Unit 3: (Ch. 27-28)

Question 1

what is an ecosystem?

Answer 1

consists of **all organisms in a community **and the abiotic factors they interact with

Question 2

what does ecosystem ecology study?

Answer 2

living and nonliving components within an environment, also how natural and human-induced changes affect how they function

Question 3

what are the 2 ecosystem dynamics involved?

Answer 3

energy flow
nutrient cycling

Question 4

what is energy flow?

Answer 4

how radiant energy enter an ecosystem and is stored/transferred as a chemical energy

Question 5

what is nutrient cycling?

Answer 5

describes how certain atoms like nitrogen, carbon, sulfur.. are important for bio proceses

Question 6

what is the saying for energy flow and nutrient cycling?

Answer 6

energy flows through ecosystems while matter cycles within them

Question 7

how does energy enter?

Answer 7

as light

Question 8

energy and nutrients pass from ** –> ** then to ***

Answer 8

primary producers (autotrophs) to primary consumers (herbivores) then to secondary consumers (carnivores)

Question 9

what connects all trophic levels?

Answer 9

decomposers

Question 10

what does bacteria and fungi do?

Answer 10

recycle essential chemical elements by decomposing organic material and returning elements to inorganic reservoirs

Question 11

what are detritivores?

Answer 11

they consume daed or decaying material by ingesting and digesting. They create feces which is then decomposed by decomposers like bacteria and fungi

Question 12

are decomposers the same as detritivores?

Answer 12

no, the decomposers recycle and decompose the shit that detritivores create

Question 13

what is the energy flow through an ecosystem?

Answer 13

1st trophic level= producers (like plants)
2nd trophic level = primary consumers (herbivores like a mouse)
3rd trophic level= secondary consumers (carnivores like a snake)
4th trophic level= tertiary consumers (2nd level carnivores like an eagle)
DECOMPOSERS =consume daed or decaying organic material and recycle it back to the 1st trophic level

Question 14

what is primary production ?

Answer 14

the amount of energy converted into usable chemical energy and thus, biomass (renewable organic material that comes from plants and animals) by the autotrophs (organisms that create their own food) in a given period of time

Question 15

what is secondary production?

Answer 15

the amount of energy in a consumer’s food that is converted into their own new biomass in a given period of time

Question 16

how much do herbivores generally consume of the primary production?

Answer 16

1/16th of primary production

Question 17

do herbivores digest everything that they eat?

Answer 17

no, undigested material is excreted as feces

Question 18

how do we measure production efficiency?

Answer 18

energy transformers

Question 19

what is the formula for production efficiency?

Answer 19

P.E = (Net secondary production/Assimilation of primary production) x100%

Question 20

what is net secondary production?

Answer 20

energy stored in biomass represented by growth and reproduction

Question 21

what is assimilation of primary production?

Answer 21

total energy in by the organism and excludes the energy lost as feces

Question 22

what percentage of production efficiency do insects and microorganisms have?

Answer 22

40% or more

Question 23

what percentage of production efficicnecy do fish have and what are they called?

Answer 23

10% and ectotherms

Question 24

what percentage of production efficinecy do endotherms have and what is an example of them?

Answer 24

birds and mammals have a 1-3% production efficiency

Question 25

what is trophic efficiency?

Answer 25

percentage of **production** **transferred** from 1 **trophic** level to the next

Question 26

is the trophic levels more or less than production efficiencies?

Answer 26

**less** because they not only take into account the energy lost through **respriation** but also energy contained in **feces**

Question 27

what must nutrients do in an ecosystem?

Answer 27

cycle between abiotic and biotic parts of the ecosystem

Question 28

what is the most important nutrient in nutrient cycling?

Answer 28

carbon

Question 29

why is carbon so important?

Answer 29

it forms the framework of the organic molecules essential to all life

Question 30

how is carbon fixed or converted into usable compounds?

Answer 30

begins as photosynthetic organisms convert CO2 into organic molecules and used by heterotrophs in consumption

Question 31

what is a carbon sink?

Answer 31

natural or artificial reservoir that accumulates and stores carbon-containing chemicals. primary producers are all important cause they convert atmospheric CO2 into biomass

Question 32

how much do primary producers convert CO2 into biomass?

Answer 32

123 GtC

Question 33

how much does the ocean store carbon CO2?

Answer 33

92 GtC

Question 34

what is a carbon source?

Answer 34

any process that releases carbon into the atmosphere

Question 35

what are the most important carbon sources?

Answer 35

respiration (land and ocean), deforestation and fossil fuel use

Question 36

do we store more carbon than we release?

Answer 36

no we release more carbon than we store

Question 37

What is Anthropocene?

Answer 37

geological era we call because of global environment change

Question 38

human activity stressors that subject ecosystems?

Answer 38

habitat loss and degredation ozone depletion chemical pollution nutrient enrichment climate change

Question 39

what are aquatic pollutants?

Answer 39

petroleum products fertilizers chlorinated solvents pesticides herbicides intesecticides polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's)

Question 40

what are soil pollutants?

