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Ecosystem Ecology > Chapter 10 and 18 > Flashcards

Chapter 10 and 18 Flashcards

Midterm study

1
Q

What does a watershed include?

A

interface between atmospheric system, denudation system, and the ecosystem
-slope system is functionally linked – slopes are what connect the watershed together

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2
Q

What are the major watershed basins in America? Europe?

A

Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Mississippi River Basin

Danube River Basin

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3
Q

How does a watershed show organization?

A

Major elements:
-channels
-slopes
-bedrock and regolith (material)- regolith=weathered bedrock without organic matter (not soil yet but is broken down)
-water
Input: precipitation and regolith; ouput: water and mineral runoff

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4
Q

What is the function of an ecosystem?

A

to evacuate runoff and debris from the catchment basin (goal is to evacuate water and debris from the basin);

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5
Q

Stream Order (Strahler)

A

-Stream Order (Strahler)
-headwater streams are 1st order
-order increases when two streams of the same order join
-first order streams may be ephemeral, intermittent, or perennial in relation to ground water connection
-bifurcation ratio

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6
Q

What is the bifurcation ratio? Mean bifurcation?

A

a dimensionless number denoting the ratio between the number of streams of one order and those of the next higher order in a drainage network; measure of proneness to flooding where the greater the bifurcation ratio the greater the chance of flooding
Rb= Nu/Nu+1 where Rb= bifurcation ratio; Nu= number of streams of a given order and Nu+1 = number of streams of next higher order
average Rb= sum/total number of stream orders

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7
Q

ephemeral

A

A stream that has flowing water only during or for a short duration after precipitation events in a typical year.

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8
Q

intermittent

A

streams that only flow at certain times of the year

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9
Q

perennial

A

has flowing water year-round

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10
Q

Areal properties equations: drainage density

A

Dd= L/A
-length of the drainage channel divided by the drainage area
-L is the total sum of all channels

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11
Q

Areal properties: Elongation ratio

A

E= A/L
-basin area divided by basin length
-L is basin length

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12
Q

Areal properties: relief ratio

A

Rh= H/L
-vertical difference divided by basin length

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13
Q

Relief properties

A

-hypsometric integral
-index of the proportion of the basin removed by erosion
-assuming the area was once complete and that now a certain amount has eroded away; measure of erosion (what has been taken away to create the current landscape)
-altitude frequency distribution
-allows us to make meaningful comparisons

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14
Q

Hypsometric integral

A

-index of the proportion of the basin removed by erosion

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15
Q

What materials come from weathering?

A

solids, air, and water

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16
Q

V=Vs+Vv

A

total volume= volume solids+ volume voids

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17
Q

Vv=Vw+Va

A

volume voids= volume of water + volume of air

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18
Q

Voids ratio

A

e=Vv/Vs

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19
Q

Porosity ratio

A

n=Vv/V

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20
Q

Moisture content

A

Ww/Ws X 100

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21
Q

What are the two main sources of energy flow in a system?

A

terrestrial and solar (geothermal is negligible)

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22
Q

High porosity=

A

large spaces

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23
Q

low porosity =

A

small spaces

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24
Q

What implies potential energy?

A

slope

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25
Q

What converts potential energy to kinetic energy and how?

A

relief converts it to kinetic energy through velocity

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26
Q

What kind of energy can a rainstorm produce? What happens when water/ice hits the ground?

A

1-mechanical energy as it does work on the inorganic and organic particles of the land surface – work of erosion;-outputs in form of latent heat and frictional heat as material moves relative to static material

2-also heats it from the friction of the moving object against something not moving

27
Q

Hydrologic cycle equation

A
  • P=R+(E+T)+(ΔS+ΔG)
  • Precipitation = runoff + (evaporation + transpiration) +
    change in water + change in groundwater
28
Q

What is the denudation system?

A

weathering system

29
Q

What is a major effect of the denudation system?

A

-positive feedback that denudation has upon itself through its processes;
-interplay between original gradient, and leveling off of the ground as it moves through the denudation process

30
Q

what are abiotic factors?

A

physical factors such as sunlight, temperature, wind patterns, etc

31
Q

What is conbiotic and why is it important?

A

with life; argument that materials, space/sunlight, temperature, pH, salinity, dissolved oxygen (do), soil chemistry, atmospheric chemistry  life impacts all of these factors, everything we measure is something that has been impacted by biotic factors

32
Q

What do all living organisms have?

A

genotype, phenotype, envirotype

33
Q

What is a genotype?

A

genetic attributes

34
Q

What is a phenotype?

A

morphological, physiological, behavioral attributes

35
Q

What is an envirotype?

