Science Section 2 Flashcards
What is population and community ecology?
how populations grow, disperse, and interact with other populations
What is evolution and biodiversity?
genetic variation resulting in environmentally adaptive traits
What are ecosystems?
the integration of living/non-living components in a system
What are global climate and biomes?
variation in global patterns creating geographic regions distinguished by different dominant forms
What are global energy and matter cycles?
global biogeochemical cycles
Who put the pieces together about the concept of evolution through natural selection and made theory?
Charles Darwin
What ship was Charles Darwin on at the age of 22
The HMS Beagle.
What was Charles Darwin’s position on the HMS Beagle?
The ship’s naturalist.
What will individuals of a given species express?
A range of phenotypes.
When does gene flow occur?
When individuals from one population migrate to another population.
What does the ability of a species to adapt to environmental changes?
How much, and how fast, that change occurs.
What is a random change in genotypes among small populations of a species, is known to be an important mechanism in evolution called?
Genetic Drift.
True or False. A generic drift is a nonadaptive process.
True
True or False. Male cheetahs have 70 percent abnormal sperm cells.
True
What does the generic drift called bottleneck effect do to population size and genetic diversity?
It severely reduces it.
When was the theory of Charles Darwin published?
1859
What was Charles Darwin’s theory called?
“The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection”
True or False. It is certain that natural populations have the same reduced fitness.
False
What is an example of how different alleles produce individuals with different levels of fitness?
The allele for sickle-cell disease.
What does the allele for sickle-cell disease do?
It reduces the oxygen-carrying capacity of blood and results in many severe mental and physical impairments and usually death, mostly among people of African descent.
Most populations of a species seem to be relatively isolated from what?
Isolated from each other and need to adapt to their environment with the genetic variation they possess.
How long does evolution take?
A significant change in a species genotype, such as an adaptation to a completely different food source, can take thousands of years.
What three factors are important influences on the pace of evolution by natural selection?
Rate of environmental change, genetic variation, and how much adaptive traits are able to spread.
How long ago was the creation of humans?
1.8 million years ago
How long ago was Earth created?
4.5 billion years ago
T/F Rapid environmental change forces populations to evolve quickly to adapt to the new environment or die out.
True
If one doesn’t migrate from a horrible environment what can occur?
death
Where does the ginko tree exist?
China and the U.S.
Which tree is an ornamental tree in many parts of the U.S?
The ginkgo tree
How old is the ginko biloba leaf fossil from the McAbee fossil beds, British Columbia, Canada?
Around 60 million years old
What normally causes extinction
Not being able to adapt to environment
What was the first thing we evolved from?
prokaryotes
where do we learn about evolution the most?
fossils
Do we know the exact amount of species in the world?
No
True or false: organisms decompose rapidly
True
what are the hard elements that sometimes preserve?
Bone, shells, teeth
How can softer elements of an organism survive?
By being buried by sediment
True or false: older fossils are found in the deeper levels of earth.
True
What is a geological time scale?
It divides time into various intervals
How long has bacteria been in the fossil record?
3.5 billion years ago
How long have multicellular and shelled organisms been in the record?
540 million years ago
When was the greatest mass extinction?
The end of the Paleozoic era
What are Serbian traps?
Volcanic eruptions
What percent of marine species went extinct?
90-95%
What was the K-T boundary?
mass extinction 65 million years ago in the cretecious and tertiary periods
What type of species is know for being extinct in the K-T boundary?
dinosaurs
What mammal survived and was the rise of the human species
rodents
how long ago was the Triassic- Jurassic mas extinction?
201.3 MA
When was the late Donovan extinction?
365 MA
how many mass extinctions have occurred so far
5
How do scientist know how many species we’re losing each year
special-area relationships
What was the first mass extinction?
The first mass extinction was the Ordovician-Silurian Extinction (440 Million Years Ago)
What was the second mass extinction?
The second mass extinction was the Late Devonian Extinction.
What was the third mass extinction?
The third mass extinction was the Permian-Triassic Extinction.
How many phases and which phases were involved in the Ordovician-Silurian Extinction?
Scientists theorize that there was two phases; a glaciation event and a heating event.
What would happen if abundant plant life removed CO2 from the air?
There would be global cooling and glacier formation, which would result in a drop in sea levels and reduced habitat.
In the Late Devonian Extinction, which percentage of life died?
75% of all life died during this extinction.
