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Biology 20 AP > Ch. 3 - Ecosystems and their Diversity (Excluding AP Content and Topic 3.2) > Flashcards

Ch. 3 - Ecosystems and their Diversity (Excluding AP Content and Topic 3.2) Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the four main levels we study ecology at?

A
  • Species
  • Population
  • Communities
  • Ecosystem
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2
Q

What is a species?

A

Individuals of the same species are those that can breed with one another to produce fertile offspring.

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3
Q

What is a population? What are population ecologists?

A

A population is a group of individuals of the same species living in a specific area at a specific time.

Population ecologists describe the changes in size of a population over time. They investigate whether a population is decreasing or increasing in size, the rate of change, and the factors that determine the change.

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4
Q

What are communities? What are community ecologists?

A

Communities are composed of many individuals of many different populations in a given area at a given time.

Community ecologists study the interactions between members of different populations. They are interested in which species are present in a community and how many individuals of each species are there.

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5
Q

What is an ecosystem? What are they determined by?

A

Ecosystems include both the various populations in an area as well as the abiotic factors that surround and affect those populations.

Ecosystems are determined by both biotic and abiotic factors.

Ex: Coral reef ecosystem

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6
Q

The ecosystem/environment includes biotic and abiotic components. What are some biotic factors that influence the organism?

A

The other living organisms that an animal comes into contact with.

Ex: A predator that hunts it, the prey it hunts, the animals it lives with, bacteria.

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7
Q

The ecosystem/environment includes biotic and abiotic components. What are some abiotic factors that influence the organism?

A

Abiotic factors are those things within the environment that affect the organism but are not living, such as climate, sunlight, water, and minerals.

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8
Q

What determines which organisms are able to live in an environment? Explain.

A

Abiotic factors determine which organisms are able to live in an environment.

Changing abiotic conditions can also influence a change in the number of one organism, which then changes the number of a second organism, and so on and so on.

Abiotic elements of a community change over time, affecting organisms and their interactions on all levels.

Ex: Slow succession of topsoil, global warming to populations

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8
Q

What are dynamic ecosystems?

A

Most communities are in a state of change; they are dynamic.

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8
Q

What do ecologists do?

A

Ecologists study how certain abiotic conditions can affect the distribution of organisms (where they can and cannot live).

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9
Q

How do we study populations?

A

We include all members of that species living in a specific area, plus their interactions with and the effects of the abiotic elements in their environment.

Ex: Collared pika population decline study because of global warming

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10
Q

What other interactions between animals also affect the relative number of species?

A
  • Competition between members of the same species for resources
  • Predator-prey relationships between two different species
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11
Q

Interactions between organisms and their environment can be divided into which four levels?

A
  • Individuals (organism)
  • Populations
  • Community
  • Ecosystem
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12
Q

Give an example of ecosystems of varying sizes.

A

An ecosystem can be very large or very small. Smaller ecosystems, such as a rotting log, are parts of larger ecosystems, such as the forest it is in.

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13
Q

What is the biosphere?

A

All the ecoystems of the world put together.

(All habitable parts of the Earth)

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14
Q

What does the biosphere include?

A
  • Several meters into the Earth (geosphere)
  • Several kilometers into the air (atmosphere)
  • All the living organisms within it
  • All the abiotic factors that make it up
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15
Q

Is life on Earth evenly distributed? Explain.

A

No, because each area on Earth has its own characteristic levels of abiotic factors, which affect patterns of distribution of life.

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16
Q

Name eight abiotic factors.

A
  • Climate
  • Latitude
  • Elevation
  • Temperature
  • Humidity
  • Moisture
  • Saliniity
  • Light
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17
Q

Can organisms withstand variation?

A

Some variation, but only within an optimal range.

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18
Q

What is climate?

A

The average weather conditions (temperature and rainfall) of a particular region over a period of time of more than 30 years.

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19
Q

Why are there varying climates on Earth (what is the greatest influence)? What does this set up and produce?

