unit A Flashcards
1
Q
study of biology
A
different hierarchies and levels of organization
2
Q
study of ecology
A
organisms, populations, communities, ecosystems or biosphere as a whole
3
Q
closed system
A
only energy can eneter and leave, matter stays consistent
example- earth
4
Q
dynamic equilibrium
A
constant change to mantian balance
example - earth and it’s ecosytems
5
Q
homeostasis
A
trying to be balanced in biology
6
Q
biodiversity
A
the number of species in an ecosystem
-how diverse is the ecosystem (variety)
7
Q
mass extinction
A
a cycle the Earth goes through where natural reasons wipe out several species
8
Q
indicator species
A
species that indicate how things are going in an ecosystem/enviroment
-very sensitive to change
example- frogs, tiger sharks or whales
9
Q
extinct
A
no longer present on Earth
10
Q
endangered
A
close to extinction
11
Q
extripated
A
gone out of a large area they used to be predomaninet in
12
Q
threatened
A
likely to become endangered, if there is no change
13
Q
special concern
A
at risk due to low/declining numbers
14
Q
biotic
A
alive
15
Q
carnivores
A
organisms that only eat meat
-secondary consumers
16
Q
herbivores
A
organisms that only eat vegetation
- eat producers
- primary consumer
17
Q
omnivores
A
organisms that consume both vegetation and meat
18
Q
decomposers
A
organisms that break down dead animals or animal waste
19
Q
detritus
A
waste or debris of any kind
20
Q
habitat
A
natural home or enviroment
21
Q
population
A
amount of a species in a specfic location
22
Q
community
A
group of multiple species existing together in the same place
23
Q
ecosystem
A
biological community of interacting organisms and their physical enviroment
24
Q
abiotic
A
not alive
25
hypothesis
educated guess
26
why should we care about how we treat nature
- humans depend on it
- diversity goes down, like a chain reactions on other animals
- God calls us to
27
interconnected
everything affects everyone
| example - elk and mosquito
28
biodiversity is influenced manly by
water
photosynthesis
high- tons of plants and animals
low- less plants and animals
29
energy flow
solar energy -> photosynthesis -> energy conversions into food -> into mechanical energy (humans)
-90% of energy is used for the organism, the rest is lost in thermal energy
30
autotroph
an organism that is able to feed itself
| example- plants (through photosynthesis)
31
heterotrophs
organisms that get their food from other living things
-consumers or decomposers
example-humans
32
organic molecules
molecules produced or found in living things
| example - protein
33
inorganic molecules
not found or made from living things
34
photosynthesis formula
6 CO2 + 6 H2O -> C6H12O6 + 6 O2
35
chemosynthesis
energy created by chemical reaction
36
primary consumers
first consumer in food chain (herbivore)
37
secondary consumer
something eating something (carnivore)
| -third in a food chain
38
tertiary consumer
eat the secondary
| -third in food chain
39
omnivores can be
secondary, primary and tertiary depending on what they eat
40
detrivore
eats dead organic matter
| example- earthworm
41
saprotroph
lives in or on dead matter and absorbs the resulting products
example - mushroom
42
food web
shows many feeding relationships, by many organisms
| -arrow shows direction of energy
43
what does the arrow tell you in a diagram (food web/chain)
the flow of energy
| -generally points to consumer
44
niche
special place an organisms has in a food web/chain
| -identifies trophic level
45
food chain
linear model, pointing in the direction of energy flow
| -not realistic
46
trophic level
how many levels is it away from the sun
| -producers are at the first trophic level
47
keystone species
support other animals, without it things fall apart
| -center of food webs
48
DDT
a chemical farmers used on crops, which affected large birds eggs to be weaker and less offspring
49
bio magnification
magnifying of something as it increases in the food chain
-accumulation
example - tuna being high in mercury
50
cull
purposeful killing of animals
51
thermal energy
loss of energy in the form of heat
52
second law of thermodynamics
as energy is transferred some energy is always lost (in the form of thermal heat)
-energy is lost
53
first law of thermodynamics
energy can be transferred but cannot be created or destroyed
54
pyramid of numbers
counts how many producers/herbivores/carnivores
- easy to read
- energy flow
- doesn't show juvenile
- snapshot in time
55
pyramid of biomass
mass per trophic level
- easy to read
- shows juveniles
- time of year is a huge factor
- not always accurate
