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environmental biology > ecological concepts and fundamentals (1-6) > Flashcards

ecological concepts and fundamentals (1-6) Flashcards

1
Q

what are ecosystems goods and services?

A

the benefits that humans derive from ecosystems

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2
Q

define an ecosystem

A

a community of plants, animals, and microorganisms, along with their environment, that function together as a unit

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3
Q

what are supporting systems and what are some examples?

A
  • they are required for the production of all other services
    examples include:
  • soil formation
  • photosynthesis
  • primary production
  • nutrient cycling
  • water cycling
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4
Q

what are regulating services (with examples)?

A
  • they are benefits obtained from the regulation of the environment
    e.g.
  • air quality
  • climate
  • water quality
  • natural hazards
  • erosion
  • pests and disease
  • pollination
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5
Q

describe what provisioning resources are

A
  • they are material benefits obtained from the environment such as:
  • food/feed and fibre
  • fuel
  • fresh water
  • novel products
  • genetic resources
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6
Q

state some cultural resources that can be obtained from the environment

A
  • spiritual value
  • educational value
  • recreational value
  • inspirational value
  • aesthetic value
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7
Q

what is a biome?

A

a major ecological community, classified according to the predominant vegetation and characterised by adaptations of organisms to that particular environment

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8
Q

what are the 5 main types of biomes?

A
  • aquatic
  • grasslands
  • forest
  • desert
  • tundra
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9
Q

what are the impacts of the conversion of natural systems for agriculture?

A
  • there is a loss of wild biodiversity and species shifts
  • there are offsite impacts of agricultural practises such as eutrophication
  • a loss of genetic diversity
  • intensive water use is common
  • there will also be impacts on local and global climates (e.g. carbon release due to a loss of forests)
  • loss of soil quality and erosion
  • alterations of nutrient cycles
  • desertification
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10
Q

what % of the Earth’s surface is covered by cultivated systems?

A

24%

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11
Q

define cultivated system

A
  • areas in which at least 30% of the landscape is in croplands, shifting cultivation, confined livestock production, or freshwater aquaculture use in a year
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12
Q

what is the majority of deforestation linked to?

A

meat, soya, and palm oil production

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13
Q

what % of vascular plants are found in tropical rainforests?

A

60%

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14
Q

how can healthy soil be characterised?

A
  • it can be characterised by being physically, nutritionally, and biologically balanced, productive, and stable, and can withstand environmental impacts without loss of fertility, structure, and biological activity
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15
Q

what are the classes of organisms that live in healthy soil?

A
  • microorganisms (fungi, bacteria, archaea, and viruses)
  • fauna (protazoa, arthropods, nematodes, and molluscs)
  • flora (plants and algae)
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16
Q

define desertification

A
  • persistent or irreversible reduction in the capacity of ecosystems to supply ecosystem services in drylands
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17
Q

what are the direct contributing factors to desertification?

A
  • management and land use
  • deforestation
  • irrational use of water resources
  • overgrazing
  • climate related processes
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18
Q

what are the indirect contributing factors to desertification?

A
  • population growth and density
  • politics
  • economic conditions
  • globalisation
  • urbanisation
  • governance
  • tehcnology
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19
Q

define biodiversity

A

all hereditary based variation at all levels of organisation, from the genes within a single local population or species composing all or part of a local community ,and to the community themselves that compose the living parts of ecosystem

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20
Q

what are megadiversity countries and how many are there?

A
  • they are countries that are the world’s most biodiversity rich
  • there are 17
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21
Q

how can some organisms fit outside the general definition of a species?

A
  • asexual organisms have just 1 parent, and so they do not reproduce with each other
  • some organisms reproduce with similar species in the wild - approximately 25% of plant species and 10% of animal species are known to hybridise to varying degrees
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22
Q

define speciation

A

when a group within a species separates from other members of its species and develops its own unique characteristics

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23
Q

what are we reliant on biodiversity for?

A
  • nutrient cycling
  • pollination
  • agricultural products
  • medicine
  • cultural services
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24
Q

what can changes in biodiversity be caused by?

A
  • habitat change or destruction
  • pollution
  • climate change
  • invasive species
  • climate change
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25
Q

define genetic drift

A

the change in the relative frequency with which an allele occurs in a population due to random variation

26
Q

how can destructive fishing reduce biodiversity?

