Ch 52 Flashcards
The study of interactions between organisms and the living and nonliving components of their environment
Ecology
Organization of ecology
Organisms
Populations
Communities
Ecosystems
Biomes
Biosphere
Studies how an organisms physiology and behavior meet environmental challenges
Organismal ecology
Organismal ecology includes _____ and ____ ecology
physiological and behavioral
Group of individuals of the same species living in an area
Population
What focuses on factors affecting population size over time?
Population ecology
Group of populations of different species in an area
community
Examines the effect of interspecific interactions on community structure and organization
Community ecology
The entire community of organisms in an area and the physical factors with which they interact
Ecosystem
Emphasizes energy flow and chemical cycling between organisms and the environment
Ecosystem ecology
Mosaic of connected ecosystems
Landscapes
Focuses on the exchanges of energy, materials, and organisms across multiple ecosystems
landscape ecology
The global ecosystem the sum of all the planets ecosystems and landscapes
biosphere
Examines the influence of energy and materials on organisms across the biosphere
Global ecology
Long term prevailing weather conditions in an area
Climate
What applies under climate? (4)
Temperature
Precipitation
Sunlight
Wind
What are global climate patterns determined by? (2)
1) Solar energy
2) Earths movement in space
What are the warming effects of the sun? (3)
1) Establishes temperature variations
2) Circulation of air and water
3) Evaporation
What does the warming effect of the sun cause?
Latitudinal variation
What causes latitudinal variation in sunlight intensity
Angle which sunlight hits earth
Effects heat and light per unit of surface area
Where is the sunlight the strongest in?
Tropics (between 23.5 north latitude and 23.5 south latitude)
_______ and _______ patterns play major roles in determining climate patterns
Global air circulation and precipitation patterns
What type of airflow from the tropics toward the poles
Warm wet air
What does rising air mass cause
Lots of rain
esp in tropics
What type of air creates arid climates
Dry, descending air
Near 30 north and south
What does air flowing close to earth’s surface create?
Predictable global pattern
What modifies climates seasonally
Large bodies of water and mountain ranges
What is seasonality at high latitudes caused by
1) Tilt of Earth’s axis of rotation
2) its passage around the sun
Seasonal variations in what increases steadily toward the poles? (3)
1) Day length
2) solar radiation
3) temperature
What regions have wet and dry seasons
20 N and 20 S
Cuz of changing angle of the sun
What alter ocean currents
Seasonal changes in wind patterns
Causes upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich water from deep ocean layers
What does influx of nutrients to surface waters stimulates
Population of plankton and organisms
What do ocean currents cause (4)
1) Influence nearby terrestrial environments
2) Currents toward equator = cold water from poles
3) Currents away from equator = warm water to poles
4) Air is cooled/warmed by these currents
During the day, air _______ over warm land and draws a _______ from the cooler water
rises; breeze
During the night what happens to the air over a body of water
The air rises over the now warmer waters and draws cooler air from land back to water
How do mountains affect climate over land and surrounding areas?
Warm air cools as it rises up mountain and releases moisture on the windward side
Cold dry air absorbs moisture from land as it descends creating a rain shadow on the leeward side
What else do mountains affect
The amount of sunlight reaching an area
In northern hemisphere, which face slopes receive more sunlight
The south
How much does the temp drop every 1000 m increase in elevation
6 c
Referes to very fine, localized patterns in climate
Microclimate
Include nonliving attributes
Abiotic factors
Include living attributes
Biotic factors
Directional change to global climate lasting three decades or more
Climate change
What caused higher greenhouse concentration
GAS AND DEFORESTATION
_______ are major life zones characterized by vegetation types or physical environment
Biomes
Terrestrial biomes usually ___ into each other
Grade
without sharp boundaries
The area of intergradation is called
Ecotone
Layering
Important feature
Provides diverse habitats for animals
An event such as a storm, fire, or human activity that changes a community
Disturbance
How can terrestrial biomes be characterized? (5)
1) Distribution
2) Precipitation
3) Temperature
4) Plants
5) animals
Tropical forest characteristics? where and what kind?
1) Distribution in equatorial and subequatorial regions
2) Tropical rainforest = constant rain
Tropical dry forest = Highly seasonal rain
High temp 25-29 c all year long
Desert
1) Occur in bands near 30 north and south of equator and the interior of continents
2) May be hot or cold
Desert plant adaptation (3)
1) Include heat and desiccation tolerance
2) water storage
3) reduced leaf surface area
How do Desert animals conserve water?
Nocturnal usually and have many adaptations
Savanna (5)
1) Huge ecotone
2) Grassland dotted with trees
3) Less precipitation than in a forest and more than on a grassland
4) Mainly grasses and forbs
5) Large herbivores and insects
What is a forb?
a herbaceous flowering plant other than a grass
Chaparral (4)
1) Precipitation is highly seasonal with rainy winter and dry summers
2) Summer is hot fall, winter, and spring are cool
3) Dominated by shrubs, small trees, grasses, and herbs
4) Animals include amphibians, birds, other reptiles, mammals
Temperate Grassland (4)
1) Are found on many continents
2) Precipitation is highly seasonal
3) Winters are cold and dry; summers are hot
4) Mainly grasses and forbs
5) Bison!
Northern Coniferous Forest (3)
1) Taiga
2) spans northern North America and Eurasia and is the largest terrestrial biome on Earth
3) Conifers
Temperate Broadleaf Forest (2)
1) Have vertical layers, including a closed canopy, understory trees, shrub layer, and an herb layer
2) The dominant plants are deciduous trees in the northern hemisphere and evergreen eucalyptus in Australia
Tundra
1) Covers expansive areas of the artic
2) Winters are cold and summers are cool
3) Vegetation is herbaceous
4) Permafrost; a permanently frozen layer of soil, restricts the growth of plant roots
Largest biome
Oceans
Zonations in aquatic biomes
1) Upper photic zone: has sufficient light for photosynthesis
2) Lower aphotic zone:
Both of zones make up pelagic zone
The photic zone and aphotic zone make up the _______?
pelagic zone
Located in aphotic zone with a depth of 2000 to 6000m
Abyssal zone
What zone contains the organic and inorganic sediment at the bottom of all aquatic zones
Benthic zone
Communities of organisms in the benthic zone are called?
Benthos
Dead organic matter that falls from the productive surface water and is an important source of food
detritus
Temperature boundary that separates the warm upper layer from the cold deeper water
Thermocline
Semiannual mixing of their waters called
turnover
What does turnover do?
Mixes oxygenated water fromm the surface with nutrient-rich water from bottom