Where did the asteroid that landed during the Cretaceous-Paleogene Extinction land?
It is theorized that the meteor landed in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.
What is the species-area relationship?
The basic concept is that in general, less habitat will support fewer species than more habitat.
Which mathematical formula is used to find the effect of deforestation on species loss?
S1/S0 = (A1/A0)z
What is a keystone species
A species that is a valued part of the ecosystem
What is a tertiary consumer
A species that eats the secondary consumer
What is a secondary consumer
A species that eats the primary consumer
What is a primary consumer
A species that eats the produces (AKA herbivore)
What is a Producer in an ecosystem
A usually plant species that produces energy from other than eating
What is a decomposer in a ecosystem
Something that decomposes live stuff
Why is it when two species that survive individually are put in the same environment only one survives?
They are competing for limited resources
True or false. Two species can coexist even if they compete
True
True or false. Only animals compete for resources
False
What is the general rule for more deviation in the logistic model for populations
More factors on the population (like competition makes more deviations)
What dose MSV stand for
Maximum sustainable yield. The max amount of individuals you can remove while keeping the species not extinct
Why is the MSV important
Its important to tell people how much they can harvest without risking the species population
What did Biologist. M Graham do
She set limits on the amount people could fish in fishery’s to fit the MSV model, and get the most fish growing at once
True or false. Populations grow the most when most dense
False
What does MSY stand for
Annual maximum sustainable yield. or the MSV for the whole year
True or false. When they set limits on how many anchovies could be caught the MSY went down
False
True or false Populations of one species never effects other species
False
True or false. Animal population can be changed due to climate factors
True
True or false. Population density can change between near by areas depending on the terrain
True
What is a metapopluation
A population divided by the environment that stays genetically and ecologically connected
What does deterministic and stochastic mean
Predictable and Not Predictable
What three ways do species interact
interspecific competition, predation, and mutualism.
What is a niche.
A important role that a species plays in a community
True or false. herbivores don’t have any prey
False (plants are their prey)
what does Parasitism mean
When a species feeds or uses its prey but usually doesn’t kill it.
True or False. Each species can only have one predator and one Prey
False
Three types of species are ‘keystone species’, what are they?
Irreplaceable pollinators, habitat modifiers, & “species who play an important community function.”
The North American Beaver is an example of what type of Keystone species?
Habitat Modifiers
What organisms are most commonly a primary succession species
Lichen, Moss, & Similarly small plants.
There are 2 types of pollinators. which ones are NOT a keystone species?
Replaceable Pollinators, pollinators that can be replaces if they go extinct
On Many South pacific Islands, ______ are the only pollinator for hundreds of tropical plant species.
Old World Fruit Bats, or, Flying Foxes
What is example of a keystone species that based on interactions with other species
Mycorrizal fungi.
How do fungi Help trees grow taller?
They grow on, or in, tree roots. helping extract nutrients in the soil.
What is the difference between primary & secondary succession?
Primary succession is the first life to grow into a new area. Secondary succession are the species that follows after life has already been introduced.
What term used to describe the final stage of a forests ecosystem is no longer used?
Climax Forrest
What are a few examples of major geological change that can allow for primary succession.
Fire, Hurricanes, human land clearing, volcanic eruption
Where is Orgon Cave Located?
West Virginia
T:F Organ Cave is the 3rd largest cave In the state
False, it is THE largest
What are the 3 species listed to love in Organ Cave
bats, shrimp, & crayfish.
What part of the Ecosystem brings in, & takes out energy in the Organ Cave?
Water
Why is there a significantly less amount of Carnivores than Herbivores in Sub-Saharan Africa?
Carnivores eat herbivores to get energy. because of “The Laws of Thermodynamics” Carnivores cant get more energy than the energy within herbivores themselves.
What Is the primary source of energy on the Earth?
The Sun
What is the Chemical Formula for Photosynthesis?
CO2 + H2O + Energy from the Sun === CH2O + O2
What is the “Biomass”
The total weight of all organisms in a given area
What is the scientific name for CH2O?
Formaldehyde
The “reverse” of photosynthesis is called what?
respiration
The amount of solar energy converted to chemical energy by photosynthesis is called what?
