Ecology Flashcards
Biosphere: ____
All areas on Earth that are inhabited by and that support life.
3 main components of the biosphere and definition
Hydrosphere: water portion of Earth
Atmosphere: gaseous part of Earth
Lithosphere/Geosphere: solid, mainly rocky part of Earth
What is ecology?
The scientific study of the distribution and abundance of living organisms and interactions between them and their environment. Studies most simple to most complex systems.
Populations ➡️ ____________ ➡️ Ecosystem
Community
Define population.
Group of individuals of the same species occupying the same area at a given time.
Define community
More than one population of organisms living in a given area.
Define ecosystems.
Community and its abiotic and biotic components and interactions.
Earth is a _______ system.
Earth is a closed system.
Open system:
Exchange of energy and matter.
Ex. a cell
Closed system:
Exchange of energy only
Ex. Earth
Energy ____ through biosphere and matter ______
Flows, cycles
Biological Diversity
the number of species in an ecosystem
Biotic Factors
Living components of the biosphere
plants, animals, microbes parasites
Abiotic Factors
Non-living components of the biosphere
rocks, minerals, sunlight, temperature, weather
Gaia hypothesis
Biosphere acts like an organism that regulates itself, maintaining environmental conditions within certain limits
3 Outcomes for radiant energy
- 30% reflected from clouds, particles in atmosphere, or land/ocean back into space
- 19% absorbed by gases like water and CO2 in the atmosphere (some heat the atmosphere and some radiate back to space)
- 51% reaches Earth’s surface
- Energy absorbed by land and oceans which warm the planet’s surface
what can capture energy from the sun
Only producers or autotrophs
Primary consumers
Herbivores bcs they eat plants and other producers
Secondary Consumer
Carnivores that eat herbivores
Tertiary Consumer
Carnivores that consume secondary consumers
Decomposers
Obtain energy rich molecules by eating or absorbing leftovers or waste matter to release nutrients to the soil and water for plants and algae to grow
Trophic levels
Feeding level through which energy and matter are transferred
Detruis
waste from plants and animals including dead remains
Chemosynthesis
use nutrients to produce energy
ex. Autotrophs
Biomagnification
the increasing concentration of a toxic substance in the tissues of organisms at higher lvls in the food chain
Extripated
Any species that no longer exists in one part of the country, but found in others
Threatened
Any species that is likely to become endangered if factors that make it vulnerable are not reversed
Special concern
Any species that is at risk because of low or declining numbers at the fringe of its range or in some restricted are
Exotic Species
An organism that is not from a given place or area and has been transported to a new location by human activity
Indicator species
Sensitive to their environment and detect early warning that the balance of an ecosystem is being negatively affected
Fragmentation
Discontinuities in an organisms preferred environment
Reasons why animals are disappearing
- Habitat loss
- Air and water quality
- Climate change
- UV radiation
Ecological Pyramids
Model of feeding relationships showing the pattern of energy and the number of organisms among trophic lvls
Biomass
- the dry mass of living, or once-living, organisms per unit area
- Indicates amount of energy present in the living tissue of an ecosystem
Processes involved in the H2O cycle
- Evaporation
- Condensation
- Precipitation
- Transpiration
- Percolation
Fixing Carbon
- photosynthesis
- gas to solid
Releasing Carbon
- rocks broken down by volcanoes, decaying organisms, etc
Nitrogen Fixation
N2 to NO3 (by lightening)
gas to solid
Denitrification
- NO3 to NO2 to N2
- solid to gas
Nitrification
NH3 to NO3 or NO2
Short term (phosphorous cycle)
- Phosphate soluble in H2O
- Living
Long term (phosphorous cycle)
- Bones and shells from dead animals
- rocks of Earths crust
