Unit 1: The Living World: Ecosystems Flashcards
(173 cards)
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Ecosystem
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A community of living (biotic) organisms interacting with the non-living (abiotic) components of their environment as a system through various nutrients and energy cycles.
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Organism
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A living thing that can function on its own.
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Species
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Organisms that resemble each other; are similar in genetic makeup, chemistry, and behavior; and are able to interbreed and produce fertile offspring.
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Interspecific
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Means between different species.
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Population
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Organisms of the same species that interact with each other and occupy a specific area.
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Community
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Population of different species.
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Ecological Niche
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A particular area within a habitat occupied by an organism, as well as the function of that organism within its ecological community.
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Physical environment
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It influences how organisms affect and is affected by resources and competitors.
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Niche
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It reflects the specific adaptations that a species has acquired through evolution.
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Generalists
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Able to survive on a wide variety of food resources
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Generalists
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Able to withstand a wide range of environmental conditions
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Generalists
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Live in broad niches
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Specialists
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Specific/limited number of prey
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Specialists
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Prone to extinction, sensitive to environmental change
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Specialists
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Live in narrow niches
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Symbiosis
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A term used to describe any type of close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms of the same or different species.
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Amensalism
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The interaction between two species whereby one species suffers and the other species is not affected.
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Commensalism
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The interaction between two species whereby one organism benefits and the other species is not affected.
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Competition
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It can be either intraspecific and interspecific. It is the driving force of evolution whether it is for food, mating partners, or territory.
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Intraspecific
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Competition between members of the same species.
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Interspecific
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Competition between members of different species.
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predator–prey relationships
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Competition is prominent in , with the predator seeking food and the prey seeking survival.
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Mutualism
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The interaction between two species whereby both species benefit.
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Parasitism
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The interaction between two species whereby one species is benefited, and the other species is harmed.
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Opportunistic predators
These predators kill and eat almost anything.
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Specialist predators
These predators only prey upon certain organisms.
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Saprottrophism
Saprotrophs obtain their nutrients from dead or decaying plants or animals through the absorption of soluble organic compounds.
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Law of Tolerance
It states that the existence, abundance, and distribution of species depend on the tolerance level of each species to both physical and chemical factors.
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Limiting Factor
Any abiotic factor that limits or prevents the growth of a population.
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Predator-prey cycles
These are based on a feeding relationship between two species: If the prey species rapidly multiply, the number of predators increases until the predators eventually eat so many of the prey that the prey population dwindles again.
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Morphological partitioning
It occurs when two species share the same resource but have evolved slightly different structures to utilize the same resource
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Spatial partitioning
It occurs when competing species use the same resource by occupying different areas or habitats within the range of occurrence of the resource
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Temporal partitioning
It occurs when two species eliminate direct competition by utilizing the same resource at different times
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Biomes
These are major regional or global biotic communities characterized by dominant forms of plant life and the prevailing climates
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average air temperature + amount of rainfall
The geographical distribution of the various terrestrial biomes is controlled primarily by the __ and the _ the biome receives.
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Deserts
Defined in terms of the amount of rainfall they receive, not temperature; cover about 20% of Earth’s surface and occur where rainfall is less than 20 inches (50 cm) per year.
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Arctic tundra
It is a cold desert due to the low amount of rainfall it receives yearly.
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Succulents
Plants that have fleshy leaves or stems that store water.
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Cactus
They have sharp spines that create shade, reduce drying airflow, discourage herbivores and reflect sunlight. They also secrete toxins into the soil to prevent interspecific completion.
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They have sharp spines that create shade, reduce drying airflow, discourage herbivores and reflect sunlight.
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Wildflowers
They are dependent on water for germination; They have short life spans; They perform their entire life cycle from seed to flower to seed within a single growing season
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Desert animals
typically small, nocturnal, and have small surface areas. Spend time in underground burrows, where it is cold.
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Aestivation
A summer hibernation.
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Forests
It cover about one-third of Earth's land surface, mostly in North America, the Russian Federation, and South America, and account for 75% of gross primary productivity and plant biomass.
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Ecozones
_ like boreal forests near the poles and tropical forests near the equator are formed by forests at different latitudes and elevations.
