Ecology Flashcards
(54 cards)
Who was the first person to use the term ecology and when?
Ernst Haeckel 1869
What was Ernst Haeckel’s definition of ecology?
The study of the homes of organisms.
What is the right definition of ecology and who created it?
The study of the distribution and abundance of organisms.
Andrewartha and Birth
Where does life exist of Earth? Describe it
The Biosphere, it is a thin band near Earth’s surface where conditions are such that organisms can sustain themselves. It is 15 km maximum.
What are the 3 parts of the biosphere?
Atmosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere
What is the atmosphere?
The region of gases, (oxygen, nitrogen etc.) particulate matter and water vapour enveloping the Earth.
What is the lithosphere?
Outermost crust of the Earth’s surface (rock, land and soil.)
What is the hydrosphere?
Including all the water of the Earth.
What are the 3 sections of the Earth’s structure?
Crust, Mantle and Core
Crust and core are about 6000km away from one another.
What are biomes?
Broad regions of different vegetation types.
What are biomes defined by?
The dominant plant species that are present which also correlate with major climate zones on Earth’s surface which set the way of life for species in the region.
How do climate zones affect the way of life of species in an area?
They influence the kinds of nutrients available in food for herbivores, the kind of habitats and the local environmental climate.
How are the world’s forests distributed and why?
By the equator.
Hot air rises but because there is a low air pressure system in the region, it does not go high enough to be cooled down and rather just continues circulating hot air. Hot air evaporates and causes lots of rain.
What is the distribution of the world’s deserts and why?
By the tropics and on the western side of continents.
Because there is a high pressure system meaning that clouds get moved so there isn’t a lot of rain in the day and it is cold in the night because the sand cant retain heat.
How do ocean currents affect rainfall?
Warmer currents = more rain (eg, Benguela current)
Colder currents = less rainfall (eg, Agulhas current)
Why are rainforests on the East Coast?
It is hot and has high pressure system and mountains which means more rainfall because hot = more evaporation = cloud formation = rain.
Name 3 key animal species for the following region:
Fynbos
Grysbok, geometric tortoise, small southern adder
Name 3 key animal species for the following region:
Savanna
Gnu, Rhea, Savanna elephant (lighter unlike darker rainforest elephant to attract and retain heat through the dense trees)
Name 3 key animal species for the following region:
Grasslands
Black footed ferret, mountain plover, sumatran tiger.
Name 3 key animal species for the following region:
Nama Karoo
Riverine Rabbit, visagie’s golden mole, sclater’s lark
Name 3 key animal species for the following region:
Succulent karoo
De Winton’s golden mole, namqua dune mole rat, burlow’s lark
Name 3 key animal species for the following region:
Desert
Social weavers, meerkat, kalahari lion
Name 3 key animal species for the following region:
Forest
Jaguar, blue duiker, nyala, suni
Subatomic particle
Unit of energy and/or mass; electron, proton, neutron