A

Unequal heating of the Earth’s atomosphere: the sun’s light reaches the equator most directly and intensely, whereas the poles recieve more diffuse sunlight (because Earth is round).

This sets up the major climate zone of tropics near the equator, through temperate zones, to the cold regions at the poles.

It also produces global air and water movements, and together with local geography, produces patterns of rainfall.

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20
Q

What is a biome?

A

A large geographical area with a characteristic climate and biota.

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21
Q

What is biota?

A

The animal and plant life of a particular region.

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22
Q

As a result of each biome’s characteristic conditions, each biome also has a:

A

Particular mix of plants and animals, each with similar adaptations that suit it to that biome.

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23
Q

How are terrestial biomes plotted? How can this be shown?

A
  • Mean annual temperature; this range of temperature is determined by latitude.
  • Precipitation; pattern of precipitation influences plant life, and therefore, soil.

Shown in a climatograph.

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24
Q

The type and abundnace of organisms that can survive in a biome is determined by? (6)

A
  • Precipitaiton
  • Soil
  • Topography
  • Altitude
  • Latitude
  • Temperature
25
Q

What is an increase in altitude similar to?

A

(The same effect) as an increase in latitude.

Altitude and elevation have similar effects on temperature and rainfall. Increasing in latitude away from the equator in either direction shows a transition in biome similar to increasing in altitude from sea level.

26
Q

What is the general trend of terrestial life as temperature/rainfall increases?

A

The abundance of terrestial life increases as the tempeature and average rainfall increases.

27
Q

What is ecotone?

A

(Transition zones)
There is a gradual transition in types of plants and animals between biomes.

28
Q

Are there biomes that are not on land?

A

Yes, aquatic biomes.
Ex: Lakes, rivers, estuaries, coral reef, intertidal zones, open ocean, deep sea.

29
Q

What is a habitat?

A

A place/area within a biome or ecosystem that has a particular set of biotic and abiotic characteristics.

30
Q

What do organisms living in each habitat have?

A

Unique adaptations that allow it to cope with the local abiotic conditions and the other organisms that live there.

31
Q

Where can habitats be found?

A

In a single large area or can be spread over a number of smaller, seperate locations.

31
Q

What is the limnetic zone in an aquatic ecosystem?

A

Area in deeper water extending from the surface down to where sunlight can penetrate, thus, it is warm.
- Floating photosynthetic organisms can live. Any animals that swim, float, or need to be at the surface can also live.

32
Q

What is the littoral zone in an aquatic ecosystem?

A

Along the edge of a lake it is shallow, thus, warmer because sunlight can penetrate to the bottom.
- Rooted plants can live here, as they can reach the bottom and have sunlight for photosynthesis
- Animals that feed on these plants also thrive

33
Q

What is the profundal zone in an aquatic ecosystem?

A

Exists at the bottom of a body of water.
- Sunlight cannot penetrate to here, meaning NO plants live
- Animals that can tolerate the cold and feed on detritus (dead material) accumulated on the bottom sediments are adapted to this habitat

34
Q

What is the benethic zone?

A

The absolute bottom.

35
Q

Why will a forest ecosystem also have diverse habitats and niches?

A

Differences in temperature, moisture, and soil content means it has biodiversity.

A forest ecosystem will thus have a diversity of habitats and niches.

36
Q

What are some human activities or technologies that have a negative impact on biodiversity?

A
  • Deforestation
  • Pollution
  • Climate Change
  • Invasive Species
37
Q

What is the ecological niche of a population? It includes what? Can two species share a niche and why?

A

The role that its members play in an ecosystem.

Includes what food it eats, which predators eat it, where it lives, what environmental conditions suit it the best.

No two species can occupy the same niche, since competition arises and one species will win.

38
Q

What is a species’ range? What is its limit determined by?

A

The geographical area where the organism is found.

Its limit is determined by the habitat requirements.

39
Q

Does an organism live throughout (spread out) its range?

A

No, it does not live throughout its range, but only in its particualr habitats within this range.