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Closed canopy
Tree crowns cover more than 20% of the ground’s surface.
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Open canopy
Tree crowns cover less than 20% of the ground surface.
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Tropical Rainforests
Animals include numerous birds, bats, small mammals, and insects. Decomposition is rapid and soils are subject to heavy leaching. Distinct seasonality where winter is absent and only two seasons are present.
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Tropical Rainforests
The length of daylight is 12 hours and varies a little year-round. Large species diversity. Near the equator. Annual rainfall exceeds 80 inches (200 cm) and is evenly distributed. High plant diversity.
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Tropical Rainforests Trees
Tree canopy is multilayered and continuous, allowing little light penetration. Trees have buttressed trunks, shallow roots, and large, dark green leaves.
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Overstory
The uppermost trees in a forest.
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Understory
Layer made up of young trees, short species of trees, shrubs, and soft-stemmed plants.
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Temperate Deciduous Forests
Occur in eastern North America, northeastern Asia, and western and central Europe. Have a distinct winter, moderate climate, and a 140–200-day growing season during four to six frost-free months. Temperature varies from –20°F to 85°F (–30°C to 30°C). Precipitation averages 30–60 inches (75–150 cm) per year. Fertile soil enriched by decaying leaf litter.
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Temperate Deciduous Forests
The tree canopy allows light to penetrate, resulting in well-developed and diverse understory vegetation and animal stratification.
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Temperate Coniferous Forest
Found in temperate regions with warm summers, cool winters, and enough rainfall to support forests. Common in coastal areas with mild winters and heavy rainfall, or inland in drier climates or mountains. These forests have cedar, cypress, fir, juniper, pine, redwood, and spruce. Have two layers; Over and understory. Some have a shrub layer.
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During cool winters
In winter, when food is scarce, many animals hibernate to conserve energy and build fat in summer. Birds have feathers and many animals have thick fur to protect them from cold weather. Some animals migrate to warmer climates during the winter months.
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Taiga
Largest terrestrial biome; found in northern Eurasia, North America, Scandinavia, and two-thirds of Siberia.
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Southern Taiga
Also known as boreal forest, consists primarily of cold-tolerant evergreen conifers with needle-like leaves, such as pines, spruces, and larches.
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Northern Taiga
It is more barren as it approaches the tree line and the tundra biome.
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Grasslands
These are characterized as lands dominated by grasses rather than by large shrubs or trees.
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Savannas
These are grasslands with scattered individual trees and cover almost half the surface of Africa and large areas of Australia, South America, and India.
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Temperate Grasslands
Here grasses are the dominant vegetation, while trees and large shrubs are absent.
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Tundra
It has extremely low temperatures, large repetitive population changes, limited soil nutrients, little precipitation, low biotic diversity, poor drainage, short growing and reproductive seasons, and simple vegetation structure.
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Arctic tundra
Due to the ’s unique conditions, the biota is highly specialized and sensitive to environmental change. It circles the North Pole and extends south to the taiga, is cold, dry, and desert-like.
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Permafrost
A layer of permanently frozen subsoil.
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Alpine tundra
It is located on mountains throughout the world at high altitudes where trees cannot grow.
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Aquatic Biomes
Antarctic, marine, lakes, wetlands, and rivers
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Antarctica
It has the coldest climate on Earth.
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ice sheet
It is formed from compressed snow that rarely melts.
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Krill
These are key food sources in this ecosystem and serve as food for many predators.
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0.75
Oceans cover approximately ____ of Earth’s surface and have a salt concentration of about 3%.
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Evaporation
of seawater is the primary source of most of the world’s rainfall.
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Convection
The circular motion that occurs when warmer air or liquid rises, while the cooler air or liquid sinks.
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conveyor belt
Thermohaline currents drive a "_" of ocean water that moves constantly, unlike most surface currents, which are driven by winds.
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Littoral Zone
Also known as the intertidal zone, it is the part of the ocean that is closest to the shore.
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Neretic Zone
Also known as the sublittoral zone, this zone extends to the edge of the continental shelf.
