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Ecology > Ecosystems > Flashcards

Ecosystems Flashcards

1
Q

Define ecosystem

A

Sum of all biological and non-biological parts of an area which interact to produce a system. Is composed of living organisms that interact with their physical and chemical environment

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2
Q

What is the difference between a community and a ecosystem?

A

An ecosystem includes non-biological parts of a area. Ecosystems can be studied at many different levels.

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3
Q

What is a producer/autotroph?

A

An organism that can synthesize organic material from inorganic sources using light or inorganic chemicals (ie. plants)

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4
Q

What is a consumer/heterotroph?

A

An organism that consumes organic matter for nutrition (ie. animals (herbivores/carnivores))

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5
Q

Define food chain

A

A series of organisms that feed on each other, usually starting with plants

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6
Q

Define food web

A

A complex interconnection of more than 1 food chain

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7
Q

How does sunlight energy effect ecosystems?

A
  • powers water and 30 nutrient cycles
  • aprox 1% of sunlight energy is captured by plants through photosynthesis
  • all ecosystems and organisms depend on capture and utilization of energy derived from the sun
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8
Q

What is the equation for net photosynthesis?

A

Net photosynthesis = total photosynthesis - respiration

Yield = total photosynthesis - energy released through respiration for metabolism or work

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9
Q

What does the conservation of energy law of thermodynamics state?

A

Energy can be changed from one form to another but can never be created or destroyed

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10
Q

What does the increasing entropy law of thermodynamics state?

A

Entropy increases as energy is transferred through a system. No energy transformation is 100% efficient

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11
Q

Define entropy

A

A measure of the amount of energy unavailable for useful work

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12
Q

How do ecosystems posses the ability to maintain conditions of low entropy?

A

Continual input of energy through sunlight, stored energy (fossil fuels, dead organic matter), and biomass

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13
Q

Define trophic levels and name the levels

A

Feeding level of species in an ecosystem. Amount of energy decreases with each trophic level. Most energy transfers from 1 level to another are roughly 10% efficient.

  • Producer: plants
  • Primary consumer: herbivore
  • Secondary consumer: carnivore
  • Tertiary consumer: top carnivore
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14
Q

Why is energy lost?

A

Energy lost to respiration, metabolism, waste, heat, and manure

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15
Q

What are 3 examples of ecological pyramids?

A
  • Pyramid of numbers
  • Pyramid of biomass
  • Pyramid of energy
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16
Q

How is the pyramid of numbers organized?

A

number of organisms of all species in each trophic level

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17
Q

How is the pyramid of biomass organized?

A

Biomass of organisms of all species in each trophic level. 1 unit biomass at secondary consumer level requires 10 units at the primary consumer level, and 100 units at the producer level

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18
Q

How is the pyramid of energy organized?

A

Energy content of all organisms at each trophic level. Most useful pyramid to ecologists

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19
Q

Name 3 efficiencies of natural ecosystems

A
  • internal recycling of nutrient and energy within plant
  • external recycling of nutrients ex. leaves broken down and nutrients taken up
  • Activities of decomposer organisms reduces energy loss from ecosystem
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20
Q

Name 3 reasons why nutrient cycles are important

A
  • nutrient availability
  • waste disposal
  • food for many organisms
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21
Q

Define ecological threshold

A

Limit to how much waste can be put into an ecosystem for reprocessing and purification

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22
Q

What is the difference between a critical load and a target load?

A

Critical load = scientific basis

Target load = political basis

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23
Q

What are some warning signs that the ecological threshold has been surpassed?

A
  • algal blooms
  • saline seeps
  • aquatic vegetation dies and aquatic species diversity falls
  • polluted air
  • poor soil fertility and structure
  • flooding and soil erosion
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24
Q

What are nutrient cycles and which are the most important?

A

Cycles for 30 elements required by living organisms.

Most important are water, nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, sulphur, and potassium

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25
Q

What is an example of nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems?

A

On a decomposing log or dying tree, many organisms works to recycle elements

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26
Q

Name the steps in nutrient cycling of a decomposing log in a forest ecosystem

A
  • woodpeckers searching for carpenter ants dismantle bark
  • Carpenter ants gnaw at wood and create passageways and excrete waste, preparing site for bacteria and fungi
  • these decomposers break down wood fibres into tiny particles
  • Log is nursed for growth of new seedlings
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27
Q

What are the uses of standing snags?

A
  • house many living cells
  • rich source of biodiversity
  • source of food for pileated woodpeckers who create cavities
  • cavities provide nesting sites for squirrels and other organisms
  • food source for decomposers
28
Q

What are the 3 main required macronutrients, and the other 6 that are needed in moderation?

A

Main: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen
Other: nitrogen,sulphur, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium

29
Q

What are 5 micronutrients that are needed in ppm or ppb?

A

Iron, copper, manganese, zinc, chloride

30
Q

What is the significance of water cycles?

A
  • cells contain 70-90% water
  • biochemical reactions occur in solution
  • medium of transport for nutrients
31
Q

Canada is estimated to have ____% of the world’s freshwater supply

A

20%

32
Q

What are 4 problems and concerns associated with water?

A
  • quantity and supply
  • quality and pollution
  • fate of fisheries
  • industrial and municipal waste
33
Q

What are 5 solutions to the problems associated with water?

A
  • water conservation
  • nutrient management
  • maintain quantity and quality
  • prevent pollution with known toxins
  • avoid large organic material inputs
34
Q

Define bioaccumulation

A

Concentration of certain chemicals in the fatty tissues of organisms feeding at a lower trophic level in the food chain. This process is amplified in aquatic ecosystems due to more trophic levels

35
Q

How does DDT bioaccumulate?

A
  • DDT accumulates in water systems
  • Concentrates in phytoplankton
  • phytoplankton consumed by small fish
  • small fish consumed by larger predatory fish
  • larger predatory fish consumed by fish eating birds or humans
  • birds are poisoned by the high concentration of DDT
  • Leads to high chick mortality and fragile egg shells
36
Q

What are 5 things that can be done to contribute to successful restoration and revegetation?

A
  • avoid disturbing sensitive areas
  • minimize disturbance (revegetation is easier in smaller areas)
  • Salvage and replacement of topsoil
  • restore original landscape features and drainage patterns
  • Protect site from further stress during re establishment
37
Q

What is the mono climax theory of succession in relation to boreal forest succession?

A

The species composition and structure of the climax community of all seres is determined by the regional macroclimate. Therefore the climax consists of plants that can reduce successfully beneath their own shade and maintain climate. Linear development toward climax community

38
Q

What 3 things can happen when succession is arrested?

A

Serclimax, subclimax, and disclimax

39
Q

What is serclimax?

A

Succession is arrested early in the same conditions are such that the serel community may persist indefinitely

40
Q

What is sub climax?

A

Succession is arrested permanently or for a very long period at the stag immediately preceding the climax

41
Q

What is disclimax or disturbance climax?

A

Communities are held in a stable early successional condition by the activities/disturbances of human and animals

42
Q

What are some problems associated with these older models of succession?

A
  • lots of variation in the details of succession from place to place and time to time within a climatic region
  • vegetation changes depending on which species are present or invading
  • “who gets there first” may impact following sequence
43
Q

Name 5 characteristics of early succession plants

A
  • rapid growth
  • wide spread seed dispersal
  • shorter life span
  • low tolerance of shade
  • tolerance for low fertility
44
Q

Name 5 characteristics of later succession plants

A
  • more shade tolerant
  • intolerant of low nitrogen
  • slower growth rate
  • local distribution of seed
  • longer lived
45
Q

What is the resource-ratio hypothesis?

A
  • species that are able to colonize, grow and reproduce the fastest under a particular level of resources will be competitively dominant.
  • Species that achieve equilibrium at the lowest level of resource supply will dominate.
  • includes allocation of resources within the plant
46
Q

What are the 3 steps in the hierarchy of successional causes?

A
  1. Availability of sites for invasion
  2. Differences in species availability
  3. Variations in species performance under specific conditions
47
Q

Why does successional change occur? Give 3 reasons

A
  • colonization (includes invasion and survival)
  • Alteration of physical characteristics of site
  • Displacement of existing species by competition
48
Q

What are some differences between pioneer and climax stages of succession?

A

Pioneer: low fertility, sunlight, generalists, fewer niches
Climax: high fertility, shade, specialists, greater stratification

49
Q

Why do we get a mosaic of communities?

A

variability in disturbances and microclimates

50
Q

Name the order of productivity from greatest to lowest in 3 different ecosystems

A

Tropical rainforest (produce much more foliage), temperate deciduous forest, boreal forest

51
Q

Plants are able to supply much of their nutrient needs by ______ __________.

A

Internal redistribution

52
Q

Why don’t plants lose nutrients when they lose their leaves?

A

They translocate many of the nutrients out of the leaves

53
Q

Redistribution allows plants to do what 3 things?

A
  • grow on sites with low availability
  • grow at a time of the year when nutrient availability is low (spring). Important adaptation to climatic limitations in the boreal forest
  • Continue nutrient uptake later in the season when it is not needed as much and store it for later
54
Q

Name four inputs of nitrogen cycling

A
  • nitrogen fixation
  • precipitation
  • ammonia gas can be absorbed directly by plant foliage
  • nitrification occurs slowly under conditions of high soil acidity and low temperature
55
Q

Name and describe four losses of nitrogen cycling

A
  • removal by large disturbances (logging, fire)
  • runoff (greater problems near streams or following disturbances)
  • denitrification (losses greater in anaerobic conditions)
  • leaching and volatilization (forests are very efficient at minimizing these loses)
  • Dissolved Organic Nitrogen (DON) (leaching, runoff)
56
Q

When does volatilization and loss of nitrogen in soil occur?

A

Soil has high pH and high temperature conditions

57
Q

When does denitrification and loss of nitrogen in soil occur?

A

Soil has low oxygen levels

58
Q

When does leaching and loss of nitrogen in soil occur?

A

Soil is coarse in texture and has high moisture content

59
Q

Boreal forest plants grow under conditions of ______ nutrient availability. What mechanisms allow for this?

A

Low.

  • Root systems that maximize nutrient retention
  • Internal recycling within the plant
  • Recycling within the ecosystem (major store of nutrients in biomass: plants, decomposing litter)
60
Q

Boreal forest plants have ______ phosphorus solubility

A

low

61
Q

Name the steps for 5 changes to the water chemistry profile in boreal forest ecosystems

A
  • low levels of nutrients in precipitation
  • becomes enriched as it passes through crown
  • further enriched as it passes through litter layer on forest floor
  • reduced as it passes through mineral layers of soil
  • water that leaves ecosystem as stream water or ground water is similar in chemical composition to original precipitation
62
Q

Name 7 animals that were used as examples of attempts of wildlife management

A
  • Bison
  • Wood ducks
  • Wild turkeys
  • Whooping crane
  • Swift fox
  • Sea otters
  • Gray whales
63
Q

Name 3 reclusive species

A
  • bald eagles
  • wolvering
  • badgers
64
Q

Name 6 reasons why wildlife is important

A
  • benefit economy
  • quality of life
  • environmental stability
  • food source
  • ecotourism industry
  • necessary for sustainable development
65
Q

What are 5 basic requirements of wildlife?

A
  • food
  • space
  • cover
  • water
  • reproductive areas

Ecology (7 decks)

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