Gross Primary Productivity
What is the most common term used to describe the productivity of a biological system
Net Primary Productivity (NPP)
Primary producers typically have an energy efficiency of ___%
One (1) %
What is the wettest and warmest biome?
the tropical rainforest (evergreen)
Regarding the key elements of the tropical rain forest, where is most of the ecosystem’s energy stored if the soils are often extremely poor in mineral nutrients?
in the vegetation; there is high animal and plant diversity
Name of the biome (forest) that experiences a pronounced dry season in the tropics
Tropical dry (seasonal) forest
True or False? In a tropical dry (seasonal) forest, there is more productivity and diversity of both plant and animal species per meter than in the tropical rainforest,
False
What is the dominant form of trees found in a temperate rainforest?
tall coniferous trees (such as those found in the U.S. Pacific Northwest)
What are the main factors in a temperate rainforest that create the conditions suitable for tall (about 60-70 meters) coniferous trees? (Hint: 3 factors)
mild winters, heavy rain, and fog
In a temperate rain forest, the soils tend to be rich of what?
organic matter
Compared to the productivity of tropical rainforest, describe the productivity of temperate rain forest
it is roughly half that found in tropical rain forests
In what regions do temperate broadleaf forests occur?
where there is moderate rainfall and high seasonal temperature variation
What property of temperate broadleaf forests make the soil rich?
their deciduous property; most plants shed their leaves and this leaf litter decomposes into a rich soil
The productivity of temperate broadleaf forests is most similar to what other biome/forest?
temperate rainforest
Where do temperate broadleaf forests occur (the places DemiDec listed)?
eastern U.S., southern Canada, Europe, and Eastern Asia
What is the dominant deciduous vegetation in rainforests with moderate to high rainfall as the temperature decreases?
conifer, particularly spruces and firs that are 10-20 meters high (hence the name Boreal coniferous forest)
What are some large animal species that are found in the Boreal coniferous forest?
moose, wolf, bear, Siberian tiger
True or False? There is little to no fluctuation in bird or other animal populations in the Boreal coniferous forest?
False, the yearly weather variations results in dramatic yearly variation in seed production which dramatically causes fluctuations in their populations
Describe the soil of the Boreal coniferous forest
relatively poor because there is less leaf litter decomposition as a result of chemicals in the foliage and lower temperatures
When does vegetation shift to grasslands?
when there is not enough water to support dense forests due to decreased precipitation
What is the other name for grasslands (one in the U.S. and another one in Asia)?
in the U.S. they are also known as prairies and in central Asia they are called steppes
Similar to what forest biome, the productivity in grasslands is about 1/3 that of tropical rainforests?
Boreal coniferous forests
Why are grasslands agriculturally rich?
because organic matter accumulates as decomposition of dead vegetation is limited by low precipitation rates
Where is the biome savanna most common?
dry tropical regions in Africa where rainfall ranges from 10-15 cm/yr and is seasonal
What is scrub vegetation?
small and stunted due to limited resources and a short growing period; found in a tropical scrub forest or savanna
What factors are responsible for maintaining the savanna biome?
fire and grazing
Do all animals in the savanna biome stay in one region?
No, migrating herd of herbivores (such as wild beasts) follow the rain and move across the biome
True or False: Elements continually cycle within the Biosphere
TRUE, it goes between Biosphere, Soils, and Water as plants and animals grow, die, and decompose.
What altered the Biogeochemical cycles?
Human Activities
Overfertilization can be caused from what agricultural elements?
Nitrogen and Phosphorus
True or False: Carbon and Nitrogen are NOT the most important elements to soil fertility and plant productivity
False
What are other nutrients cycles that are important in agricultural?
phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, calcium and sulfur
What is the main reason for dissolving and transporting necessary elements for living organisms?
Water
What does the following describe: The driver of biogeochemical cycling
Hydrologic Cycle
When coming in contact with Vegetation or Soil, what can happen to water?
Evaporation, Transpiration, infiltrate the soil to enter groundwater system, and/or runoff across land surface and rivers
What is the main energy source for the hydrologic cycle?
Solar Energy, because it drives evaporation
What Equation can be used to represent the Hydrologic Cycle?
PRECIP = ET + I + RO (Precipitation = Evapotranspiration + Infiltration + runoff
What are the Four Processes that run the Carbon Cycle?
Photosynthesis, Respiration, Decomposition, and Combustion
Green Plants and Phytoplankton convert Solar Energy into Chemical Energy. What is this process Called?
Carbon Fixation
Where is most of Earth’s carbon?
