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AP BIO > Ecosystems and Conservation > Flashcards

Ecosystems and Conservation Flashcards

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AP® Biology flashcards Biology 101 flashcards
1
Q

what is an ecosystem?

A

community + abiotic factors

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2
Q

1st law of thermodynamics

A

The Conservation of Energy

Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but only transferred or transformed

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3
Q

2nd law of thermodynnamics

A

Every exchange of energy in an isolated system increases the entropy of the universe

not all energy can be used/some energy becomes unavailable to do work and is often lost as heat

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4
Q

what is entropy?

A

a measure of disorder

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5
Q

Law of the conservation of matter

A

matter cannot be created or destroyed

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6
Q

what is matter?

A

anything that has mass and occupies volume

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7
Q

diff between energy and matter?

A

energy cannot be recycled, but matter/chemical elements are continually recycled

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8
Q

what is the ultimate driving energy source for most ecosystems?

A

solar radiation/ the sun

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9
Q

what are primary producers usually?

A

photosynthetic organisms that convert solar energy into chemical energy (used to make ATP)

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10
Q

where is the chemical energy made by primary producers stored?

A

bonds of sugars and other organic compounds

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11
Q

when are the sugars and organic compounds broken down?

A

in cellular respiration to fuel an organism’s metabolic needs such as growth

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12
Q

what are metabolic needs?

A

the sum of all chemical reactions in the body/ making and breaking of molecules

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13
Q

photosynthesis equation

A

6 CO2 + 6H2O + light energy —> C6H12O6 + 6O2

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14
Q

cellular respiration equation

A

6O2 + C6H12O6 —> 6 CO2 + 6H2O + 36 ATP

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15
Q

why is the “Blood Falls” glacier in Antarctica red? what are the bacteria in this example?

A

Bacteria that live off of sulfur compounds and iron-containing ions live there. The color is from Fe being oxidized

chemo autotrophs

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16
Q

what do all trophic levels depend (directly or indirectly)

A

primary producers - set budget for the entire ecosystem

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17
Q

name the term for all the teeth in mouth

A

incisors, canine/cuspid, premolar/bicuspids, 1st 2nd 3rd molars, wisdom tooth

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18
Q

how many teeth do adults have?

A

32 teeth

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19
Q

what do decomposers like bacteria and fungi secrete?

A

enzymes onto their food source/ substrate to digest and absorb the broken down products

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20
Q

what do decomposers play a critical role in?

A

recycling elements back for the primary producers

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21
Q

what is the name of the interwoven mat of the thread-like structures that fungi (like mushrooms) secrete from?

A

mycelium

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22
Q

what are the 4 most common elements of life?

A

CHON - carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen

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23
Q

what are the 6 most common elements of life?

A

SPONCH - sulfur, phosphorus

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24
Q

We are not mostly SPONCH…what are we?

A

CaPONCH

for sake of simplicity, we didn’t include Ca as it’s an ionic bond

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25
Q

what molecule are humans primarily?

A

h20

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26
Q

what is gross primary productivity?

A

the amount of energy from light (or chemicals w chemoautotrophic systems) converted to chemical energy stored in organic molecules

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27
Q

net primary productivity

A

GPP minus the need of the primary producers to fuel their own energy needs for cellular respiration

what is available to be used by the ecosystem

often expressed as the amount of biomass added to an area over time

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28
Q

based on this graph, how does deforestation impact reflectance and climate chnage?

A

decrease vegetation=increase heat absorbance=increase global warming

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29
Q

which terrestrial biome has the greatest NPP?

A

rainforest

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30
Q

why do tropical forests have nutrient-poor topsoil?

A

due to immense biomass and vertical stratification, each layer has a high demand for nutrients

rapid recycling/decomposition is speed up which leads to poor soil

deforestation causes land to dry up and fewer nutrients are in the soil and increases erosion

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31
Q

why are nutrients in soil also a limiting factor?

A

they control a population’s growth and often must be added for increase increased primary productivity in terrestrail ecosystem

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32
Q

how does nitrogen and phosphorus affect plants?

A

N- limits plant growth
P - in older soils, phosphates are leached away by water

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33
Q

H2O, freshwater vs saltwater components

A

freshwater - limited amounts of PO4-3
saltwater - limited amounts of NO3-

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34
Q

what evolved mechanisms do plants have involving the uptake of limiting nutrients?

A

increase uptake; legume plants have a mutualistic relationship with nitrogen-fixing bacteria that live on their roots called Rhizobia

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35
Q

where do Rhizobia live?

A

nodules on legume plants

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36
Q

another mutualistic example of plant roots?

A

plant roots have mycorrhizae which is a fungus that supplies phosphate to the plants

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37
Q

how can we measure an animal’s efficiency at transforming energy?

