Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Nature Gems > Forest Unseen > Flashcards

Forest Unseen Flashcards

1
Q

How many legs do springtails have?

A

6 stumpy legs

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

How big are springtails?

A

Nearly microscopic

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What do springtails eat?

A

Plants and fungi

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

How plentiful are springtails?

A

Tens of thousands in a few square yards of soil

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

How are springtails beneficial?

A

Their wastes fertilize the soil

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What causes the earthy smell of soil?

A

actinomycetes bacteria

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What benefit has come from actinomycetes?

A

Antibiotics

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

How thin are fungal hyphae compared to root hairs?

A

10x thinner

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Early plants didn’t have roots. They got their soil nutrients via

A

Fungi

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Bird adaptations to save weight: sex organs…

A

Atrophy out of breeding season

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Bird adaptations to save weight: they have no…

A

Teeth

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Bird adaptations to save weight: smaller bladders because…

A

They excrete uric acid crystals instead of urine

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

A bird’s heart’s size compared to a mammal’s is

A

Double

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

The function of purple plant leaves is

A

To protect them in the winter from UV damage; it allows a small amount of photosynthesis

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What advantage is conferred by color blindness (esp dichromats)?

A

Better able to spot camouflaged things.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What percent of human males are dichromats?

A

2-8%

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Spider silk color…

A

Can be adjusted by some spiders to make it less visible in their area of the forest (brightness and color)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Deer alert sounds

A

Alert other animals and can spread hundreds of yards

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Vultures seek food partly by the smell of

A

Ethyl mercaptan

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Ethyl mercaptan is in —, thus attracting —-

A

Natural gas (spiked); vultures

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Two ways that vultures can tolerate “food poisoning” from rotting food are

A

Powerful stomach acid and enzymes; high WBC count

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

What consumes more forest leaves (in most forests) than all other causes combined?

A

Caterpillars

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

What do some caterpillars form a mutualistic relationship with to defend them from predators? How much does it help?

A

Ants, by secreting honeydew, giving them a 10x higher survival rate

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

What helps birds find caterpillars in a forest?

A

Leaf holes. Caterpillars with fewer natural defenses feed on leaf edges.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

A patch of sunlight on the forest floor is called a

A

Sunfleck

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

How much do sunflecks matter to plants on the forest floor?

A

May provide up to 50% of its solar energy?

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

What do forest floor plants do to protect themselves from damage from forest sunlight that occasionally comes through?

A

Move chloroplasts rapidly to the bottom of the leaf

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

What is the value of mating type reproduction in fungi?

A

Prevents too many mitochondria in a cell

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

Ticks use Haller’s organs on their forelegs to sense

A

CO2, sweat, heat, and vibrations

30
Q

How do ticks combat dehydration (a threat to them)?

A

secrete a special saliva that absorbs water from the air like silica gel (they then swallow it.)

31
Q

How do ticks stay on so well? Hint: same reason they can’t release themselves quickly, such as when people try to burn them.

A

They cement themselves on

32
Q

A tick’s full meal has a greater quantity of blood than their body’s volume afterwards. How can this be?

A

They extract water from their gut and inject it back into the host, which can transmit disease

33
Q

Birds need calcium for egg shells. What is a good source?

A

Snails

34
Q

Where does a developing bird get calcium for its bones?

A

The inside of the egg

35
Q

What is one way acid rain harms birds?

A

makes it harder for snails to survive in the acidified soil (and birds need Ca from snail shells)

36
Q

Mosquito proboscis structure

A

bundle of several tubes. Salivary tubes release anti-clotting chemicals and cause the allergic reaction

37
Q

Mosquito proboscis actions

A

proboscis is flexible, probes for vessel - capillaries too thin / large vessels too tough. The feeding tube senses blood flow.

38
Q

Mosquito after feeding

A

2x heavier; urinates excess water and salt. Then, blood proteins become basis for egg production

39
Q

When not breeding, the mosquito would feed on

A

nectar, aphid honeydew, and plant juices, sugar from rotting fruit

40
Q

Most common mosquito prey (for some species)

A

Birds

41
Q

Mosquitoes’ effect on birds

A

Avian malaria or West Nile can be transmitted. Many birds aren’t substantially weakened; about ⅓ of birds may be infected.

