Habitats. Flashcards

1
Q

What are the 7 vegetation types found in Grenada?

A

Savanna and Grazing Land.

Dry Scrub-Woodlands.

Rain Forest.

Montane Thicket.

Palm Brake.

Elfin Woodland.

Secondary Forest.

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2
Q

What are the coastal Grenada forest types?

A

Mangrove woodland.

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3
Q

What are the seasonal forest types found in Grenada?

A

Evergreen and Semi-evergreen Forest.

Deciduous Seasonal Forest.

Cactus Scrub.

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4
Q

What are the montane forest types found in Grenada?

A

Lower Montane Rain Forest.

Elfin Woodland/Cloud Forest.

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5
Q

Mangrove forests are highly tolerant of what?

A

Salt water.

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6
Q

What often lies behind the mangrove forests?

A

Dry scrub thorn trees.

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7
Q

Healthy mangrove forests have a very high what?

A

High productivity rate.

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8
Q

What is an estuarine habitat known as?

A

Coastal riparian.

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9
Q

Mangrove forests provide what?

A

Mangrove ecosystems provide valuable breeding and nursery habitat for fish and shrimp, and provide security cover and feeding habitat for adults.

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10
Q

How much of the commercial fish species caught off the Australian coast depend, at some point in their lives, on mangrove ecosystems?

A

2/3rds.

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11
Q

Mangrove ecosystems do what for the shoreline?

A

Mangrove ecosystems stabilize shorelines and protect coastal areas from hurricanes, severe storms and tsunamis.

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12
Q

Why is are mangrove ecosystems decreasing?

A

Cleared for rice cultivation, hotel development, aquaculture (commercial shrimp and prawn hatcheries), wood gathering etc.

Mangroves are often considered, around the world, to be nothing more than mudflats into which one should throw garbage and any manner of household items no longer wanted.

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13
Q

How much mangrove forest has been cleared globally?

A

35%

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14
Q

How many mangrove sites are there in Grenada?

A

22.

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15
Q

What species of mangrove makes up the mangrove sites in Grenada?

A

Red, white, black and button mangrove.

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16
Q

Where is the largest mangrove site in Grenada?

A

Levera pond.

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17
Q

What is the mean height of mangrove trees in Grenada?

A

15m.

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18
Q

What are the roots of red mangrove known as?

A

Prop roots.

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19
Q

What are the characteristics of black mangrove?

A

Pneumatophores (roots above the ground allows for respiration).

Species is further upland (inland) than red mangroves.

Secrete salt through salt glands

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20
Q

What are the characteristics of white mangrove?

A

White mangroves are further upland (inland) than either red or black mangroves.

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21
Q

Mangroves provide a great home for invertebrates, true or false?

A

True?

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22
Q

What are the characteristics of moist Dystrophic Savannas and Woodlands?

A

Nutrient load low in soil.

60 cm (24 inches) – 160 cm (63 inches) of rainfall.

Principle herbivores = termites.

Decomposition is slow and grasses dry out.

Fire would be an annual event in this habitat.

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23
Q

Where are moist Dystrophic Savannas and Woodlands found in Grenada?

A

Southern end of the island of Grenada–Pt. Saline, Lance Aux Epines, True Blue (note point of peninsula in front of Caribbean House), Mt. Hartmann etc.

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24
Q

Give an example of plants found in dry thorn scrub habitat?

A

Acacia.

Cacti.

Black sage.

Wild tamarind.

Glory cedar.

Campeche.

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25
Q

What species are found in dry thorn scrub habitat?

A

Grenada dove.

Burmese mongoose.

Hook billed kite.

Zenaida dove.

Tree boa.

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26
Q

Some of the richest ecosystems border what?

A

Lakes and oceans.

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27
Q

Beaches, sand dunes and sea cliffs are what?

A

Critical habitat.

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28
Q

Coastal ecosystems act as what?

A

As breeding or non-breeding habitat for animals that are also members of other ecosystems.

