Unit 1 Flashcards
Ecology
The study of connections in nature between biotic and abiotic components
3 Factors sustaining life on earth
1 one way flow of high quality energy
2 round trip cycling of matter/nutrients
3 gravity
Symbiosis
Two organisms relationship
Commensalism
one benefits one is nuetral
Niche
a species role in its environment
Resource Partitioning
species avoid competition by dividing resources
Competitive exclusion principle
If competition is present species will be excluded from niches they might otherwise inhabit
Fundamental Niche
Possible niche
Realized Niche
actual niche when competition is present
Carbon in abiotic environment
from atmosphere dissolved in water
calcium carbonate in rocks (limestone and coral)
coal petroleum and natural gas from fossilized organisms
humus- dead organic matter
Carbon enters biotic world
photosynthesis and chemosynthesis (archaebacteria)
Carbon returns to atmosphere
cellular respiration
combustion
decay (methane when o2 not present)
Sink
where it goes
Biocarbonate
co2 form in the ocean
watershed
the land area that delivers runoff sediment and dissovled substances to stream
Artesian well
pressure from confined aquifer pushed water up at a location without a pump
water table
the level below which the ground is saturated with water
First law of thermodynamics
energy cannot be created/destroyed but can change forms
second law of thermodynamics
- energy quality always decreases
- when energy changes form it is always degraded to a more dispersed form
- energy efficiency: how much useful work is accomplished before it changes to its next form
Primary consumer
only eats producers
Secondary consumer
third level in a food chain
Detritivore
earthworms pill bugs etc
Primary productivity
the rate at which autotrophs synthesize new biomass
GPP
totally amount of production of biomass