42
Q

Name 3 Mosquito preferences

A

high body heat, those with lots of skin bacteria, pregnant women, blood type O (Asian Tiger); beer drinkers; green and black clothes

43
Q

Leaf miner diet

A

Phloem Sap - full of sugar but low in amino acids, so they drink 200x their body weight / day. Thus release “honeydew” from anus. need gut bacteria to synthesize certain amino acids.

44
Q

Fixes to leaf wind drag

A

In strong wind, leaves fold to reduce drag. Trunk has coiled fibers that act like springs to absorb energy.

45
Q

Male tree flowers with catkins

A

are wind-pollinated and can have an “umbrella” above it to reduce rain washing away pollen.

46
Q

Female wind-pollinated tree flowers

A

may be designed to create eddies to slow the wind to increase pollen deposition.

47
Q

Moth feet

A

are covered with chemical-sensing detectors.

48
Q

Moths need

A

salt and if one lands on you, it might take some from your sweat. Sweat is blood with all the large molecules removed.

49
Q

A tree in summer could exhale how much water?

A

Hundreds of gallons a day

50
Q

Name 3 ring-porous woods.

A

hickory, oaks, ashes, catalpa, elm, mulberry

51
Q

What is the xylem structure in ring-porous wood?

A

The tubes are long and wide, offering better water flow but more likelihood of air embolisms.

52
Q

What are the effects of the structure of ring-porous wood?

A

Growth starts later but proceeds faster because air embolisms form more easily in the wider tubes when it freezes.

53
Q

What does ring-porous growth look like?

A

Each season includes two sets of xylem growth, one with wider pores than the other.

54
Q

Name 3 diffuse-porous woods.

A

maple, birch, willow; many tropical trees

55
Q

What is the xylem structure in diffuse-porous wood?

A

Has smaller, shorter tubes that are less prone to blockage by air embolisms when frozen.

56
Q

What distinguishes diffuse-porous wood?

A

Their xylem is more frost resistant and the tree leafs out earlier in spring but can’t carry as much water so growth lags in summer.

57
Q

Name 3 semi-ring porous wood examples.

A

black walnut; butternut; cherry

58
Q

What happens when pollen lands on a stigma?

A

It rejects pollen grains from other species and even same plant (except sometimes when time is “running out”)

59
Q

What causes a pollen grain on a stigma to grow?

A

stigma releases water and nutrients that the pollen absorbs. The two cells inside the pollen grain expand and burst open its outer coat.

60
Q

How does pollen get down the style?

A

The larger of the two pollen cells grows into tube that goes down through style. Remaining pollen cell splits into 2 sperm cells. They float down pollen tube passively.

61
Q

What happens when flower pollen sperm reach the ovule?

A

One joins egg to make embryo. Other joins with DNA from other plant cells and makes cell with triple DNA, which grows into a food storage area for developing seed. This “double fertilization” only occurs in flowering plants.

62
Q

How thick are moss leaves?

A

1 cell thick (helps water absorption)

63
Q

Name 2 moss leaf structures that aid water absorption.

A

1) curls that hold water
2) bumps to increase surface area
3) wooly hairs.

64
Q

Why aren’t moss leaves usually eaten?

A

fibrous nature and bitter compounds

65
Q

Where do mosses get some trace nutrients?

A

from dust in the air (no roots)

66
Q

Do mosses contain cellulose? Lignin?

A

Mosses (and most bryophytes) have no lignin.

67
Q

Name 3 North American megafauna.

A

1) giant ground sloths (rhino size)
2) giant herbivorous bears
3) mastodons

68
Q

What is not digested with a rumen?

A

mother’s milk

69
Q

What ancient type of microorganisms are in rumen?

A

Primarily anaerobic microorganisms that evolved before earth’s atmosphere had much oxygen—it is poisonous to them. Some live deep in the soil.

70
Q

What is the composition of rumen microorganisms?

A

Over 200+ species of bacteria, protists, and fungi. No single species can digest all parts of a plant cell.

Nature Gems (2 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions