19 Flashcards
_______- requirements are often critical
for determining a species range.
Temperature and moisture
Temperature too high
or too low; rainfall too much or too little), species must…
…adapt, seek out new habitat elsewhere, or become extinct.
Biosphere
Extends from ocean floor to the atmosphere.
Abiotic
Biotic
Non-living
Living
Biosphere includes ecosystems
Self-sustaining association of living plants and animals and their non-living physical environment.
Community
Formed by interactions
among populations of living organisms.
Habitat
Includes both biotic and abiotic elements of the environment.
Niche
Different from habitat, in that habitat is an environment that can
be shared by many species, whereas niche is the unique role that a species performs within that habitat.
No two species occupy the same…
…niche
Mutualism
Shared support over an
extended period of time
Examples: bees and flowers, clownfish and sea anemone
Symbiotic relationships
Two or more species exist together in an overlapping relationship.
Parasitism
A relationship in which one species benefits and another is harmed by the association
Examples: mosquitos, fleas, ticks
Commensalism
A relationship that is one-way to one organism and neither harmful nor beneficial to another
Example: sucker fish that lives attached to sharks and
feeds off their waste
Plants capture diffuse ________ and convert it into an important food base for all life.
Sunlight.
Stomata
Small pores on the leaves that open and
close with the needs of the plants.
Photosynthesis
Takes place in structures within green leaves called chloroplasts
Uses chlorophyll
Uses light energy, CO2, H2O to produce sugars and the waste product O2
Chlorophyll
Green pigment in chloroplast that are light sensitive.
Respiration
The consumption of stored energy (photosynthesis in reverse).
Both ____ and ____
occur simultaneously in leaves.
Photosynthesis.
Respiration.
The balance of the two is called…
Net photosynthesis
Amount of stored chemical energy ecosystem generates
Often measured in net dry weight of organic material.
Net primary productivity
Climate controls
NPP on land.
High in equatorial regions
Low in desert regions
May fluctuate with seasonal changes
Nutrients dissolved in water controls NPP in oceans
Air/soil temperature determines…
Chemical reaction rate.
Life zone concept
Zonation of plants with altitude that roughly corresponds to increasing latitude.
Limiting factors
Physical, chemical, or
biological characteristics that determine species distributions and population size.
Necessary things for specie survival.
Limiting factors examples
Low temperatures limit plant growth at high elevations
Lack of water limits growth in a desert
Changes in salinity levels affect aquatic ecosystems
The most abundant natural elements in living matter are…
Hydrogen
Oxygen
Carbon
Elements such as ______ are important as well.
Nitrogen
Calcium
Potassium
Magnesium
Sulfer
Phosphorus
Carbon and oxygen is connected all the time because of…
Photosynthesis
Respiration
Most Oxygen is in the…
Atmosphere
Oceans initially absorb CO2 (photosynthesis carried on by phytoplankton) …
…and becomes fixed in carbonate minerals (sea shells).
Increasing CO2 over time and annual
fluctuations in CO2.
Keeling Curve
N-fixing
Plant roots combine
N from air in the form of nitrates and ammonia that can be used by plants to produce their own organic matter.
Soils become less fertile through ________
and decreases diversity.
Chemical misbalances.
Oxygen depleted waters kills aquatic biota and forces species to migrate.
Dead zone.
Autotrophs
(producers) receive carbon from CO2 (plants)
Heterotrophs
(consumers & bottom feeders) – rely on
producers or other consumers for carbon (animals)
