Intro and biomes Flashcards
Abiotic
Physical and chemical forces ( winds, temps, and pH, neutrients
Biotic
Other organisms(competition and predations)
Organismal
How do individual interact with each other and the physical enviroment
Community
Groups of populations(Species) that interact (predation, competition, parasitism)
Population
Individuals of 1 species in a defined area
Ecosystem
Group of interacting organisms and the physical and chemical elements influencing them in a defined area
Biosphere/global
Portions of the earth that supports life(land vs sea)
Landscape
A heterogeneous area composed of several ecosystems
Scientific method
1-question
2-hypothesis
3-prediction
4-testing hypothesis
Manipulative experiments
Caused by you manipulating facts you are instread in (in labs, enclosures, or fields work)
Pros: control over which parts are altered
Separate multiple factors may control patters
Cons:artifacts of manipulations
Scale
Natural experiments
Caused by natural sources like fire and extinctions
Pros- real natural change
Can compare to manipulative experiments
No moral judgement
Cons- more than 1 factor has changed
Before vs after
Different areas for control and treatment
Observation experiemtns
Systemic study of natural variation
Pros- same as natural
Cons- more than one factor has changed
Potential for tight correlations between factors
Causality?
Takes a long time
Mathematical models
Pros- can work at very long/large scales
No moral decisions
Cons- limited by data that actually exists
Tropical rain forest
Geography- equatorial (<10 degree latitude)
Climate- warm and wet year round, little seasonality
Very few nutrients since they get washed away in the rainfall
Tropical dry forest
Geography- 10-25 latitude
Climate- more seasonal variation than wet forest, wet and dry season
Very old soils
