ecosystems and biodiversity Flashcards
plant succession
the gradual replacement of one plant community by another through natural processes over time. (primary or secondary
primary succesion
(takes a long time) Starts with bare rock could be from a volcano or glacier,
what are the 3 stages of primary sucession
pioneer stages, intermediate stages, and climax community
pioneer stage
lichen and moss cover bare rock,
intermidetae stage
plants die and add more nutrients to the soil
climax commmunity
ecological community in the final stage of succesion
secondary sucession
very fast, begins where soil is already established and was once the home to organisms (forest fire)
plagioclimax community
the influence of humans prevents the ecosystem from ever reaching its climax
forest fires
fire suppresion leads to fuel build up
why are prescribed burns good
they remove dead material to eliminate build up and enrich the soil
ecosystem productivity
the rate of production of biomass for an ecosystem
gross primary productivity
energy captured per unit area per unit time (measure of total photosynthesis per unit area per time)
net primary productivity
the rate at which energy is stored as biomass and avilable to the ecosyem (respiration)
what things does NPP depend on (why biomes have differnt productivity levels)
temperature, precipitation, nutrient level, and light intensity
how does rain form
IR warms the air causing it to rise and cool and condense
