Ecology Flashcards
What is ecology?
the scientific study of the interactions between organisms and their environment, looks at living and nonliving things
Earth’s climate varies by _____ and ______.
latitudes, seasons
climate
the long term prevailing weather conditions
equator
where the sun hits the earth on a direct line
global ecology
study large regions of the planet (temp., large scale distribution of resources)
biosphere
sum of all the life on the planet
landscape
mosaic of connected ecosystems, seascape- aquatic
landscape ecology
how energy, materials, and organisms flow through these
ecosystem ecology
how communities interact wit nonliving things (energy flow, chemical cycling, nutrient cycling, how water is used, chemical resources being used, weather patterns)
ecosystem
a community of organisms in an area and the physical factors with which the organisms interact
community ecology
competition- plants competing for water, sunlight, and nitrogen and animals competing for plants (prey), mates, food, water
predation, food chain
community
a group of populations in the same areas with different species (all living things - plants and animals)
population ecology
how the environment affects the population (population sizes, death rates, growth rates, repro. rates)
population
a group of the same species living in the same area (so they can breed with one another in the same species)
organismal ecology
how an organism’s structure, physiology (life processes), and behavior allow it to interact with its environment
tropics
hottest spot on plant, 28 degrees south and north, Cancer and Capricorn, have subtropics
microclimate
small localized climates (rock in a backyard)
macroclimate
landscape, regional, global climate
biotic
living factors (symbiosis)
abiotic
nonliving factors (soil, nutrient availability, water, sunlight, wind, oxygen, air)
the four major abiotic factors of climate
sunlight (affected by season and latitudes)
temperature (“)
precipitation
wind/air circulation
biomes
major life zone characterized by vegetation type (land) or by physical environment (water/aquatic)
climograph
biomes and their different temp and precipitation
ecotone
regions in between different biomes
vegetation layers
importance: provide oxygen (primary producers) and food for animals
canopy layer
tropical rain forest, hard to study because hundreds of feet in the air, insects, birds, snakes all privy to canopy (never leave)
disturbance
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
savanna
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
chaparral
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
lakes and rivers/streams
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)
wetlands
fresh water area (swamp), covered by water half of time so adapted to water, dominant vegetation: grasses
estuaries
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)
intertidal zones
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
pelagic zone
deep open oceans (low in nutrients, high in oxygen, circulated by wind and currents), whales, tuna, marlins
coral reefs
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)
benthic zone
bottom of the ocean, even if shallow, deep sea hydrothermic vent communities, animals = benthus, eat detritus or animals, catfish, flounder
abyssal zone
tube worms- live in symbiotic relationship with bacteria that take up chemicals coming from vents, deep sea hydrothermic vent communities
neritic zone
water over continental shelf, fishing (100-200 ft. deep)
detritus
“marine snow”, dead organic matter and waste trickling down, eaten
photic zone
light penetrates the water, vegetation (primary producers)
aphotic zone
light does not penetrate, a lake may not have one if shallow, animals eat other animals or detritus
littoral zone
plants rooted close to the shore of lake, grasses, water lilies
limnetic zone
no rooted vegetation, photosynthetic plankton floating
6 North American biomes
tundra, desert, temperate deciduous forests, coniferous forests (taiga), grasslands, tropical rainforests
