Jeopardy Flashcards
The Coriolis effect causes apparent deflection of winds:
Clockwise in the N hemisphere, counterclockwise in the S hemisphere
This type of rock is formed from the cooling of hot, molten magma
Igneous rock
The process by which expanding gases lose heat energy as molecules move farther apart, which explains why mountaintops, with lower air pressure and density, are cooler than valley bottoms.
Adiabatic cooling
This ecosystem is dependent on fire, has a short fire return interval of around 25 years, and mainly consists of scrub oak and shrubs like manzanita and Ceanothus.
Chaparral
These five factors, with a catchy acronym of ClORPT, are the foundations of the theory of soil formation
CLimate Organisms Relief (topography) Parent material Time
An integrated biotic-abiotic unit
An ecosystem
A group of individuals of a single species inhabiting a single area.
A population
This ecosystem is found in the zone of greatest snowfall in the Sierra Nevada, and is dominated by red fir and/or lodgepole pine.
Upper montane
The image to the right shows this phenomenon, where nutrient-poor surface waters are replaced by nutrient-rich deeper water from offshore.
Upwelling
This ecosystem has a distinctive temperature profile: the center of the ecosystem tends to have more impermeable surfaces that reflect heat, causing heat islands to form in the center of the ecosystem.
Urban ecosystem
This is a genetically controlled characteristic or trait that is beneficial to an organism’s survival or reproduction (and therefore is passed on)
Adaptation
As an adaptation to deal with summer heat, some desert plants orient their leaves in this
direction relative to the incoming solar radiation.
Parallel
A reproductive strategy employed by some plants and trees in both forest and chaparral ecosystems to adapt to fire.
Resorting from the root crown
or
Serotinous seeds
This quantifies the tendency of water to move from one area to another. As an example, this measure drives water to flow from soils to plants and out into the air, in most systems.
Water potential
The relationship between coast live oak and mycorrhizae is an example of this, which implies a deep dependence of oaks on mycorrhizae.
Obligate mutualism