Ecosystems Flashcards
Ecology
Study of how living things interact with their environment
Environment
All biotic and abiotic components in a given area of time and space
Habitat
An area in time and space where an organism exists
Ecosystem
A community of species interacting with each other and the abiotic factors of their environment
Ecosystem Services
Supporting, regulating, provisioning, cultural
Water
Water makes up 71% of the Earth’s surface, of which 97% is saltwater and only 3% is freshwater
Specific Properties of Water
High specific heat // Density-temperature relationship // Cohesion, surface tension, and viscosity // Buoyancy
Abiotic Factors of Aquatic Habitats
Solar energy // Chemistry // Water disturbance // Substrate and terrain
Solar Energy
Light and Temperature
Light
Varies with depth, influences quantity and distribution of primary producers, vital for photosynthesis, indirectly influences vertical profile of temperature
Temperature
Function of depth, surface temperatures reflect balance of incoming and outgoing radiation, vertical mixing combines different temperatures in the upper water column
Temperature Zonation
Epilimnion // Thermocline // Hypolimnion
Chemistry
Solutes and Dissolved Gasses
Solutes
Solvent properties of water important in nutrient and waste transport, solvent concentration higher in marine environments, salinity around 35% in sea water
Dissolved Gasses in Lentic and Lotic Systems
Oxygen: highest in cold, turbulent waters, lowest in warm, stagnant waters
Influenced by lake seasonality and depth variation
Dissolved Gasses in Marine Systems
Oxygen: Highest at surface, decreases until reaching oxygen minimum zone, increases after this point
Carbon dioxide: Increases with depth
Water Movements
Waves, Tides, Currents, Upwelling
Waves
In open bodies of water, wind and frictional drag, an energy transfer rather than water particles actually moving
In oceans and lakes, fetch which is the distance wind blows
Tides
Result of forces exerted by the moon and sun // Long period waves: high tides (when we’re in the moon’s bulge), low tides (when we’re not)
Solar tides usually masked by lunar, exceptions: new/full moon: amplify, quarter/half moon: contradict
Tides are inconsistent a lot of times
Ocean Currents
Winds, coriolis effect, gyres within ocean basins
Upwelling
Occur where gyres meet, coastally, and in lakes
Ocean Conveyor Belt
Slow-moving global current: thermohaline (salt and temperature based) circulation, vital to nutrient and
CO2 cycles and regulation of global climates
Currents
Velocity determines stream characteristics, both of the channel and of the bottom characteristics
Substrates and Sediments
Differs greatly from place to place, both inorganic and organic material, different substrates support different organisms
Hydrological Cycle
Evapotranspiration, precipitation, and infiltration
Global Water Budget
A water accountability budget // Reservoir: bodies of water, Hydrologic flux: movements of water through the global cycle
Ecosystem Linkage
Any persistent or recurring process or attribute that connects different ecosystems in some manner
Physical: exchange of abiotic material, Chemical: exchange of inorganic nutrients, Biological: exchange of organisms and their byproducts
Rivers and Streams
Lotic environments, nested hierarchy of stream order that drain areas of land called watersheds
Habitat Diversity within Streams
Riffles, pools, runs, falls; Also stream reach
Riffles
Shallow, turbulent areas
Runs
Rapid flow over smooth surfaces