Ecosystems And Communties Flashcards
What are ecosystems
Communities of biological and non living components in the environment
What is Biotic Environment
The living organisms within an area
Often referred to as a community
What is physical (Abiotic) Environment
The chemical resources and physical conditions within an area
Often referred to as the organisms habitat
What is Terrestrial Biomes
Determined by TEMPERATURE and PRECIPITATION in conjunction with WEATHER from season to season
TEMPERATURE and PRECIPITATION dictate the levels of….
Primary productivity
Primary producers
What is Primary productivity?
The amount of matter produces through photosynthesis
What is primary producers?
Organisms responsible for the primary productivity
What is Aquatic Biomes
Determined by physical features, including salinity, water movement, and depth
What creates deserts and rain forests?
Global air circulation patterns
Weather patterns are largely determined by the earths round shape
The Distribution of solar Energy
The sun shines most directly on earths equator, leading to warmer temperature at lower latitudes
Perception.. How rain is formed
Formation of rain
The equator is where the greatest warming power of the sun hits the earth, making it very hot and very wet.
Perception
Air heating and rises
Rising of air cools
Cooling air loses moisture
Why are urban areas more warmer?
Urban development increases the absorption of solar energy leading to higher temperatures.
Asphalt, cement, and building tops absorb heat , raising the temperature
Why do beach communities have milder weather than inland communities?
Water is able to absorb and hold heat 10,000 times greater than air.
Water is absorbing the heat
How does energy flow within an ecosystem work?
Energy from the sun is intercepted and converted into chemical energy, which passes through an ecosystem in about four stops.
- Primary producers
Plants convert energy from the sun into food through photosynthesis - Primary Consumers
Herbivores are animals that eat plants - Secondary Consumers
Carnivores are animals that eat herbivores - Tertiary Consumers
Top carnivores are animals that eat other carnivores
Where do all of the primary producers and consumers go when they die?
They become earth recyclers
There are decomposers and detritivores break down organic wastes, releasing chemical components that can be reused by plants and other primary producers
Ex. Mold decomposes an orange
Ex. Compost beetles (detritivores) feed on decomposing matter
Energy Pyramid: Inefficient Energy Flow
Only about 10% of the biomass from each tropic levels is converted into biomass in the next tropic level. The rest of the available energy is lost to the environment, a consequence of several factors, including non- predatory deaths, incomplete digestion of prey/food, and respiration
What a large-based pyramid
Supports a relatively large biomass of consumers
Common in rainforests marshes, and algal beds
What is small- based pyramid
Reduced ability to support consumers
Common in deserts, tundras, and open oceans
What is inverted pyramid
Small biomass of producers supports a relatively large biomass of consumers
Occurs in some aquatic ecosystems where plankton are primary producers
Essential chemicals cycle through ecosystems
Chemicals are captured from the atmosphere, soil or water by growing organisms
Passed from one trophic level to the next as organisms eat other organisms
Returned to the environment through respiration, decomposition, or erosion
Where is carbon stored in four compartments on earth where?
Oceans
Atmosphere
Terrestrial organisms
And fossil deposits
What is the carbon cycle?
Burning fossil releases large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
What is Eutrophication?
The increase in nutrients in an ecosystem particularly nitrogen and phosphorus- often leads to the rapid growth of ALAGE and bacteria in lakes and other aquatic ecosystems.
These organisms then consume much of the oxygen leading to die off in animals
What is coevolution?
The concurrent appearance and modification over time, through natural selection, of traits in interacting species that enable each species to become adapted to the other
Example: 11inch long tongue of a moth that feeds from the 11 inch long nectar tube of an orchid
Each species role in a community is defined as its….
Niche