Carbonate Rock, Organic Matter in Sedimentary Rocks, and Oceans
Why are Fossil Fuels called Fossil Fuels?
When Organisms die they release carbon that decomposes. A fraction of that gets burned into coal, oil, and natural gas.
What is the most important part of the Carbon System and Why?
When the Carbon Moves to the Atmospheric and Biospheric Pools, because it rapidly cycles.
True or False: Fossil Carbon is apart of the Contemporary Carbon Biogeochemical cycle
False
True or False: Nitrogen is not a limiting element for plants
False
Fill in the Blank: Only Organisms capable of ____ ______ can make direct use of atmospheric nitrogen.
Nitrogen Fixation
Most Plants that use Nitrogen use it in what form?
Mineral Form
What is the conversion of Organic Matter to Ammonium called?
Ammonification
What is Nitrification?
When the Ammonium from Ammonifcation is converted to Nitrite (NO2-) and then in a two-step process Nitrate
True or False: Nitrate is susceptible to leaching
True
Fill in the blank: High accumulation of nitrate in wet soils can lead to ______.
denitrification
What is Denitrification?
The Natural Conversion of Nitrate to the gas Nitrous oxide (N2O)
What does the Complex Nitrogen Cycle have significant effects on?
pollution and productivity
Where is the Mediterranean biome found?
in countries that border the Mediterranean Sea and California (where it is known as chaparral)
What areas does the Mediterranean biome compromise?
dry areas that receive most of their rain in the winter before the temperature rises enough to permit plant growth
Describe the vegetation found in the Mediterranean biome
mainly made up of dense, woody shrubs, and small trees with leathery and/or waxy small leaves to help retain water. As an adaptation to the frequent fires, some have developed fire resistant bark
How is a desert defined?
areas receiving less than 25 cm of precipitation per year
What is the percent range of productivity in the desert compared to tropical rainforest?
0 to 5 percent
Where does tundra occur?
in the artic region beyond the tree line (the upper limit of tree growth at a high latitude or elevation
What type of “soil” is found in the tundra?
permafrost
The mean (average) productivity in tundra regions is low, but between what percentages of what is found in tropical rainforests?
five to ten percent
What percentage of the Earth does the ocean cover?
71%
Plants and animals that live on or near the bottom of rivers or streams are known as?
the bethnic community
What primary consumer feeds on phytoplankton?
zoo plankton (crustaceans)
What is the major energy producer in lakes and ponds?
phytoplankton
Lake and pond ecosystems are influenced by thermociles which are what?
abrupt changes in the temperature of water with depth that prevents the mixing of the layers of water
At what depth, in general, is peak species diversity?
2,000 to 3,000 meters
What are wetlands?
transitional areas between strictly terrestrial and aquatic (includes salt marshes, bogs, and swamps)
What are the three broad types of wetlands?
marine wetland (the intertidal region), an estuarine wetland (which is where salt and freshwater mix at the mouths of rivers), and freshwater wetlands
What percentage of wetlands in the continental U.S. do freshwater wetlands make up?
91%
Examples of freshwater wetlands
bogs, marshes, swamps, and peatlands
How do freshwater wetlands differ from open waters (like lakes, ponds, and rivers)?
by having water near or at the surface for most of the year; rarely more than 2 meters deep
What is biological diversity?
the diversity of all genes, species, and habitats on Earth
What is the result of genetic diversity?
the great amount of species on Earth
What are genes?
the chemical building blocks that give individual organisms the ability to develop
How many different genes are humans approximated to have?
30,000
True or False: With as many genes as we have, it’s possible to have a virtually infinite amount of unique individuals
True
True or False: Nobody has individual genetics
False
When did plants appear on the planet?
600 million years ago
When did reptiles appear on the planet?
300 million years ago
When did fish appear on the planet?
420 million years ago
When did birds appear on the planet?
65 million years ago
When did mammals appear on the planet?
178 million years ago
When did primates appear on the planet?
55 million years ago
When did amphibians appear on the planet?
400 million years ago
When did prokaryotes appear on the planet?
3.8 billion years ago
When did eukaryotes appear on the planet?
2 billion years ago
What does biodiversity also include?
the different ways that groups of species are organized together on the planet and different combinations of living and nonliving components in varied environmental systems of inputs, outputs, and feedbacks
True or False: Modern people actually eat very few species
True
What are the few plant species that humans consume?
corn, wheat and rice
What are the two ways value is characterized?
