Everything Flashcards
(99 cards)
1
Q
Aquatic biomes account for…
A
The largest part of the biosphere in terms of area
2
Q
What percentage of Earth’s surface do oceans account for?
A
75%
3
Q
What are freshwater biomes linked to?
A
The soils and biotic components of the terrestrial biomes through which they pass
4
Q
What are photoautotrophs?
A
Organisms that use light energy, water, and elements from inorganic compounds to produce organic material to sustain themselves, aka photosynthesis
5
Q
Where do photoautotrophs live in aquotic biomes?
A
The photic zone
6
Q
What are chemoautotrophs?
A
Organisms that oxidize iorganic compounds to create energy
7
Q
Where do chemoautotrophs live?
A
The aphotic zone
8
Q
What is the photic zone?
A
Zone of water where light can pass through
9
Q
What is the aphotic zone?
A
Zone of water where light cannot pass through
10
Q
What are strata?
A
Layers
11
Q
What is the thermocline?
A
Zone of water that separates hot and cold water
12
Q
What is the benthic zone?
A
The bottom of the water
13
Q
What is the intertidal zone?
A
Where land meets water
14
Q
What is the neritic zone?
A
Includes shallow regions over continental shelves
15
Q
What is the oceanic zone?
A
Extends past the continental shelf, very deep water
16
Q
What is the pelagic zone?
A
Open water
17
Q
What do freshwater biomes include?
A
Ponds and lakes both large and small
18
Q
Why are some lakes clear?
A
They have little to non nutrients or organic matter and a typically very cold
19
Q
What is the littoral zone? (Freshwater)
A
Shallow water, close to shore
20
Q
What is the limnetic zone?
(Freshwater)
A
Open surface water
21
Q
What is the profundal zone?
A
Consists of the deep, aphotic regions
22
Q
What are oligotrophic lakes?
A
Lakes that are deep, nutrient-poor, and don’t have life
23
Q
What are mesotrophic lakes?
A
Lakes with a moderate amount of nutrients
24
Q
What are eutrophic lakes?
A
Lakes that are shallow and have lot’s of nutrients
25
What is eutrophication?
The filling in of lakes with organic matter
26
What is Biological Oxygen Demand?
The amount of O2 needed by decomposers to break down organic material
27
What is dissolved oxygen?
The amount of O2 present in a water body
28
How does artifical eutrophication happen?
Farm runoffs—both chemical fertilizers or pesticides
29
In a high organic matter body... (DO, BOD, CO2)
DO decreases
BOD increases
CO2 increases a lot
30
Where are biomes distributed?
Biomes are distributed all across the earth and are based primarily on climate
31
What are the 8 biomes?
1.) Tropical Rainforest
2.) Tropical Savanna
3.) Desert
4.) Chaparral
5.) Grassland
6.) Temperate Deciduous Forest
7.) Temperate Boreal Forest
8.) Tundra
32
Interactions determine what and what?
Distribution and abundance
33
Define ecology.
The scientific study of the interactions between organisms and the environment
34
What are the subfields of ecology? (5)
1.) Organismal ecology
2.) Population ecology
3.) Community ecology
4.) Ecosystem ecology
5.) Landscape ecology
35
What is organismal ecology?
Study of how an organism's structure, physiology, and behavior meet environmental challenges
36
What is population ecology?
The concentration on factors that affect how many individuals of a particular species live in an area
37
What is community ecology?
The dealing of the whole array of interacting species in a community?
38
What is ecosystem ecology?
The emphasis of energy flow and chemical cycling among the various biotic and abiotic components
39
What is landscape ecology?
The dealing of arrays of ecosystems and how they are arranged in a geographic region
40
The environment of any organism includes... (3)
1.) Biotic factors
2.) Abiotic factors
3.) Biota
41
What is biota?
All organisms living in the environment
42
Define abiotic.
Non-living components
43
Define biotic.
Living components
44
What are abiotic factors? (6)
1.) Temperature
2.) Water
3.) Altitude
4.) Sunlight
5.) Wind
6.) Rocks and soil
45
What is a biotic factor?
The interactions between species
46
What are the 5 types of interactions with other species?
1.) Predation
2.) Competition
3.) Parasitism
4.) Mutualism
5.) Commensalism
47
Define climate.
The prevailing weather in a particular area
48
Define macroclimate.