40
Q

Can species share a range or habitat?

A

Yes, if they have different niches.

41
Q

What does a greater diversity of species (particularly plants) result in?

A

Diversity of habitats and niches.

42
Q

What is a keystone species?

A

A species that has a disproportionately large effect on its environemnt relative to its abundance.

43
Q

What are limiting factors? What are the two types?

A

Populations cannot grow in an unlimited fashion for a long period of time because their sizes are controlled by these limiting factors.

  • Abiotic limiting factors
  • Biotic limiting factors

For example, this prevents bacteria from reproducing infinitely.

43
Q

What is biodiversity? Why does this vary?

A

The variety of organisms found within an area.

In every ecosystem, there exists a variety of biotic and abiotic conditions that result in a variety of habitats and niches, and therefore unique organisms adapted to each habitat or niche.

44
Q

What are abiotic limiting factors?

A

Includes such things as:
- Temperature
- Moisture
- Humidity
- Sunlight
- Soil Nutrients

If any of these change, the size of the population will be affected.

44
Q

What are biotic limiting factors? (3)

A
  • Competition
  • Predation
  • Parasites
45
Q

In the context of biotic limiting factors, what are the two types of competition?

A
  • Intraspecific
  • Interspecific
46
Q

In the context of biotic limiting factors, what is intraspecific competition?

A

Competition for limitied resources such as food, water, sun, soil nutrients, shelter, mates, breeding site/space WITHIN a population will limit its growth.

Has a negative effect on numbers of individuals by decreasing births or increasing deaths or even both.

47
Q

In the context of biotic limiting factors, what is interspecific compeition?

A

Occurs when 2 or more populations are competing for resources.

If 2 species occupy the same niche, one will lose and die out.

If the 2 have similar but not identical niches, the desntiy of one or both of the populations will decrease.

48
Q

In the context of biotic limiting factors, how do predators play a role?

A

Organisms that hunt and feed upon a second organism, the prey, for nourishment.
- An abundance of predators severely limits the size of the population of the prey
- Lack of prey limits the population size of predators
- As number of predators drop, number of prey can rebound and increase
- With this increase in prey numbers, an increase in the predator population size follows

49
Q

In the context of biotic limiting factors, how do parasites play a role?

A

Cyclcial relationships between parasite and host is similar to predator and prey.
- Parasite gets nutrition from its host organism which is harmed in some way (instead of killed, as in the case of predation)
- If the number of host organisms are high, the number of parasites will increase
- As parasites increase, general fitness of host population decreases. As a result, number of hosts will decrease.
- As a result, the parasite population decreases.

50
Q

What are foreign species, and the two types?

A

Oranisms that are living outside of their natural range. There are two similar, yet different terms:
- Alien Species
- Invasive Species

51
Q

What are alien species?

A

A species living outside its native distribution range, which has arrived there by human activity, either deliberate or accidental.

Neutral connotation.

52
Q

What are invasive species?

A

An alien species whose introduction does or is likely to cause economic harm, environemntal harm, or harm to human health.

53
Q

How are populations sampled in ecosystems?

A

Usually, a population is not small enough that each individual can be counted to determine population size. Ecologists often have to estimate the size of a population by counting many samples.

54
Q

What are samples? How are they calculated?

A

Small portions or subsets of the entire population and calculating an average.

The average is then extrapolated to the entire area occupied by the population.

55
Q

What are transects?

A

When trying to determine the population size of a mobile organism, transects, or very long rectangular areas are used.

56
Q

What are quadrats?

A

If immobile organisms or those that live in one place are being counted, quadrats—or identical sized areas—are used.

57
Q

For both transects and quadrats, several random areas are chosen, so how is population determined?

A

All individuals of the species within the predetermined area are counted.

58
Q

What is density?

A

The number of individuals per unit area or volume (the density of a population).

Can be calculated by dividing the average number of individuals per quadrat by the size of the quadrat and extrapolating to the entire study area.

Biology 20 AP (14 decks)

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