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Environmental Biology > Intro > Flashcards

Intro Flashcards

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AP® Biology flashcards Biology 101 flashcards
1
Q

Environment?

A

Complex of physical, chemical and biotic factors that act on an organism/ecological community and ultimately decide its form and survival

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2
Q

Environmental biology?

A
  1. A scientific study of the origins, functions, relationships, interactions and natural history of living populations, communities, species, and ecosystems in relation to dynamic environmental processes
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3
Q

Individual/organism

A

Any organism/living thing with its own characters in physiology, evolution and behavior in relation to environmental factors

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4
Q

Population

A

A group of individuals of the same species living in the same area and producing fertile offspring by interbreeding

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5
Q

Community

A

A collection of populations of different species living in the same area and interacting with each other

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6
Q

Ecosystem

A

An ecosystem is a collection of communities as well as abiotic factors with which they interact with

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7
Q

Biosphere

A

Includes the entire portion of earth that is inhabited by life

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8
Q

What are the organizational levels of the environment

A

Individual
Population
Community
Ecosystem
Biosphere

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9
Q

What are abiotic components

A

Non living components (physical and chemical factors)
Ex: water, air, light, temperature, nutrients, sunlight, soil

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10
Q

Where are abiotic resources obtained from

A

Lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere

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11
Q

What do abiotic components limit?

A

The geographic range (distribution) and abundance of species

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12
Q

What are biotic components

A

Living components of the ecosystem which include plants, animals, fungi, bacteria and protists

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13
Q

Define niche

A

Niche is the role a particular organism plays in an ecosystem. Or how an organism makes it’s living

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14
Q

What are the factors involved in deciding a niche

A
  1. How an organism gets its energy (what an organism eats) and how they pass that energy through the ecosystem
  2. How an organism interacts with other organisms
  3. Role in recycling nutrients
  4. Tolerance to environmental conditions such as temperature and soil moisture
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15
Q

Define habitat

A

The physical area a species lives naturally

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16
Q

What are the environmental factors used to describe a habitat?

A
  1. Average amount of sunlight received each day
  2. Average Annual rainfall
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17
Q

Whats the difference between habitat and ecosystem?

A

The habitat is the actual place of an ecosystem, whereas the ecosystem includes both biotic and abiotic components

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18
Q

What are the 3 interactions between abiotic and biotic components of the environment?

A

Biotic- biotic interactions

Biotic-abiotic interactions

Abiotic-abiotic interactions

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19
Q

Examples for biotic-biotic interactions

A

Competition
Feeding relationships
Symbiotic relationships between individuals and species

20
Q

Examples for biotic-biotic interactions

A

Water uptake of plants from soil

21
Q

Examples for abiotic-abiotic interactions

A

Chemical reactions occurring in soil

22
Q

Define trophic level

A

Arrangement of feeding levels of an ecosystem

23
Q

How are trophic levels represented?

A

Producers - 1st trophic level
Herbivores- 2nd trophic level
Primary carnivores - 3rd trophic level
Top carnivores - other levels

24
Q

Define food chain

A

A linear sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy pass from one trophic level to another trophic level of an ecosystem, starting from primary producers

25
Q

Define primary producers

A

They are autotrophs and most often photosynthetic organisms such as plants, algae or cyanobacteria

These organisms convert light energy to chemical energy (produce organic matter)

26
Q

Define primary production

A

The amount of organic matter produced by autotrophs in a given area during a given time period

Unit: gm-²day-¹ or kgha-¹year-¹

27
Q

What are primary consumers

A

Organisms that eat primary producers

(Usually herbivores, though they may be algae eaters or bacteria eaters)

28
Q

Define secondary consumers

A

Organisms that consume primary consumers

(Generally carnivores)

29
Q

Define tertiary consumers

A

Organisms that consume secondary consumers

(Carnivore-eating carnivores, such as eagles or big fish species)

30
Q

What’s a food web?

A

An interconnected feeding relationship of an ecosystem

31
Q

What’s a food web?

A

An interconnected feeding relationship of an ecosystem

32
Q

Describe energy loss along food chains

A
  • energy flow is always unidirectional
  • in each trophic level about 90% of potential energy is lost as heat and respiration
  • organisms in each trophic level pass on about 10% of energy to the next trophic level
  • this limits no. of trophic level to 4 or 5
  • short food chains are more ecologically efficient as more energy is available for top members
  • Because of this energy tapering, an energy pyramid called ecological pyramid is formed
33
Q

Define ecological pyramid

A

Geaphical representation of no. of organisms, biomass and productivity at each trophic level

34
Q

In a natural ecosystem do isolated food chains exist?

A

No

35
Q

Features of ecological pyramids

A
  • tropical structure of an ecosystem is indicated by an ecological pyramid
  • also called Eltonian pyramids as they were found bt Charles Elton
  • highest trophic level is at top of food chain.
36
Q

What are the 3 ecological pyramid types?

A

Pyramid of energy
Pyramid of biomass
Pyramid of numbers

37
Q

What do energy pyramids describe?

A

they describe overall nature of ecosystem

38
Q

Why are energy pyramids always upright and vertical

A

As a considerable amount of energy is lost from one organism to another

39
Q

Define number pyramid

A

It depicts the relationship in terms of the no of producers, herbivores and carnivores at each trophic level

40
Q

What are the 2 types of number pyramids

A
  • upright: on most cases
  • inverted: host — parasite — microorganisms in parasite
41
Q

Describe biomass pyramids

A
  • fundamental ecological pyramid
  • as fresh weight of biomass contains a large amount of water, dry weight represents amount of energy available in form of organic matter in an organism
42
Q

2 types of biomass pyramids

A

Upright: gradual decrease of biomass in upper trophic levels
Ex: forest ecosystems

Inverted: some aquatic ecosystems w phytoplankton

43
Q

Define biome

A

A large geographical area which is classified based on predominant vegetation adapted to that particular environment

44
Q

What determines the biome in an area

A

Climate and geography of a region

45
Q

How do biomes vary from each other

A

differences in
Climate
Topography
Soil conditions

46
Q

What are the major terrestrial biomes

A

Tropical forest
Savanna
Desert
Chaparral
Temperate grassland
Temperate broadleaf forest
Northern coniferous forest
Tundra

Environmental Biology (3 decks)

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