Patterns on a global, regional, and local level
49
Define microclimate.
Very fine patterns, such as those encountered by the community of organisms under a fallen log
50
How is energy transferred in a system?
From one organism to another
51
Who are producers?
Plants and algae, who are autotrophs (At the bottom of the pyramid)
52
Who are primary consumers?
Herbivores (At the 2nd to bottom level of the pyramid)
53
Who are secondary consumers?
Primary carnivores (At the 2nd to top level of the pyramid)
54
Who are tertiary consumers?
Top carnivores (At the 2nd top of the pyramid)
55
Who are detrivores?
Scavengers and decomposers, they consume very small dead organism
56
What happens to most of the energy sent by the sun?
It's absorbed or reflected
57
What percent of the suns energy is available. for use?
1%
58
What percentage of the available sun energy is used by green plants or algae?
3%
59
What are the growth patterns of populations?
Exponential, population crash, and s-curve
60
Define population density.
The number of individuals in a specific area
61
How are populations distributed/
Clumped, uniform/regular, random
62
What is ecological succession?
The set of changes in a community that occur over time in a new or disturbed community
63
When does primary succession occur?
When organisms colonize in a barren environment
64
When does secondary succession occur?
When pre-existing organisms were there but the area was destroyed due to disaster—natural or artificial
65
More diverse communities tend to be more...
Productive
66
What are 6 causes of species extinction?
1.) Habitat loss
2.) Pollution
3.) Over-harvesting
4.) Introduction of exotic/invasive species
5.) Climate change
6.) Greenhouse effect
67
What are the 2 types of habitat loss?
Habitat Fragmentation and Habitat Destruction
68
What is the greenhouse effect?
A natural process where gases in the Earth's atmosphere trap heat from the sun, making the planet warmer than it would be otherwise
69
What is community ecology?
The study of how populations interact
70
What are the 2 types of competition?
Intraspecific and interspecific
71
What is intraspecific competition?
Same species competition
72
What is interspecific competition?
Different species
73
What is Gause's Competitive Exclusion Principle?
No 2 species within a community may share the same niche
74
What did Gause say will happen if 2 species have the same niche?
One will take over and the other will die/fade out
75
If 2 species do share the same niche, what happens?
They will find a balance (resource partition) or one will outcompete the other
76
What is a fundamental niche?
All conditions that an organism could survive in, ignoring all limiting factors
77
What is a realized niche?
The conditions that an organism can live in, taking into account all limiting factors
78
What are keystone species?
A plant or animal that plays a unique and crucial role in its ecosystem which, without it, the ecosystem will be very different or cease to exist
79
What is an example of mimicry?
Non-poisonous species mimicking toxic counterparts
80
What biome can be fresh and salt
Aquatic
81
What does the Benthic zone contain?
Lots of dead organic matter
82
What do herbicides do and what are the the opposite of?
They kill plants or decomposers making them the opposite of eutrophication.
83
Can landscape ecology be different in the same area?
Yes, anywhere which extreme variations in altitude like mountains
84
What kind of relationship is predation
Benefits one organism but not the other + -
85
What kind of relationship is competition?
Benefits one organism but not the other + -
86
What kind of relationship is parasitism?
Benefits one organism but not the other + -
87
What kind of relationship is mutualism?
Both organisms benefit
88
What kind of relationship is communalism?
Benefits one organism but it doesn't effect the other
89
Endo vs. Ecto (Parasitism)
Inside vs. outside
90
What does nitrogen, oxygen, carbon, and nutrients do?
They stay in systems and are recycled
91
What are the five limiting factors?
1. Predation
2. Shelters
3. Nutrients
4. Competition
5. Water
92
What is oscillation
the periodic fluctuations or rhythms in biological processes,
93
What affect the carrying capacity?
The region and species, bigger organisms have a lower capacity
94
How is population density structured?
It's structured around resources like water
95
What are perennial plants?
Flowers and other plants that come after pioneer plants in succession
96
What is a quadinary consumer
(It usually only appears in food webs) It's the very top predator in the environment
97
What are the three stages in the water cycle?
Condensation, precipitation, and evaporation
98
What are the four main parts of the sulfur cycle?
air to hydrosphere to biosphere to lithosphere
99
What are the four main parts of the phosphorus cycle?
Soil to plants to animals to waste