Instrumental value and intrinsic value
What is instrumental value?
goods, services, or information that provides benefits to people
What is intrinsic value?
objects, living or nonliving, that have worth in and of themselves, independent of any benefit they provide to humans
Instrumental value provides benefits to human society, what does intrinsic value do?
intrinsic value should be the drive for its protection
The growth curve of endangered whooping crane species can be define as…
Non logistic
What does MSY stand for?
maximum sustainable yield (MSY)
What is MSY?
The maximum harvest of individuals that will allow the population to not go extinct—and still produce the maximum amount of economic profit from year to year.
What does a sustainable harvest during a fishing season consists of?
Biomass of new adults + biomass of adults remaining alive = loss of biomass from natural mortality + loss of biomass from previous harvest
What did M. Graham developed?
In 1935 the fishery biologist M. Graham used data from the catch of fish by trawlers in the North Atlantic fishery to develop a logistic growth model for setting fishing limits.
At what fraction should the fishing quota be set to maintain the maximum yield?
To maintain the maximum yield, the fishing quota should be set at half of the population’s carrying capacity.
What system came to disrupt the Peruvian coast in 1972?
El Niño system
What was the effect of El Niño system on the Peruvian water?
It moved warm tropical waters into the Peruvian coast, which provided the ideal conditions (cool and nutrient-rich water) for the anchovies.
How did the fishery proceed after El Nino system in 1972 and what where the consequences of this?
Despite these environmental changes, the fishery continued to harvest anchovies at the MSY even though that level did not account for the unexpected changes. Because of this change in environmental conditions, the number of young anchovies aging into the fishery fell drastically, resulting in the sudden ecological and economic collapse of the fishery.
What type of crop if the Thripis imaginis a major pest for?
Thrips imaginis is a major pest of the apple crop.
What factor of the Thripis’ population did James Davidson and Herbert Andrewartha examined during the 1930s and 1940s?
During the 1930s and 1940s, James Davidson and Herbert Andrewartha studied the factors that regulated Thrips’ population size.
What did James Davidson and Herbert Andrewartha concluded after they’re research?
They found that the most important factor was the decline in the apple crop populations that served as the insect’s food source during dry periods of the summer (which is density-independent). The decline in food sources was due to climatic factors—the heat and lack of rain during the summer.
Why do cougars are now primary found in remote mountain ranges of the Southwest and California?
Cougars once lived throughout North America, but because of habitat destruction and fragmentation and overhunting, these large cats are now found primarily in remote mountain ranges of the Southwest and California.
Why do groups of cougars that live in separate mountains no longer considered a separate population?
In the past, each group of cougars living in a separate mountain range would have been considered a separate population. However, recent research shows that individuals travel from one mountain range to another to such an extent that there is no evidence of the genetic variation that normally distinguishes different populations within a species.
Define metapopulation.
A population subdivided into several geographic groups that remain
genetically and ecologically connected through the dispersal of individuals among groups.
What are the factors that can cause extinction?
The factors that can cause extinctions are both deterministic (predictable) and stochastic (random and unpredictable).
What are deterministic factors?
Most of the density-dependent factors are deterministic. If food, for example, is limited by a known amount, the carrying capacity will change by a knowable degree.
What are stochastic factors?
Density-independent factors are stochastic. We cannot predict forest fires or storms, and we certainly cannot predict what their effect on populations will be.
What are the three ways species interact with each other?
Species interact with each other in three general ways: interspecific competition, predation, and mutualism.
What two species did Georgy Gause studied in 1934?
P. caudatum and P. aurelia
What was Georgy Gause conlusion on his 1934 study of P. caudatum and P. aurelia?
Gause’s observations led to the conclusion that two species cannot coexist on the same limiting resource, whether it is food, oxygen, space, or any other parameter.
Define the principle “competitive exclusion.”
When the food source, or any other resource, limits the growth and reproduction of the species, it cannot be shared: one species will succeed, and the other will go extinct.
What is the effect of genetic variation loss?
Over the long term, the loss of genetic variation may prevent adaptations to changing conditions from arising within the population.
True or false/ Small populations are more likely to go extinct.
True
True or False. Populations in nature are 100 percent accurate with the logistics model.
Many populations in nature violate one or all assumptions the logistic model follows to be accurate, so the logistic model, at best, only approximates their present and future growth.
