophic levels
69
consequences of biomagnification
- accumulation of DDT
70
sparrowhawks
2000 clutches of eggs were measured not nerve poison in birds and mammals - in breeding birds it inhibits the deposition of calcium in egg shell
71
macroplastic
relatively large, easily visible plastic debris found especially in the marine environment such as bottles, plastic bags, rubbish and other materials that have not degraded
72
microplastic
extremely small pieces of plastic debris less than 5mm in size, resulting from the breakdown of consumer products and industrial waste
73
macroplastics - food
can be confused with food by marine predators bioaccumulate in the food chain top predator at the risk because of biomagnification effects of some chemicals
74
albatross features
ranges across the north pacific large birds with 2m wingspan requires great quantities of fish rest at midway atoll island
75
albatross in terms of plastic pollution
lots of plastic is washed up on midway atoll and they eat it pick up plastic with fish and feed it to their chicks
76
impact on sea turtles
kills approx 100,000 mistake it for jelly fish and eat it gets logged in their mouths die of starvation
77
rewilding
restore ecosystems and reverses decline in biodiversity reintroduces lost animal species to natural environment keystone species also reintroduced
78
hinewai reserve
was completely cleared ecological management involves minimal intervention, allowing succession to occur resulting in ecosystems

Biology IB YR12-13 (33 decks)

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