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Photic Zone
The uppermost layer of water in a lake or ocean that is exposed to sunlight down to the depth where 1% of surface sunlight is available. The layer just above the depth where the rate of carbon dioxide uptake by plants is equal to the rate of carbon dioxide production by animals.
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Corals
These are marine invertebrates that typically live in compact colonies of many identical individual polyps.
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Polyps
Small, sac-like animals with a set of tentacles surrounding a central mouth opening and an exoskeleton made of calcium carbonate at the base.
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zooxanthellae
Most corals obtain the majority of their energy and nutrients from photosynthetic unicellular dinoflagellates, commonly known as _, that live within their tissues.
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Fringing reefs
They grow near the coastline around islands and continents and are separated from the shore by narrow, shallow lagoons. They are the most common type of reef.
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Barrier reefs
These are also parallel to the coastline but are separated by deeper, wider lagoons. At their shallowest point, they can reach the water’s surface, forming a “barrier” to navigation.
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Atolls
These are rings of coral that create protected lagoons and are usually located in the middle of the sea. They usually form when islands, often the tops of underwater volcanoes, surrounded by fringing reefs, sink into the sea, or the sea level rises around them.
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Lakes
These are large natural bodies of standing freshwater formed when precipitation, runoff, or groundwater seepage fills depressions in Earth’s surface.
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Artificial lakes
These are constructed for hydroelectric power generation, recreational purposes, industrial and agricultural use, and/or domestic water supply.
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Benthic Zone
The bottom of lake, organisms can tolerate cool temperatures and low oxygen levels.
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Limnetic Zone
A well-lit, open surface water, farther from shore, extends to a depth penetrated by light, occupied by phytoplankton, zooplankton, and higher animals; produces food and oxygen that supports most of a lake’s consumers
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Littoral Zone
It is shallow, close to shore, extends to depth penetrated by light; rooted and floating plants flourish
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Profundal Zone
It is deep, no-light regions, too dark for photosynthesis; low oxygen levels; inhabited by fish adapted to cool, dark waters
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Oligotrophic (Young Lake)
Deep, cold, small surface area relative to depth; nutrient-poor, phytoplankton are sparse; not very productive; doesn’t contain much life; waters often very clear; and sediments are low in decomposable organic matter.
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Mesotrophic (Middle-Aged Lake)
Moderate nutrient content and moderate amounts of phytoplankton; reasonably productive.
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Eutrophic (Old Lake)
Shallow, warm, large surface area relative to depth; Waters often murky;
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stratification
The or layering of water in lakes is the result of density changes caused by shifts in temperature.
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hypolimnion
Deep water is insulated from the sun and stays cool and denser, forming a lower layer called the _.
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Seasonal turnover
_ refers to the exchange of surface and bottom water in a lake or pond that happens twice a year.
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Fall Turnover
With the arrival of fall and cooler air temperatures, water at the surface of a lake begins to cool and becomes heavier. During this time, strong fall winds move the surface water around, which promotes mixing with deeper water.
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Spring Turnover
With spring, the surface ice begins to melt, and cold surface waters warm until they reach the temperature of the bottom waters, again producing a fairly uniform temperature distribution throughout the lake. When this occurs, winds blowing over the lake again set up a full circulation system.
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Wetlands
These are areas that are covered with water at some point in the year and that support aquatic plants.
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Source Zone
Contains headwaters or headwater streams and often begins as springs or snowmelt of cold, clear water with little sediment and relatively few nutrients. Narrow rocky channels, creating swift currents.
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Transition Zone
Contains slower, warmer, wider, and lower-elevation moving streams, which eventually join to form tributaries. The water is less clear as it contains more sediment and nutrients, with the substrate beginning to accumulate silt.
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Floodplain Zone
As a result of large amounts of sediment and nutrients, the water is murky and warmer. Tributaries join to form rivers, which empty into oceans at estuaries.
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Riparian areas
These are lands adjacent to creeks, lakes, rivers, and streams that support vegetation dependent upon free water in the soil.
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Carbon
It is exchanged among the biosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere and is the basic building block of life and the fundamental element found in carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and nucleic acids. _ can precipitate into the ocean's deeper, more carbon-rich layers as dead soft tissue or calcium carbonate in shells.