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29
Q

What species are found on coastal ecosystems?

A

Waterfowl.

Raptors.

Seabirds.

Sea turtles.

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30
Q

Distinct habitat conditions along coastlines are often?

A

Discontinuous and isolated in nature.

Separated by stretches of rocky coastline.

These isolated habitats often contain isolated, endemic populations of organisms.

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31
Q

Sandy coastlines are?

A

Highly dynamic because beaches change seasonally.

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32
Q

What dove is half the size of other island doves?

A

Common ground dove.

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33
Q

Sandy coastal ecosystems especially outlying islands are breeding grounds for what?

A

Gulls.

Terns.

Plovers.

Herons.

Ibis.

Rails.

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34
Q

What raptors are found in Grenada?

A

Osprey.

Peregrine falcons.

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35
Q

What ground nesters are found on open beaches?

A

Wilsons plover.

Terns.

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36
Q

Why are ground nesters the most threatened.

A

Human encroachment.

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37
Q

Sea turtles have been around for how long?

A

200 million years.

38
Q

What class do sea turtles belong too?

A

Reptilia.

39
Q

What are the main characteristics of sea turtles?

A

Vertebral columns,

Epidermal scales.

Air breathing.

Ectothermic.

Internal Fertilisation.

40
Q

What are sea turtles hunted for?

A

Eggs and meat.

41
Q

What are the eggs used for in South America?

A

Aphrodisiac.

42
Q

In 1987 how much sea turtle products were sold in Japan?

A

Turtle products sold in Japan included 2 million sea turtles, 1 million were stuffed juveniles.

43
Q

What else threatens sea turtles?

A

Dogs and pigs raid nests.

Trapped in shrimp trawler nets…held under water too long and drown.

TEDs: Turtle Excluder Devices.

Shrimp industry very resistant.

44
Q

What can be done to protect sea turtles?

A

Disabling TEDs.

Headstarting: Raise young turtles until 1 year and release….no evidence that this is very effective.

Collect eggs release newly hatched turtles.

45
Q

What is a dead sea turtle worth?

A

500 EC.

46
Q

What is a live sea turtle worth?

A

5200 EC per turtle with eco tourism.

47
Q

Tropical forests contain how much of the earths organisms?

A

1/2.

48
Q

What are the most productive of the terrestrial ecosystems?

A

Tropical forests.

49
Q

How much rainfall do tropical forests get per year?

A

Greater than 68 inches/1700 mm rainfall per year.

50
Q

How much rainfall does Grenada get per year?

A

Grenada: under 60 inches (dry, scrub habitat - southern end of island) to 163 inches per year (Grand Etang rainforest).

51
Q

In what kind of countries are tropical forests mainly found?

A

Mostly in developing countries with rapidly increasing human populations striving for economic equity.

52
Q

How do resources of tropical forests need to be managed?

A

On a long-term, sustainable basis to achieve economic stability.

53
Q

Loss of forests reduce what?

A

Loss of forests reduces productivity of land. Because soil is nutrient poor and recovery is slow

54
Q

What are the characteristics of primary forest?

A

Mature stands free of disturbance with high biomass and diversity.

55
Q

What are the characteristics of secondary forest?

A

Evidence of fire, hurricane, cutting etc.

56
Q

Moist tropical forests make up what percentage of of total continental area of earth?

A

7%

57
Q

80% of remaining tropical forests can be found in 9 countries?

A

Brazil (31%).

Indonesia.

Zaire.

Malaysia.

Gabon.

Venezuela.

Columbia.

Peru.

Bolivia.

58
Q

What percentage of total primary production of biosphere is carried out in tropical forests?

A

29%

59
Q

What are lianas?

A

Massive vines that expose foliage in canopy.

60
Q

What are epiphylls.

A

Thin layer of algae, lichens and moss.

61
Q

What are nitrogen fixers?

A

Epiphylls.