A

production efficiency = net secondary production X 100%
——————————————–
Assimilation of primary production

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38
Q

what is net secondary production?

A

energy stored in the organism for growth and reproduction

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39
Q

birds and mammals typically have production efficiencies in the 1-3%, while fish have 10%?

A

warm blooded (endotherms) and takes a lot of cellular respiration making ATP to make constant body temp

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40
Q

what is trophic efficiency?

A

energy transferred to an entire trophic or feeding level in a food chain

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41
Q

explain how a biomass pyramid can be inverted?

A

when phytoplankton grow, reproduce, and get consumed quickly by the zooplankton/ they have a short turnover/generation time

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42
Q

eating what is an inefficient way of tapping into photosynthetic production?

A

eating meat

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43
Q

how could agriculture feed more people if we were what?

A

primary consumers

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44
Q

what are biogeochemical cycles?

A

life, earth, molecules cycles including both biotic and abiotic components

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45
Q

which mineral reservoirs cannot be involved in nutrient cycling?

A

minerals in rocks and in fossil fuels

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46
Q

what living organism was coal before when it was alive?

A

vegetation in swamps

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47
Q

what living organism was oil?

A

Protoplankton

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48
Q

why are fossil fuels so energy rich?

A

c-c and c-h bonds

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49
Q

what does percolation mean?

A

filter the way through porous material (soil)

50
Q

what is transpiration?

A

water loss through leaves (stomata)

51
Q

what is evapotranspiration?

A

what loss from the landscape

52
Q

describe what ground water looks like?

A

water in porous/saturated sand/gravel

53
Q

what do humans burn that releases co2 into the atmosphere?

A

fossil fuels and wood

54
Q

through what process do plants and other autotrophs take in CO2?

A

photosynthesis

55
Q

through what process do plants animals, and all aerobic organisms release CO2?

A

cellular respiration

56
Q

do autotrophs do photosynthesis, cellular respiration, or both?

A

both

57
Q

do plants have chloroplast, mitochondria, or both?

A

both

58
Q

what inorganic form in the phosphorus cycle found in?

A

PO4-3

59
Q

why does all life on Earth require phosphorus?

A

nucleic acids
cells have phospholipid bilayer
ATP
builds strong bones and teeth

60
Q

since phosphate is a solid, how is it released from rocks?

A

weathering and geologic uplift

61
Q

how do plants obtain phosphate?

A

absorbs from soil

62
Q

how do animals obtain phosphate?

A

eat plants or eat animals

63
Q

looking at the nitrogen cycle, what gaseous form does it travel around the atmosphere?

A

N2 (g) ~ 80% of atmosphere

64
Q

how does nitrogen fixation occur? what is is

A

pulling N2 gas from the atmosphere
legumes, lightening, free living soil bacteria

65
Q

what human practices releases a lot of nitrogen onto land and cause eutrophication?

A

fertilizers, sewage, factory farms

66
Q

what is the process called of returning N2 gas back into the atmosphere?

A

denitrification

67
Q

why does all life on earth require nitrogen?

A

amino acids
nucleic acids- nitrogenous bases

68
Q

in the nitrogen cycle, what do nitrogen fixation? (3)

A

lightning
free-living nitrogen-fixing soil bacteria
rhizobia bacteria

69
Q

if soil is acidic, what happens in the nitrogen cycle?

A

it releases protons, so N2 is converted into ammonia NH3

70
Q

what does living soil bacteria do to NH3?

A

uses enzymes to convert NH3 into ammonium NH4+

71
Q

what is the process of creating NH3 or NH4+

A

ammonification

72
Q

what do free living nitrifying bacteria do to ammonium?

A

converts NH4+ to nitrite NO2-

73
Q

what does free living nitrifying soil bacteria convert nitrite to?

A

nitrate NO3-

74
Q

what is the process of creating NO2- or NO3- called?

A

nitrification

75
Q

what two compounds can app plants assimilate/use?

A

ammonium and nitrate

76
Q

how do decomposers contribute to ammonification?

A

break down waste and dead back into ammonium

77
Q

what is bioremediation?

A

involves using organisms like bacteria, fungi, plants to detoxify and restore polluted ecosystems

fungus uses enzymes to degrade plastic in anaerobic environment

78
Q

what is causing mass extinction?

A

anthropogenic activities

79
Q

how many species are discovered? yet to be discovered?

A

2 million; 10-100 million more

80
Q

what is conservation biology?

A

seeks to sustain ecosystems and preserve biodiversity

81
Q

why is preserving genetic diversity important?

