ecosystems

Question 1

what are ecosystem services

Answer 1

direct + indirect contribution of ecosystems to human well being

Question 2

list 4 ecosystem services

Answer 2

1. Regulating (of ecosystem processes): climate, air quality, soil retention, pollination
2. Provisioning (obtained from ecosystem): fresh water, raw materials, pharmaceutical
3. Culture (non-material benefits): intellectual development, recreation, spiritual
   enrichment, aesthetic values
4. Supporting (necessary for production of all ecosystem services): habitat, primary
   production, soil formation

Question 3

open vs closed system?

Answer 3

Open system: flow transfer between system and outside system
Closed system: contained flow

Question 4

define pools. abiotic vs biotic?

Answer 4

Pools: quantity of energy or material in an ecosystem compartment
- Abiotic (H20, soil) and biotic (flora and fauna)

Question 5

define fluxes. ex?

Answer 5

Fluxes: flow of energy or materials form one pool to another
- Weathering, evaporation, absorption, consumptions

Question 6

temporal scales?

Answer 6

Stationarity -what happens in one place also happens in the same way somewhere else
Discontinuities- successions and disturbances
Non-linear movements-not always a 1:1 relationship

Question 7

what is a model

Answer 7

abstraction of reality

Question 8

describe early view of ecosystems

Answer 8

Early view: assumed natural ecosystems are in equilibrium
- Closed system: internal recycling
- Stable endpoints; deterministic dynamics
- Absence of distributions
- Material recycled
- Movement is predictable

Question 9

non-equilibrium view - describe

Answer 9

Non-equilibrium view:
- Past events, internal and external forces shape ecosystems
- Unbalanced inputs and outputs
- Not stable
- Human activities and disturbances

Question 10

describe steady state ecosystem

Answer 10

Steady State Ecosystem: conceptual advance
- Open system but inputs=outputs
- Temporal and spatial variation
- No long-term directional trend in ecosystem properties
- Fluctuations by distributions and random factors changing climate

Question 11

why was steady state a conceptual advance?

Answer 11

onceptual advance à emphasized controls over processes rather than descriptions of patterns

Question 12

what are the five state factors?

Answer 12

Five State Factors: set the bounds for the characteristics of an ecosystem
- Are independent meaning not influenced themselves by ecosystem
characteristics
1. Topography
2. Climate
3. Parent Material (rock that gives rise to soil)
4. Potential Biota (orgs present in the region that could potentially occupy a site AND can
be called species pool)
5. Time

Question 13

describe climate - what does it determine

Answer 13

Most strongly determines ecosystem structure and processes
Example: global climate explains distributions of biomes

Question 14

describe parent material influence

Answer 14

Strongly influences the types of soils that develop and explains regional variation in ecosystem
processes
Movement of plates caused: ground oil, mountains (subduction of plates), soil

Question 15

topography - describe

Answer 15

nfluences microclimate and soil development at a local scale
Slope angle: drainage, erosion (increase slope=increase microclimate)
Aspect: temperature and precipitation (exposure to light based on the angle)

Question 16

bc vs alberta topography ex?

Answer 16

The BC vs Alberta side of the Rockies have different biota b/c the air is forced to go up at the
peaks which cools the air, condenses, rains making it more wet on the BC side thus a different
climate and ecology.

Question 17

describe potential biota

Answer 17

Govern type and diversity of organisms that will occupy a site
Especially dominate factor on island ecosystems; usually less diverse because differences in
potential biota (new species reach islands often)

Question 18

describe time influence

Answer 18

ime
Influences the development of soil and evolution of organism very long-time scales
Important components of succession, development and change in communities and ecosystems
over time

Question 19

what do ecosystem processes do?

Answer 19

Ecosystem processes both respond to and control the factors that directly govern their activity

Question 20

what are interactive controls

Answer 20

factors that operate at the ecosystem scale and both control and respond to
ecosystem characteristics. Thus, they effect and are affected by the ecosystem

Question 21

4 interactive controls?

Answer 21

1. Microenvironment – rate of ecosystem processes
2. Resources
3. Disturbances
4. Biotic Communit

Question 22

ex of interactive controls

Answer 22

Example: Soil fertility (resource) may control the dominant plant community that develops, but
responds to weathering rates OR microenvironment control decomposition rate, but responds to
topography

Question 23

what largely determines ecosystem characteristics

Answer 23

state factors and interactive controls largely determine ecosystem
characteristics and processes

Question 24

what is wrong with state factors idea?

Answer 24

They are not independent. For example, biota can alter the climate- water pump for transpiration
of trees to the top of the trees which creates humidity that facilities more rain. Removing the tree
results in evaporation of water. This changes the climate. OR plant material depends on the
community of lichens and moss which secrets acid thus changing the rate of weathering

Question 25

describe weather

Answer 25

-Conditions of atmosphere over short time period
-Short term changes in temperature
-Function of ecosystem

Question 26

define climate

Answer 26

How the atmosphere ‘behaves’ over relatively long periods of time
-Physical properties of the atmosphere based on analysis of its weather records over a
long period

Question 27

describe climate impact

Answer 27

Main determining factors: temperature and precipitation
-Spatial scale
-State factor that most strongly governs global distribution of terrestrial biomes
-Single best predictor of ecosystem structure b/c of its impact on net primary
productivity

Question 28

what drives climate

Answer 28

driven by incoming and outgoing solar radiation (earths energy budget)
-Structure of ecosystem

Question 29

macro vs microclimate

Answer 29

Macroclimate: prevailing climate for a region
Microclimate: small-scale variation in climate caused by a distinctive substrate, location,
topography, aspect
- Example: within a hoof print can contain different microclimates within the print and
outside