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ocean acidification
The creation of coral reefs and the viability of externally fertilized egg cells are disrupted by __ caused by carbon dioxide absorption.
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Plant Matter
A portion of atmospheric carbon (~15%) is removed through photosynthesis.
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Terrestrial Biosphere
Forests store about 90% of the planet’s above-ground carbon and about 75% of the planet’s soil carbon.
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Oceans
The carbon in carbon dioxide dissolved in seawater is utilized by phytoplankton and kelp for photosynthesis.
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Sedimentary Deposits
Limestone (CaCO3) is the largest reservoir of carbon in the carbon cycle.
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Nitrogen
It makes up 78% of the atmosphere. It is an essential element needed to make amino acids, proteins, and nucleic acids. It increases water acidification, eutrophication, and toxicity. It is needed for photosynthesis and plant growth in chlorophyll. It availability affects primary production and decomposition.
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atmospheric nitrogen (N2)
Though __ is abundant, it has limited use biologically, which leads to a scarcity of usable forms of nitrogen in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
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nitrogen cycle
Fossil fuel combustion, inorganic fertilizer use, and wastewater and sewage production have drastically altered the _.
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Nitrogen Fixation
Atmospheric nitrogen is converted into ammonia (NH3) or nitrate ions (NO3–), which are biologically usable forms of nitrogen.
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natural cycling of nitrogen
The __, in which atmospheric nitrogen is converted to nitrogen oxides by lightning and deposited in the soil by rain, where it is assimilated by plants and either eaten by animals or decomposed back to elemental nitrogen by bacteria, includes the following processes:
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Rhizobium
The key participants in nitrogen fixation are legumes, such as alfalfa, clover, and soybeans, and nitrogen-fixing bacteria known as .
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Nitrification
Ammonia (NH3) is converted to nitrite (NO2–) and nitrate (NO3–), which are the most useful forms of nitrogen to plants. Reduced nitrogen compounds are sequentially oxidized to nitrite and nitrate.
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Assimilation
Plants absorb ammonia (NH3), ammonium ions (NH4+), and nitrate ions (NO3–) through their roots.
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Ammonification
Decomposing bacteria convert dead organisms and wastes, which include nitrates, uric acid, proteins, and nucleic acids, to ammonia (NH3) and ammonium ions (NH4+)—biologically useful forms.
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Denitrification
Anaerobic bacteria convert ammonia into nitrites (NO2–), nitrates (NO3–), nitrogen gas (N2), and nitrous oxide (N2O) to continue the cycle. Reducing nitrate and nitrite to gaseous forms of nitrogen.
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nitrogen oxides (NOx)
Fossil fuel combustion has sevenfold increased atmospheric _, particularly nitrogen dioxide.
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NOx
____ produces tropospheric ozone, smog, acid rain, and nitrogen inputs to ecosystems.
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Ammonia (NH3)
_ in the atmosphere has tripled as a result of human activities since the Industrial Revolution.
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Nitrous oxide (N2O)
This greenhouse gas breaks down and destroys atmospheric ozone in the stratosphere.
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Phosphorus
It is essential for the production of nucleotides, ATP, fats in cell membranes, bones, teeth, and shells. It is not found in the atmosphere; rather, the primary sink for phosphorus is in sedimentary rocks. It is found in the form of the phosphate ion or the hydrogen phosphate ion. It is slowly released from terrestrial rocks by weathering and the action of acid rain and then dissolves into the soil and is taken up by plants. It is often a limiting factor for soils due to its low concentration and solubility, and it is a key element in fertilizer.
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Water cycle
It is powered by energy from the sun, which evaporates water from oceans, lakes, rivers, streams, soil, and vegetation.
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dynamic equilibrium
The water cycle is in a state of __ by which the rate of evaporation equals the rate of precipitation.
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Condensation
The conversion of a vapor or gas to a liquid
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Evaporation
The process of turning from a liquid into vapor
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Evapotranspiration
The process by which water is transferred from the land to the atmosphere by evaporation from the soil and other surfaces and by transpiration from plants
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Infiltration
The process by which water on the ground surface enters the soil
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Precipitation
Rain, snow, sleet, or hail that falls to the ground
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Runoff
Part of the water cycle that flows over land as surface water instead of being absorbed into groundwater or evaporating
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Capillary action
A result of hydrogen bonding, helps tree roots take up water, allowing trees to grow as large as they do.
