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Biology > Ecology > Flashcards

Ecology Flashcards

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AP® Biology flashcards Biology 101 flashcards
1
Q

What is ecology?

A

the scientific study of the interactions between organisms and their environment, looks at living and nonliving things

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2
Q

Earth’s climate varies by _____ and ______.

A

latitudes, seasons

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3
Q

climate

A

the long term prevailing weather conditions

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4
Q

equator

A

where the sun hits the earth on a direct line

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5
Q

global ecology

A

study large regions of the planet (temp., large scale distribution of resources)

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6
Q

biosphere

A

sum of all the life on the planet

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7
Q

landscape

A

mosaic of connected ecosystems, seascape- aquatic

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8
Q

landscape ecology

A

how energy, materials, and organisms flow through these

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9
Q

ecosystem ecology

A

how communities interact wit nonliving things (energy flow, chemical cycling, nutrient cycling, how water is used, chemical resources being used, weather patterns)

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10
Q

ecosystem

A

a community of organisms in an area and the physical factors with which the organisms interact

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11
Q

community ecology

A

competition- plants competing for water, sunlight, and nitrogen and animals competing for plants (prey), mates, food, water
predation, food chain

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12
Q

community

A

a group of populations in the same areas with different species (all living things - plants and animals)

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13
Q

population ecology

A

how the environment affects the population (population sizes, death rates, growth rates, repro. rates)

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14
Q

population

A

a group of the same species living in the same area (so they can breed with one another in the same species)

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15
Q

organismal ecology

A

how an organism’s structure, physiology (life processes), and behavior allow it to interact with its environment

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16
Q

tropics

A

hottest spot on plant, 28 degrees south and north, Cancer and Capricorn, have subtropics

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17
Q

microclimate

A

small localized climates (rock in a backyard)

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18
Q

macroclimate

A

landscape, regional, global climate

19
Q

biotic

A

living factors (symbiosis)

20
Q

abiotic

A

nonliving factors (soil, nutrient availability, water, sunlight, wind, oxygen, air)

21
Q

the four major abiotic factors of climate

A

sunlight (affected by season and latitudes)
temperature (“)
precipitation
wind/air circulation

22
Q

biomes

A

major life zone characterized by vegetation type (land) or by physical environment (water/aquatic)

23
Q

climograph

A

biomes and their different temp and precipitation

24
Q

ecotone

A

regions in between different biomes

25
Q

vegetation layers

A

importance: provide oxygen (primary producers) and food for animals

26
Q

canopy layer

A

tropical rain forest, hard to study because hundreds of feet in the air, insects, birds, snakes all privy to canopy (never leave)

27
Q

disturbance

A

natural disaster (tornado, flood, hurricane), humans - deforestation, harvesting plants, hunting, pollution, fire- major disturbance but no always bad because animals have been adapted for it

28
Q

savanna

A

equatorial, sub-equatorial, rainy season, vegetation: grasslands with a few trees, adapted to fire because grass grows back quickly, drought adapted: slow transpiration, oily leaves

29
Q

chaparral

A

mid-latitude coastal regions (3 cool dry seasons, 1 hot summer, 1 rainy winter), mediterranean, near large bodies of water, vegetation: shrubs, grass, few trees
animals: goats, deer, reptiles, birds

30
Q

lakes and rivers/streams

A

river/stream- constantly moving b/c of currents
lake- contained body of water
oligotrophic lake- low in nutrients, clear water, rock bottoms, west, high oxygen content
eutrophic lake- nutrient rich and oxygen poor (decomposers, not a lot of plant life, mud bottom)

31
Q

wetlands

A

fresh water area (swamp), covered by water half of time so adapted to water, dominant vegetation: grasses

32
Q

estuaries

A

marine wetland, fresh and salt water meet, rivers running into ocean, nurseries of sea, high productivity (all photosynthetic things keep photosynthesizing, adapted to tidal flux)

33
Q

intertidal zones

A

between high and low tide, rocky- ocean = rough, animals exposed at low tide and covered at high tide, adapted to temp, solidity, moisture changes, hang on tight

34
Q

pelagic zone

A

deep open oceans (low in nutrients, high in oxygen, circulated by wind and currents), whales, tuna, marlins

35
Q

coral reefs

A

oasis in desert, warm tropical water, abundance of life, lots of color, basis of food chain: cnidaria, nutrient poor, symbiotic relationship between algae and coral (coral has algae inside of them, algae give oxygen and glucose and coral gives safe place and carbon dioxide)

36
Q

benthic zone

A

bottom of the ocean, even if shallow, deep sea hydrothermic vent communities, animals = benthus, eat detritus or animals, catfish, flounder

37
Q

abyssal zone

A

tube worms- live in symbiotic relationship with bacteria that take up chemicals coming from vents, deep sea hydrothermic vent communities

38
Q

neritic zone

A

water over continental shelf, fishing (100-200 ft. deep)

39
Q

detritus

A

“marine snow”, dead organic matter and waste trickling down, eaten

40
Q

photic zone

A

light penetrates the water, vegetation (primary producers)

41
Q

aphotic zone

A

light does not penetrate, a lake may not have one if shallow, animals eat other animals or detritus

42
Q

littoral zone

A

plants rooted close to the shore of lake, grasses, water lilies

43
Q

limnetic zone

A

no rooted vegetation, photosynthetic plankton floating

44
Q

6 North American biomes

A

tundra, desert, temperate deciduous forests, coniferous forests (taiga), grasslands, tropical rainforests

Biology (22 decks)

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