56
pyramid of energy
```
Energy being available and generated, existing energy
-compare ecosystems
-mostly accurate
-hard to calculate
omnivores don't fit in
```
57
properties of water
universal solvent
- adhesive and cohesive
- high boiling temp and melting
58
hydrchloric cycle
movement of water through the biosphere (atmosphere and earth)
59
precipitation
water reaching Earths surface, some water stays positioned as still water is absorbed into the soil
60
evaporation
using energy, surface water changes from liquid to a gas form
61
transpiration
loss of water through plant leaves (dew)
62
percolation
movement of liquid through porous material (soil)
| -trickle
63
leaching
removal of soluable minerals by percolation
- carries dissolved organic matter
- not a good thing
64
what cycle is not found in the atmosphere and earth
phosphourous cycle
65
run off
water from percipitaion
66
water table
layer of water underground
67
respiration
human form of recycling water
68
acid rain
rain becomes very acidic
69
normal rain (acid rain facts)
pH 5.5, carbonoxide acid
70
why does rain become acidic
nitric oxide, sulfure dioxide
71
why is water a great solvent
like dissoles like, water is polar
| opposites attract, can rip things apart
72
biggest sink of inorganic carbon
the ocean
73
issue of global warning with oceans and carbon
cold water holds more carbon (slower movement)
| -cannot hold as much carbon, making more in the atmosphere
74
organic compound
compounds that contain hydrogen bound to carbon
| -living things
75
organic carbon example
C6H12O6
76
summary of carbon cycle
inorganic to organic to inorganic
| -atmosphere -earth living things -atmosphere
77
where in the carbon cycle does carbon go from inorganic to organic
when it is consumed by living things, through cellular respiration, and then exhaled as inorganic
-or in photosynthesis
78
CaCO3
calcium carbonate
- inorganic carbon locks into carbonates
- rocks, teeth, shells
79
where do most of the carbon go from the carbon cycle
photosynthesis
| inorganic - stomata - cholorfil - water - suger (organic)
80
how does carbon get back into the atmosphere
through cellular respiration
81
cellular respiration
conversion of organic carbon to inorganic carbon (in the mitrochondria)
82
what happens when theres not enough oxygen to decompose
fossil fuels are created, that's what global warming is
83
hydrocarbon combustion
returns organic carbon to atmosphere
| example- burning fossil fuels
84
biggest sink of inorganic carbon
the ocean
85
nitrogen summary
atmosphere - earth/living things - atmosphere
| free nitrogen to nitrate to free nitrogen
86
free nitrogen
N2
| initial nitrogen in the atmosphere, plants cannot use
87
what does nitrogen do for plants
it is used ot build proteins in plants
88
nitrification
(nitrogen fixation)
| N2 needs to be fixed, converted into NO3/NO2
89
denitrification
reverse of nitrogen fixation
| NO3 - NO2 - N2
90
nitrogen cycle - lighting
contains so much energy it can force oxygen into free nitrogen
91
nitrogen cycle - bacteria
anaerobic or aerobic
| gives oxygen needed in nitrogen or takes away to either produce free nitrogen or nitrate
92
nitrogen cycle - legumes
beans and such to help transfer nitrogen
93
ammonification
fertilizers (decomposers) - ammonia (NH3) - nitrites (NO2) - nitrates (NO3)
94
nitrates
form of nitrogen plants can use
| NO3
95
nitrites
imbetween molecules
| NO2
96
nitrogen
begning molecule
N2
free nitrogen
97
anaerobic bacteria
don't need oxygen (take away)
| NO3 - NO2
98
aerobic bacteria
```
need oxygen (give)
N2 - NO2 - NO3
```
99
how do holes in grass help in the nitrogen cycle?
make it easier to bring oxygen into the grass/nitrogen so that nitrogen fixation can happen much easier
100
summary of the phosphorous cycle
earth - plants/animals - earth
101
why do plants need phosphate
to grow
102
phosphorous short cycle
- phosphate in rocks dissolve in soil and water
- eaten by animals/absorbed by plants
- decompose into the ground
- cycle continues
103
phosphorous long cycle
- phosphate in rocks dissolve in soil and water
- runs into oceans and sediments
- geological lift brings phosphourous up back to soil/rock
104
CHNOPS
```
carbon
hydrogen
nitrogen
oxygen
phosphourous
sulfur
```
105
albedo
a way of measuring how reflective a surface is
106
what does the polarity of water do
makes water an excellent solvent
107
how does the albedo effect climate
- If Earth's climate is colder and there is more snow and ice on the planet
- albedo increases, more sunlight is reflected out to space
- and the climate gets even cooler.
