Final Flashcards
Rivet Popper
Each species is important in its own small way. Lose one the ecosystem weakens but does not fail
Redundancy
Most species are redundant and only a few are critical to the survival of the ecosystem
Extinction
Loss of a species from biota cannot produce direct descendants
Extirpation
Loss of species from significant portion of range
Background extinction
Continuous low level rate of extinction happens over a long period of time
Mass Extinction
Large scale of extinction over a short period of time
Ex. Climate change, meteorite
Largest mass extinction contributors
Humans
Ocean
Largest most diverse ecosystems. Large amounts of CO2 absorbed by algae connected to land through inter-tidal zones
Coral Reefs
Warm and shallow limiting
Plants occur with sand accretion primary succession
Patch reef
Outcrops
Cats
Sandy Islands forming on Coral Reef
Estuary
Where freshwater meets saltwater.
Complex ecosystems with changes in water salinity with each tide
High level nutrients in water
Lake
Relatively still water body not directly connected to ocean larger than a pond
Pond
Relatively still water body not directly connected to ocean smaller than a lake
Littoral Zone
Closes to shore where a wide variety of plants are due to shallow and warm environments
Rivers
Moving linear end up in the ocean plants are adapted to constant motion dynamics change rivers
Plant succession
A series of predictable changes over time in the kinds of plants growing in an area
Primary succession
No plant growth has been there before
Secondary Succession
Already has soil proof that plants have been there before and takes a quicker time to recover
When can succession occur
At any stage or can reset at any stage because of disturbances
How does succession begin
Due to disturbances such as fire
Soil
Parent material soil particles consist of naturally occurring inorganic mineral compounds usually made two or more elements.
Contains sand silt clay
Soil pH directly influences soil fertility and nutrient availability
Low Ph- nutrients very soluble and easily removed by plants
High pH- nutrients less soluble more difficult for plants
What type of soil is most fertile
Neutral or slightly acidic
Population
A group of organisms all of the same species which occupy a certain geographic area
Community
Any grouping of populations of different organisms found living together in a particular environment
Ecosystem
Discrete unit that consists of both living and non living parts interacting to form a stable system
Landscape
Multiple ecosystems
Abiotic
All inorganic substances move in cycles from the physical environment to organisms then back
Biotic
The community that supports living organisms
Biodiversity
The variety of and variability of life forms both living and extinct including genetic and ecosystem diversity in a defined area at and over time