Answer 40

lead mercury arsenic polyaromatic hydrocarbons pesticides herbicides insecticides

Question 41

what is a big problem about the pollution we produce?

Answer 41

they persist for a long time and do not biodegrade making them concentrated in the tissues of organisms in higher trophic levels

Question 42

biological magnification is?

Answer 42

process whereby **toxins** become **increasignly** more **concentrated** in tissues or organisms that make up higher trophic levels and as a result, the biomas is lower

Question 43

what is an example of biomagnification?

Answer 43

PCB's in a great lakes food web: seagulls lay eggs with PCB levels 5000x greater than phytoplankton Basically as the PCB's are placed in the water, the phytoplankton takes that in, then its transfered to the next trophic level when the larger fish like trout consume the phytoplankton, then when the seagulls eat the trout, the concentration of PCB's will be so much higher because of biomagnification. as the PCB's are transferred through trophic levels, the concentration of toxins increases.

Question 44

what are fertilizers used for?

Answer 44

boost primary production to feed a growing population like grass

Question 45

if excessive fertilizing use occurs, what can emerge from it?

Answer 45

eutrophication

Question 46

what is eutrophication?

Answer 46

excess fertilizers or any jutrient richness end up in waterways and cause algal blooms

Question 47

what is the result of eutrophication?

Answer 47

cause the proliferation of plants and algae agal blooms prevent light from penetrating to deeper levels and plants then die creating anoxic condition where no life can survive

Question 48

what is climate?

Answer 48

pattern and variation of.. temp relative humidity atmospheric pressure wind precipitation atmospheric particulates (think china air)

Question 49

what is the difference between climate and weather?

Answer 49

climate= long term pattern of weather in a particular area weather= short term conditions of these variables in a given region

Question 50

what is paleoclimatology?

Answer 50

study of ancient climates

Question 51

what is climate change?

Answer 51

**significant and lasting change** in statistical distribution of **weather** **patterns** over periods ranging from decades to millions of years

Question 52

what is anthropogenic climate change?

Answer 52

**change of climate** associated with production of **greenhouse** gases emitted **by human activity**

Question 53

what is the change in temperature?

Answer 53

warming temps over the past 100 years

Question 54

what does the warm climates influence?

Answer 54

levels of precipitation and air pressures impacting more frequent and intense weather events

Question 55

what would be the immediate cause of climate change?

Answer 55

TSI total irradiance of the sun this has not happened yet

Question 56

Milankovitch cycles have everything to do with climate change right?

Answer 56

no, the earth rotating around the sun acts much too slowly to explain current climate fluctuations

Question 57

do volcanoes have an affect on climate change?

Answer 57

no, volcanic eruptions would have brought slight cooling but not warm weather weve been experiencing CO2 output is 0.13 GG anthropogenic CO2 output is 35 GG

Question 58

what are the causes of Climate change?

Answer 58

**CO2** is primary **greenhouse** gas emitted through **human** activity

Question 59

what is a greenhouse gas?

Answer 59

atmospheric gas that absorbs and emits radiation within thermal infrared range

Question 60

what are the major greenhouse gases?

Answer 60

water vapour CO2 CH4 N2O O3 CFC's and HCFC's

Question 61

what is the greenhouse effect?

Answer 61

1-sun omits energy and earth surface absorbs it, heating it up 2-earth then radiates some of the heat back into atosphere in form of infrared radiation 3-greenhouse gases in atmoshere like CO2 take in infrared radiation and refelect it back to the earths surface 4-trapped energy from greenhouse gases warm up the earth surface but humans have created too much CO2 through fossil fuels so its heating up the earth too much creating an imbalance in climate change

Question 62

what physical changes does climate change produce?

Answer 62

increase in ambient temp changes in annual seasonal precipitation sea-levels rise ocean acidification increased frequency of extreme weather events

Question 63

recall species range? what sets the limits on species range?

Answer 63

other physical factors like temp and water availability

Question 64

what is the temp that a species cannot tolerate?

Answer 64

no temp lower than 27 degrees celsius

Question 65

is species is heat tolerant and cold intolerant where will its range be?

Answer 65

range expands northerly and southern limit stays the same

Question 66

if species is heat and cold intolerant, where will its range be?

Answer 66

range expands northerly but southern limit also moves northerly

Question 67

so basically which range will be bigger if the species range for 1 is heat-tolerant and cold intolerant and the other is heat and cold intolerant?

Answer 67

the heat tolrant and cold intolerant

Question 68

what is phenology?

Answer 68

study of reccuring life cycle traits influenced by abiotic factors like environmental conditions but an emphasis on seasonal changes

Question 69

what is phenological shift?

Answer 69

change in an **organism's life cycle** traits due to **changes in environmental** conditions caused **by climate change**

Question 70

why is phenological shift important?

Answer 70

because say these specific apples are growing at a specific time for these flies to eat, and then they start growing at a different time because of climate change, the flies are fucked