Final exam Flashcards
Biogeography
is the study of organisms, both past and present
it is the goal to describe and understand the many patterns in the distribution of species
historical biogeography
is concerned with the reconstruction of the origin, dispersal, and extinction of various taxa
ecological biogeography
the study of the present distribution of life and the interaction between the organism and the environment
Sir Joesph Banks
driven by ravenous curiosity, blessed with immense wealth, 18th-century British gentleman began a great flowering of natural sciences
painting by ben west (1771) usher gallery
Charles Wilkes
Led US exploration expedition
US Ex. Ex. collection
Johannas Warming
placed plant morphology, physiology, taxonomy, and biogeography into a coherent whole
wrote the first textbook on plant ecology, taught the first university course in ecology and gave the concept its meaning and content
turnover rate
the rate at which one species is lost and a replacement is gained
Edward O. Wilson
wrote “the diversity of life”
the book is on the loss of biodiversity around the world
rescue effect
extinction of a dwindling population may be slowed or even halted by an influx of immigrants (Brown and Kodrich-Brown)
landscape mosaic
when you fly over the land you see a quilt-work of different types of land cover
The landscape mosaic is also
clusters of local communities
repeated in a similar manner
over a wide area.
ecotone
in cases where one vegetation patch blends with another with the transition zone
highly diverse and unique community
Edge interactions
edge effect may increase species diversity, but it can also create ecological problems
edges, especially abrupt ones, attract mammalian and avian predators
law of the edge
Aldo Leopold stated that the potential abundance of wildlife species with small homes ranges that require two or more vegetation types is roughly proportional to the sum of the edge
corridors
are strips of vegetation linking one patch with another on the landscape
vegetation of the corridor is similar to the patches it connects but different from the surrounding landscape in which they are set
can act as filters, providing dispersal routes for some species but not others, various sized gaps in corridors allow certain organisms to cross and not others
metapopulations
habitats scattered as landscape patches, large and small, are inhabited by spatially separated subpopulations
biomes
characterizes by uniform life form of vegetation, such as grassland or coniferous forest
broad plant formations and their associated animals life as biotic units
ecoregions
are major ecosystems that result from predictable patterns of climate as influenced by latitude, local position, and altitude
C. Hart Merriam
described the life zones of a mountain environment
first ecologist to define precisely the relationship between climate and vegetation
developed his life zone system after observing the sharp donation of vegetation on San Fran Mountain in Arizona
Humboldt
describe vegetation in terms of outward appearance, correlated vegetation types with environmental characteristics and coined the term plant association
endemic
endemic animals and plants are those restricted to a given region or found in that region and nowhere else
the mountain beaver is only found in the pacific northwest of North America
Sir Alfred Wallace
came up with natural selection at the same time as darwin and got him to release his book faster
mountains and merriams life zones
Merriam became the first ecologist to define precisely the relationship between climate and vegetation
based on zonation of vegetation on San Francisco Mountain in Arizona
-desert
-pinon
-pine
-fir
-spruce
-timber
-alpine
climate-induced patterns of vegetation are influenced by
- latitude
- the location of regions within a continental land mass, which affects the amount of moisture they receive
- altitude, in which mountains modify the climate pattern
continental zonations
two broad belts of vegetation stretching east and west, the tundra and boreal, are influenced by temperature
south of these belts the vegetation patterns are controlled by precipitation and temperature in the east
the west altitude is added to the biogeographical mosaic
aerenchyma
hollow tubes from leaf to root through which oxygen diffuses
spartina is replaced by
mangrove forests
Charles darwin
wrote the origin of species on the theory of natural selection
theory of coral reefs and atoll development
HMS Challenger
set out from Portsmouth England to seek answers to fundamental questions such as how deep is the sea and what is it like on the ocean floor, is there life in the great depths
lots of data collected
it took 19 years to publish the results which fill 50 thick volumes
more info about the ocean ever recorded in all previous human history
Charles Lyell
wrote principles of geology. In it Lyell argued that although animals and plants on this planet has been indeed created by God in an instant and never changed since, the planet itself has been changing restlessly beneath them
or the earths crust was being continually created and destroyed
Marie Tharp
spent the fall of 1952 mapping and sonar surveys of ocean floor resulted in the discovery of the mid-ocean ridge system, a continuous chain of submarine volcanic mountains that encircles the globe
mid-ocean ridge
is the largest geologic feature on the planet
four zones in subarctic division
forest-tundra
open boreal or taiga
main (closed) boreal forest
boreal-mixed forests
why are there no trees in the tundra
permafrost
forest-tundra
opens stands of stunted spruce, lichens, moss, cold lakes and bogs
open boreal or taiga
lichen-black spruce woodland, very old age forest
main (closed) boreal forest
continuous stands of coniferous trees, broken by poplar and birch on disturbed areas
boreal-mixed forests
southern Canada and the Northern United States (boreal forests mix the Northern hardwood forests)
heaviest trees
sequoia
tallest trees
redwoods
first angiosperms
archaefructus liaoningensis
140 million years old
American chestnut story
ornamental plants went into New York and picked up blight
it spread through tissues and cuts off tree from water and nutrients through the roots
almost went extinct but once was a dominant tree
Japanese/Chinese chestnut is resistant to blight and could save species in America by making American chestnut resistant as well
limnology
the study of freshwater ecosystems
lentic
body of water is running body or water such as a stream or a river
layers in a lake
epilimnion- the warm upper layer that is not easily mixed with the denser water below
metalimnion- is the middle mass that is characterized by steep and rapid decline in temperature of about 1 degree C for each meter in depth. (thermocline)
thermocline
temperature gradient
hypolimnion
the deep cold layer cut off from the air above
periphyton
those organisms that have the ability to hold on in fast streams
shredders
are invertebrates that feed on leaves and other large organic particles these include: larvae of caddislflies, stoneflies, crayfish
collectors
are filter feeders including black flies, and net-spinning caddisflies
scrapers
feed on the algal coatings of stones and rubble included are the water penny (a beetle) and more caddisflies
littoral zone
shallow water
limnetic zone
open water
benthic zone
bottom of the lake
compensation level
is the place above which photosynthesis can take place
pelagic region
whole body of water
benthic region
bottom
photic zone
surface to 200M
mesopelagic
200M to 1000M
low light, temperature gradient without seasonal variation
bathypelagic
1000M to abyssal plain
No light, low temp, high pressure
neritic province
water that overlies the continental shelf
oceanic province
water that overlies the ocean plains down to 6000M
abyssal pelagic
deep water just over the plains