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Floating ice
Essential to life near the poles, results from the different ways water molecules arrange themselves at different temperatures.
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Aquifer
A geologic formation that contains water in quantities sufficient to support a well or spring.
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Confined “artesian well” aquifer
An aquifer below the land surface that is saturated with water.
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Recharge zone
The surface area above an aquifer that supplies water to the aquifer
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Unsaturated zone
The zone immediately below the land surface where the open spaces in the soil contain both water and air, but are not totally saturated with water
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Water table
The level below which the ground is saturated with water
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depletion
Aquifer is primarily caused by sustained groundwater pumping.
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Land subsidence
The sinking of land that results from groundwater extraction.
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Water shortages
Since groundwater is the main water source for many populations, residents of these areas may experience water insecurity for domestic and agricultural needs.
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Saltwater intrusion
The movement of saltwater into freshwater aquifers, which can lead to contamination.
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Photosynthesis
The plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use light energy to produce carbohydrates and other organic compounds
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chlorophyll
Plants capture light primarily through the green pigment _.
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Chloroplasts
Chlorophylls are contained in organelles called _.
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oxidation of glucose
The energy derived from the _ during cellular respiration is then used to form other organic compounds such as cellulose, lipids, amino acids, and eventually proteins.
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Oxygen gas
It is released into the atmosphere during photosynthesis, and plants emit carbon dioxide during respiration.
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Trophic Level
Food web: The natural interconnection of food chains.The position an organism occupies in a food chain and is the number of steps it is from the start of the chain.
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Food web
The natural interconnection of food chains.
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Ecological pyramids
These show ecosystem properties by placing primary producers at the base and decreasing energy as species move away from them.
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inverted
In some instances, biomass pyramids can be _, and are often seen in aquatic and coral reef ecosystems.
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Primary consumers
They have longer life spans and slower growth rates and accumulate more biomass than the producers they consume.
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Aquatic predators
also tend to have a lower death rate than the smaller consumers, which further contributes to the inverted pyramid pattern.
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Energy pyramids
___ will always have an upright pyramid shape if all sources of food energy are included.
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Second Law of Thermodynamics
States that as energy is transferred or transformed, more and more of it is wasted.
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Entropy
A natural tendency of any isolated system to degenerate from an ordered state into a more disordered state.
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Sun
Ultimate source of energy; Photosynthesis
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Heterotrophs
Organisms dependent on photosynthetic organisms.
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Cellular respiration
the opposite of photosynthesis.
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glucose
In respiration, it is oxidized by the cells to produce carbon dioxide, water, and chemical energy. Used in Cellular Respiration
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decay
The remaining energy is typically lost as heat during metabolic reactions, temperature control, incomplete digestion, and waste product .
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Sunlight
It is the ultimate source of energy required for most biological processes.
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10% Rule
It states that energy is lost mostly as heat from one stage to the next.
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Productivity
Refers to the rate of generation of biomass in an ecosystem and is expressed in units of mass per unit surface area (or volume) per unit time, with mass referring to dry matter or to the mass of carbon generated.
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primary productivity
Productivity of autotrophs
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secondary productivity
Productivity of heterotrophs
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Secondary production
The generation of biomass by heterotrophic consumers in a system, is driven by the transfer of organic material between trophic levels, and represents the quantity of new tissue created through the use of assimilated food by organisms responsible for secondary production.
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Biomass pyramid
It shows how much organic mass is within each trophic level.
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Energy Pyramids
These show the proportion of energy passed from one trophic level to the next-level consumers in an ecosystem
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Gross primary production (GPP)
The rate at which plants capture and fix a given amount of chemical energy as biomass in a given length of time.
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Net primary production (NPP)
The remaining fixed energy is the rate at which all the plants in an ecosystem produce net useful chemical energy.
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NPP Formula
NPP = GPP - R
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Open oceans
__ collectively have the highest net primary productivity.