A

environmental attributes

36
Q

What is the lifeform of a plant?

A

the vegetative form of the plant body

37
Q

What is the lifeform spectra?

A

a hereditary adjustment to
the environment, and it can
therefore reflect functional
relationships

-where buds are on the plant/tree in question tells you about the environment in which it grows
-shows correlation of vegetation with climate and existence of bioclimatic zones with characteristics lifeforms
-where budding occurs tells you about the climate in which it grows in; how the plant functions in its environment

38
Q

What is the functional lifeform classification?

A

Shows correlation of
vegetation with climate and
existence of bioclimatic zones
with characteristics lifeforms

39
Q

What does vertical structure show?

A

stratification optimizing*
the utilization of available
light energy

-optimizing variables: two or more combinations of things for example optimizing amount of light and water
-maximizing variable: one variable; ex-the amount of light

40
Q

What does horizontal structure show?

A

areal distribution –
location and pattern

-measured: degree of presence: measure of its actual contribution to the community (density-species cover)	
		-detection and analysis of pattern 
			-point-centered quarter method
		-measurement of cover
			-nested hierarchy of quadrants
41
Q

What is the competition exclusion principle?

A

no two species can occupy exactly the same niche (one outcompetes the other)

42
Q

What is a habitat?

A
  • places in which an organism lives (functional definition of a niche)

a holistic, synthetic concept involving both inorganic and organic aspects of space
-organisms respond to the environment and act to modify it
-the idea of the stage set is simple and misleading; niche construction is at play

43
Q

How can phenology change?

A

changes the presence and pattern throughout the day or year; hunting browsing, nesting, mating, resting
-over a seasonal period a species uses the environment differently
-plants go through an annual cycle

44
Q

gross production

A

how much photosynthetic material; total amount that the plant is able to get

45
Q

net production

A

(primary production = photosynthetic activity) = gross production – respiration

46
Q

How does structural organization dictate functional relationships?

A

The pattern emerges from
the happenings – to facilitate
the transfer of energy and
resources, namely the
trophic organization of
producer, consumer, and
decomposer

-pattern emerges from the happenings -to facilitate the transfer of energy and resources, namely the trophic organization of producer, consumer, and decomposer
-energy flow model from sunlight through different parts of the ecosystem there becomes a pattern as energy moves through it

47
Q

What are the pyramids of productivity?

A

Pyramid of numbers and pyramid of biomass

48
Q

What does the pyramid of biomass show?

A

decline in standing biomass from the producer
to top carnivore level as energy available to support it decreases.

-plants grow very fast and they can feed the organisms higher above it so there are more of the organisms above it

49
Q

What is an ecological niche?

A

functional role occupied by an organism

50
Q

What is a trophic niche?

A

an animal’s place in the biotic environment; its relation to food and predators (Elton 1927)
-where it lives, what it does, how it is constrained by other organisms?

51
Q

What is a fundamental niche?

A

theoretical portion of the hypervolume that would be occupied by the species unconstrained by others

52
Q

What is a realized niche?

A

where the organism actually lives

53
Q

What is niche segregation?

A

extent to which niche space is mutually exclusive
how species differences have arisen

54
Q

What is divergent evolution?

A

ecological niche paralleling divergent evolution of the species

the process whereby groups from the same common ancestor evolve and accumulate differences, resulting in the formation of new species.

55
Q

What is convergent evolution?

A

the result of stimulus of similar niche opportunities and pressures
the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time.

56
Q

What is co-evolution?

A

the process of reciprocal change that occurs between pairs of species or among groups of species as they interact with one another
-diversity begets diversity

57
Q

Hutchinson’s hypervolume

A

fundamental and realized niche

58
Q

Idea of species diversity

A

Competitive exclusion principle
Niche segregation
Divergent evolution
Convergent evolution
Co-evolution

59
Q

What is fundamental functional activity?

A

assimilation and utilization of energy and respiration

60
Q

How is space organized? Landscape?

A
  • Landscape ecology
    (structure and function)
  • Ecological Mosaic -
    Patches, corridors, and
    matrix

-what is the minimum that can be isolated out?
-ecosystem trophic module (ETM) is spatially constrained to the foraging area of the social group of the largest predator

61
Q

What is the ecosystem trophic module?

A

spatially constrained to the foraging area of the social group of the largest predator

62
Q

Ecological mosaic: patches

A

a forest patch is a group of trees that

63
Q

Ecological mosaic: corridors

A

cluster of forest patches

64
Q

Ecological mosaic: matrix

A

combinations of forest patches and clusters of forest patches with other landscape types

Ecosystem Ecology (12 decks)

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