62
Q

What are epiphytes?

A

Grow on trunks of trees (use as support).

Obtain nutrients and moisture from rainwater.

Foliage can exceed that of host tree.

Many from families of flowering plants including orchids.

63
Q

Why is fruit and nectar production very high?

A

Dependence on same by many mammals & birds.

Keystone mutualists: Trees critical to survival of many.

Animals can act as “mobile links” for trees…distributing pollen and seeds etc.

64
Q

What animal of distributes seeds in Grenada?

A

Bats.

65
Q

The rich forest floors contain what?

A

Insects.

Amphibians.

Lizards.

Support predators.

66
Q

The soil in tropical forests is often?

A

Infertile.

67
Q

Why is the soil in tropical forests often infertile?

A

Low organic content.

Due to high decomposition rate.

High clay content with poor nutrient-holding capacity.

Abundant rainfall makes such soils lose nutrients through leaching.

For mineral cations (calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium) leaching severe.

Vast bulk of nutrient pool is in living biomass contrast to temperate forests.

68
Q

What is very efficient in tropical forests?

A

Nutrient retention and recycling.

69
Q

What are mycorrhizae?

A

Symbiotic association between fungi and finer roots of trees.

70
Q

How do fungi help plants get water?

A

Fungal filaments enhance the plants acquisition of water and nutrients by extending further into soil/litter and fungi obtain sugars from the plant.

71
Q

What are associated with decomposing leaf litter and other organic material?

A

Mycorrhizae.

72
Q

What happens to nutrients from organic detritus?

A

Nutrients, from organic detritus, often pass directly into fungal filaments and then directly into plant rootlets without entering the soil.

73
Q

How do mycorrhizae prevent the soil from being fertile?

A

They are very efficient at taking all the nutrients out of dead organic material and therefore very little is leached into the ground.

74
Q

Why don’t trees in tropical forests have very deep roots?

A

Because of the effectiveness of the symbiotic relationship with mycorrhizae.

75
Q

What can act to support trees?

A

Plant buttresses.

76
Q

When trees are cut down what goes with them?

A

A lot of nutrients.

The root mass system.

77
Q

What has caused the destruction of rainforests?

A

International trade.

Third world debt.

Rising human population.

Economic development of third world countries.

Appetite for timber and beef in developed countries.

78
Q

What is slash and burn farming?

A

Burning releases nutrients in the ash.

Farming lasts 2 to a few years as remaining nutrients are leached into deeper soils or out of the ecosystem.

Farmers move to new area

79
Q

How can slash and burn farming be and ecologically stable strategy?

A

If done on slower rotation…if interval between farming activity is 70 years or so.

80
Q

What causes extinction of numerous plants and animals that may have great economic value?

A

Extensive deforestation.

81
Q

By 2015 how much rainforest was predicted to have been lost?

A

25%

82
Q

How many tropical species in Asia have been lost?

A

12-26%.

83
Q

How many tropical species in Africa have been lost?

A

10-22%.

84
Q

How many tropical species in the New World have been lost?

A

4-10%.

85
Q

What will make up most tropical forest extinctions?

A

Plants and invertebrates.

86
Q

What is a major threat to primates?

A

Hunting and deforestation.

87
Q

What are characteristics of high elevation forests?

A

Fairly constant rain or misty conditions versus the drought conditions that impact lowland forests.

88
Q

Where is local endemism very high?

A

Tropical forests.

89
Q

What is the world record the amount of trees in a small area?

A

835 species of trees in 50 ha. Malaysia.

90
Q

What can be found in 10 sq Km of Malaysian rainforest?

A

150 species of butterflies.

60 species of amphibians.

100 species of reptiles.

125 species of mammals.

400 species of birds

91
Q

Biomass is significantly greater than temperate deciduous and coniferous forests in what kind of forests?

A

Tropical forests.

92
Q

What is the maximum tree height in lowland tropical forests?

A

70-80m.