A
  • bottom trawling in shallow waters homogenises 3D benthic habitats
27
Q

what are the most common ways to restore ecosystems?

A

afforestation and reforestation

28
Q

what is biodiversity offsetting?

A

conservation activities that are designed to give biodiversity benefits to compensate for losses, ensuring that when a development damages nature, new bigger and better nature sites will be created

29
Q

how can coral reef ecosystems be reconstructed?

A
  • artificial reefs can be established to create new habitat structures and promote ecological interactions
  • coral nurseries can be used to help rejuvenation
  • removing coral predators helps build resilience ot thermal stress and bleaching
30
Q

define a community

A

an assemblage of species populations that occur together in space and time

31
Q

define an ecosystem

A

the biological community plus the abiotic environment in which it is set

32
Q

what is a community structure affected by?

A
  • the conditions and resources present in the environment
  • interactions within and between species (competition, predation, mutualism)
  • the action of foundation species and keystone species
  • frequency of disturbances or disruptive events
33
Q

when does competition occur?

A

when resources are limited

34
Q

who is concerned in interspecific competition?

A

it is between different species with similar ecological requirements

35
Q

how does density dependence affect population regulation?

A

the rate of population growth is slowed with increasing population density

36
Q

what occurs in interference competition?

A
  • individuals interact directly e.g. by aggression
  • interference with foraging, reproduction, or by directly preventing physical establishment
37
Q

what is exploitation competition?

A
  • individuals do not interact directly
  • one individual is affected by the amount of resource that remains after it has been exploited by others
38
Q

define predation

A

the consumption of one organism by another

39
Q

what are true predators?

A

they kill prey straight after attack and consume several or many prey in their lifetime

40
Q

what is a grazer?

A

they consume only part of each prey, this is not usually lethal and they attack several prey in their lifetime

41
Q

what is a parasite?

A
  • they consume only part of the prey
  • this may not be lethal
  • they attack 1 or very few hosts
42
Q

what population pattern is caused by predation?

A

delayed density-dependent coupled oscillations

43
Q

define what an invasive species is

A

when non natives species are accidentally or deliberately introduced to an area outside of its natural range
- they establish and spread, causing economic and ecological damage

44
Q

what is apparent competition?

A

2 prey species have indirect negative effects on each other through a positive effect on the predator

45
Q

what is a bar chart used for?

A

discrete data

46
Q

what is a histogram used for?

A

continuous data

47
Q

what is a confidence interval?

A

a range of data around the means where we expect that the true population mean will be contained

48
Q

what is ANOVA used to test for?

A

it is used to test whether 3 or more groups of data have the same population mean

49
Q

define what is meant by ecological succession

A

the process of change in the species structure of an ecological community over time

50
Q

what is involved in primary succession?

A
  • it is the development of a community on newly exposed substrate
  • the site has never supported a community before
  • early colonising pioneer species tolerate the novel conditions and initiate ecological processes
51
Q

what is secondary succession the process of?

A

the re-colonisation of a community after a disturbance

52
Q

what is a founder controlled community?

A

when a suitable territory becomes vacant, individuals of a different species have an equal chance of occupying it

53
Q

define what is meant by ecology

A

the scientific study of the distribution and abundance of organisms and the interactions that determine their distribution and abundance, and the relationships between organisms and their environment

54
Q

what is the main way energy enters the biosphere?

A

light

55
Q

what is meant by gross primary productivity?

A

the total amount of energy assimilated from photosynthesis

56
Q

what is meant by net primary productivity?

A

the energy available for growth or reproduction after that used in respiration

57
Q

what is actual evapotranspiration?

A

the combined value of land surface evaporation and transpiration from plants

58
Q

why do endotherms have lower energy efficiencies?

A
  • they have higher metabolic costs associated with maintaining a constant body temperature
59
Q

what are the 2 main food chains in ecosystems?

A
  • the grazing food chain
  • the detrital food chain
60
Q

what is the rate of decay dependant on?

A
  • the quality of plant litter as a substrate
  • features of the physical environment that directly affect soil organisms

environmental biology (3 decks)

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