Ch4 - Ecosystems and Community

Question 1

What is climate?

Answer 1

average (year-based) conditions of temperature & precipitation in a certain region

Question 2

What are the factors that cause certain climates?

Answer 2

trapping of heat by the atmosphere
Latitude
transport of heat by winds & ocean currents
amount of precipitation
shape & elevation of landmasses

Question 3

What is weather?

Answer 3

day-based condition of Earth’s atmosphere at a particular time & place

Question 4

What is the greenhouse effect?

Answer 4

Natural situation in which heat is retained by this layer of greenhouse gasses

Question 5

What would happen if there was no greenhouse effect?

Answer 5

the heat emitted by the Earth would simply pass outwards from the Earth’s surface into space and the Earth would have a very low average temperature

Question 6

What are the greenhouse gases?

Answer 6

Carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, nitrous oxide

Question 7

Global warming vs greenhouse effect

Answer 7

Global warming - increase in temperature because of increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases – not a natural process
occurs when the greenhouse effect increases in strength – causing the surface temperature to rise beyond our “comfort zone

Question 8

What are the effects of global warming?

Answer 8

Rising Sea levels (thermal expansion)
Polar Ice melt
Increase in number/severity of storms
North American droughts
Shifts in plant & animal species distribution

Question 9

What is a niche? Ecological niche?

Answer 9

Niche: What an organism does in an environment – role/occupation
Ecological niche: physical & biological conditions in which an organism lives & the way it uses those conditions

Question 10

What is a fundamental niche?

Answer 10

Full range of environmental conditions under which an organism can exist

Question 11

What is a realized niche?

Answer 11

Part of fundamental niche that one exploits (due to the presence of other organisms)

Question 12

What is a habitat?

Answer 12

the area where a species lives (including biotic and abiotic factors)

Question 13

What are ecological disturbances?

Answer 13

destroy organisms, alter resources

Question 14

What is ecological succession?

Answer 14

series of changes that occur after disturbances

Question 15

2 types of ecological succession

Answer 15

Primary Succession: Development of ecosystem that was previously uninhabited land

Pioneer species: first species
Lichen: can grow on bare rocks, Leave soil when they die
Mosses appear, and grasses take root in thin layer of soil

Secondary Succession: Development where there is soil

Question 16

What is climax community?

Answer 16

stable endpoint without many major changes

Question 17

What benefit does disturbances brings?

Answer 17

allows new niches and habitats to be made, so new species can adapt and evolve