Ch. 54 - An Introduction to Ecology and Biomes

Question 1

the study of the ways in which individual organisms meet the challenges of their abiotic and biotic interactions within their environment

Answer 1

Organismal Ecology

Question 2

investigates how organisms are physiologically adapted to their environment and how the environment impacts the distribution of species

Answer 2

Physiological Ecology

Question 3

how the behavior of individual organisms contributes to their survival and reproductive success

Answer 3

Behavioral Ecology

Question 4

focuses on groups of interbreeding individuals (populations); understanding factors that affect a population’s growth and determine its size and density

Answer 4

Population Ecology

Question 5

study of how populations of species interact and form functional communities

Answer 5

Community Ecology

Question 6

systems formed by the interactions between a community of organisms and its physical environment

Answer 6

Ecosystem

Question 7

the flow of energy and the cycling of nutrients within an ecosystem, which, in turn, affects the production of biomass

Answer 7

Ecosystem Ecology

Question 8

performing an experiment several times

Answer 8

Replication

Question 9

a fairly narrow zone close to the ocean’s surface, where light is sufficient to allow photosynthesis to occur

Answer 9

Photic Zone

Question 10

species that can tolerate higher salt concentrations in their cell sap than regular plants

Answer 10

Halophytes

Question 11

precipitation with a pH of less than 5.6

Answer 11

Acid Rain

Question 12

the prevailing weather pattern in a given region

Answer 12

Climate

Question 13

areas of high pressure and are the sites of the world’s hot deserts, because the subsiding air is relatively dry, having released all of its moisture over the equator

Answer 13

Subsidence Zone

Question 14

increasing elevation leads to a decrease in air pressure

Answer 14

Adiabatic Cooling

Question 15

an area where precipitation is noticeably less

Answer 15

Rain Shadow

Question 16

major types of habitat characterized by distinctive plant and animal life; subdivided into terrestrial and aquatic

Answer 16

Biomes

Question 17

rainfall > 230cm/year; avg. temp = 25-29; equatorial regions

Answer 17

Tropical Rain Forest

Question 18

uppermost layer of tree foliage

Answer 18

Canopy

Question 19

rainfall ~ 130-280 cm/year; avg. temp = 25-39; equatorial regions where rainfall is more seasonal

Answer 19

Tropical Deciduous Forest

Question 20

rainfall > 200 cm/year; winter temperatures seldom drop below freezing and summer temperatures rarely exceed 27 degrees celsius; coastal locales

Answer 20

Temperate Rain Forest

Question 21

rainfall ~ 75-200 cm/year; temp falls below freezing each winter but not usually below -12; eastern US, western Europe, eastern Asia

Answer 21

Temperate Deciduous Forest

Question 22

rainfall ~ 30-100 cm/year (often snow); temps are very cold, often below freezing; lies north of temperate-zone forests and grasslands; Taiga

Answer 22

Temperate Coniferous Forest

Question 23

rainfall ~ 50-130 cm/year; temps range from 24-29; Africa, South America, northern Australia

Answer 23

Tropical Grassland

Question 24

overstocking of land for pasturage of domestic animals can greatly reduce grass coverage through overgrazing, turning the area desert-like

Answer 24

Desertification

Question 25

rainfall ~ 25-100 cm/year; temp sometimes falls below 10 degrees celsius or as high as 30 degrees celsius; ~30 degrees latitude; prairie

Answer 25

Temperate Grassland

Question 26

rainfall is less than 30 cm/year; temps vary, below freezing at night to as high as 50 degrees celsius in the day; latitudes of 20-30 degrees North or South

Answer 26

Hot Desert

Question 27

rainfall < 25 cm/year (often snow); summer can be 21 to 26 degrees celsius; winter can be -2 to 4 degrees celsius; dry regions at middle to high latitudes

Answer 27

Cold Desert

Question 28

rainfall < 25 cm/year (locked up as snow); summer can be 3 to 12 degrees celsius and winter avg. temp is -32 degrees celsius; mainly in northern hemisphere

Answer 28

Tundra

Question 29

temperature decreases with increasing elevation; precipitation and temperature change dramatically; many areas of the world

Answer 29

Mountain Ranges

Question 30

layer of permanently frozen soil

Answer 30

Permafrost

Question 31

in the spring, ice melts, water warms, and spring storms mix the water layers, creating uniform conditions of temperature and oxygen

Answer 31

Spring Overturn

Question 32

upper layer warmed by the sun and mixed well by the wind

Answer 32

Epilimnion

Question 33

transition zone where the temperature declines rapidly

Answer 33

Thermocline

Question 34

cool layer far below the surface to be much warmed and with low light levels where photosynthesis is absent and oxygen supply is low

Answer 34

Hypolimnion

Question 35

standing-water habitats

Answer 35

Lentic

Question 36

running-water habitats

Answer 36

Lotic

Question 37

the area where land meets the sea, is alternately submerged and exposed by the daily cycle of tide; sandy shore, mudflats, or rocky shore

Answer 37

Intertidal Zone

Question 38

need warm water of at least 20 degrees celsius but less than 30 degrees celsius; limited to photic zone; warm tropical waters

Answer 38

Coral Reef

Question 39

water depth averages 4000 m; covering 70% of Earth's surface; Pelagic Zone

Answer 39

Open Ocean

Question 40

circulation of cold, mineral-rich nutrients from deeper water to the surface

Answer 40

Upwelling

Question 41

microscopic photosynthetic organisms

Answer 41

Phytoplankton

Question 42

drifting animals that graze on phytoplankton

Answer 42

Zooplankton

Question 43

swim against the current to locate food

Answer 43

Nekton

Question 44

young lakes often start off clear and with little plant life

Answer 44

Oligotrophic

Question 45

lakes become richer in dissolved nutrients from erosion and runoff from surrounding land

Answer 45

Eutrophic

Question 46

flowing water prevents water accumulation and phytoplankton blooms; well-aerated; all continents except Antartica

Answer 46

Lotic Habitats

Question 47

areas regularly saturated by surface water or groundwater; marshes to swamps to bogs; seasonally flooded; oxygen levels fairly low

Answer 47

Wetlands

Question 48

the study of the geographic distribution of extinct and living species

Answer 48

Biogeography

Question 49

major changes in the relative location of continents due to the slow movement of the Earth's surface plates

Answer 49

Plate techtonics

Question 50

two or more closely related species that are widely separated geographically

Answer 50

Disjunct Distributions