7 - Biogeography Flashcards
define ecosystem function
the rates at which an ecosystem processes substances (like carbon, water, energy), exchanging these with the atmosphere, how it develops over time and how its entities interact with one another
define physiology
the processes within an individual which contribute to its functioning, also ecosystems as a whole
define physiognomy
the morphological features of an organism that contribute to its appearance and functioning within the ecosystem
define plant ecology
the study of the interaction between plants and their environments
outline the theories of succession and climax from Clements and Tansley
clements - succession was a developmental process that led to a climax community, which was determined by the regional climate. He also believed that all other types of vegetation were either successional stages or arrested successional stages. Clements described the climax community as an indicator of the climatic conditions that created It
tansley - Disagreed with Clements’ view of succession, believing that a variety of environmental factors could lead to different types of climax formations in a given region. He introduced the concept of the ecosystem into biology and was a pioneer of the science of ecology in Britain
define system
the sum of the components that interact with each other to produce the coupled behaviour
define cycling
the flow of a substance in and out of the system
define resource limitation
the concept of the ability of a function to operate being limited by some resource (ie N supply may influence photosynthesis)
define phenotype
the visible appearance of an organism and results from the interaction of genetics with the environment
define niche
the environmental limits within which a species can survive and grow.
define fundamental niche
the potential niche in the absence of competition from other species
define realised niche
the niche that is observed and includes competition as a contraint
define genotype
the set of genes in an organism
define ecotype
a subset of a species and represents a population genetically adapted to a particular environment, eg. lowland vs montane
define scale
can be spatial or temporal. discussion of all ecological concepts requires specifying scales of relevance
outline abiotic and biotic components
abiotic - those that are purely physical and chemical
biotic - those made of the living organisms. when these die their organic remains become abiotic and decompose into different organic and inorganic forms
outline soil
composed of organic and mineral components.
organic component is derived from living organisms and contains carbon
mineral soil is largely derived from the underlying rock, but organic material can be broken down so much that the products are no longer considered organic, they contain no carbon, and are therefore minerals, or nutrients if can be taken up by plants
define decomposition
the breaking down of organic material into simpler forms. as this happens part of the carbon in the organic material is released as CO2, which is classed as heterotrophic respiration
define mineralisation
production of inorganic from organic material
define functional type
group of species that share some functional characteristic
define trait
some feature of an organism that can be observed and is related to one or more of its functions
Define resilience of a system
its ability to maintain a certain level of functionality when subject to perturbation
what is the simplest form of radiation and its characteristics
plane wave
angular frequency (w) and wavenumber (k)
4 types of ecosystem services
provisioning
regulating
supporting
cultural