A

genetic variation enables evolutionary responses to environment change

82
Q

benefits of preserving threatened and endangered species (3)

A

food, fiber, medicine

83
Q

rosy periwinkle of madagascar benefit

A

contains alkaloids that inhibit cell growth

84
Q

EO Wilsom reason to care for preserving biodiversity

A

biophilia - “life” “love”
belief that other species are entitled to life and we are all connected to nature

85
Q

what is habitat fragmentation? what does it do? (3)

A

development causing organisms to live in small patch

threats to biodiversity as it causes habitat loss

leads to inbreeding, lowers genetic variation

86
Q

solution to habitat fragmentation?

A

movement corridors to connect isolated patches that allow for gene flow

87
Q

what is the threat of overharvesting?

A

overharvesting animals at a rate that exceeds the ability of the species to rebound causes that population to decline

88
Q

what is a global change threat?

A

acid precipitation - rain, snow, sleet, or fog with a pH of less than 5.2

89
Q

how does burning wood and fossil fuels add to acid precipitation?

A

it releases N and S which react with H2O to form acids like sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and nitric acid (HNO3)

90
Q

what are some negative consequences of acidic precipitation?

A

development of eggs in spring (fish and frogs) decline, trees growth stunted, seed germination decline

91
Q

when US burns fossil fuels, which neighboring country is most affected due to winds?

A

Canada

92
Q

show reaction for sulfurous acid (H2SO3)

A

SO2 + H20 = H2SO3

93
Q

what does lake michigan have that lessens the effects of acidic precipitation?

A

limestone (CaCO3) which is alkaline, so it helps buffer the acidic precipitation

94
Q

what is alkaline mean?

A

basic

95
Q

limestone buffer equation

A

CaCO3 + H2SO4 —-> CaSO4+H2CO3 —> H2O + CO2

96
Q

what is limestone comprised of? what is it turned into when it is put under greater pressure for more time?

A

mostly shells; marble

97
Q

what is biological magnification?

A

when toxic chemicals become more concentrated in successive trophic levels of a food web

98
Q

different names from biological magnification? (2)

A

biomagnification; bioaccumulation

99
Q

whose book brought attention to biomagnification? of what pesticide?

A

Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring; DDT - used to control mosquitos

100
Q

How did Carson describe the accumulation of DDT?

A

makes its way up the food chain and affects the high-level carnivores the most

it accumulates in the fat tissues and interfers with calcium in eggshells

101
Q

how did DDT affect eagles?

A

weight of parent incubating eggs broke the shells

102
Q

is DDT banned?

A

in US, but tropics still use to control mosquito to stop spread malaria

103
Q

What is PCB? What were they used in?

A

chlorinated hydrocarbon; coolants, electrical insulation - now banned

104
Q

why are herring gulls the most affected by PCB?

A

eat mainly lake trout and smelts which have a high amount of PCB

105
Q

how does PCB affect the body?

A

endocrine system (hormones) - more imitation estrogen=more chances of getting breat cancer

106
Q

how does PCB affect the body?

A

endocrine system (hormones) - more imitation estrogen=higher chance of breast cancer

107
Q

what is another example of biomagnification? how is it made?

A

mercury; by-product of plastic production and coal-fired power generation

108
Q

how does mercury accumulate in fish?

A

it gets into rivers and the sea and it is picked up by bacteria that covert it into an extremely toxic water-soluble compound (methylmercury CH3HG+)

109
Q

effects of mercury poisoning in humans?

A

neurological symptoms - numbness, muscle weakness, hearing, vision, speech problems, insanity, paralysis, coma, and death

110
Q

why were English people in the hat making industry in the 18th and 19th centuries going insane/developing dementia?

A

mercury was used in the felt tophats and absorbs through the skin

111
Q

does having mercury filling dental fillings negatively affect one’s health?

A

CDC says no evidence that people with amalgams have compromised health

112
Q

what is the ozone layer (O3)

A

layer in the stratosphere that protects life on Earth from UV radiation

113
Q

what has happened to the ozone?

A

satellite images show that springtime (Sept-Dec) ozone thinned over Antarctica since the 1970s

114
Q

how large does the hole get in the ozone?

A

3 times the size of US

115
Q

Increased UV radiation leads to DNA damage, what else?

A

melanoma
cataracts

116
Q

what is thinning the ozone layer?

A

CFC - chloroflurocarbons

117
Q

what are CFCs?

A

used in air conditioning and refrigerators. Styrofoam, aerosol cans

118
Q

are CFCs produced in the US today?

A

no, but they will continue to react for the next 50 years

119
Q

what part of the CFCs does the most damage to the ozone layer?

A

Chlorine

120
Q

what do CFCs turn O3 into?

A

O2

121
Q

what is sustainable develpoment?

A

involves meeting the needs of people today without limiting the ability of the future generations to meet their needs

122
Q

what soes systaibable develpoment involve?

A

developing, managing, and conserving Earth’s resources as responsibly as possible

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