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RENR 8106 Wetlands Midterm > Terrestial Final > Flashcards

Terrestial Final Flashcards

1
Q

What is an ecosystem

A

A community made up of living organisms and nonliving components such as air, water, and mineral soils
Defined by the following:
Structure: species composition
function: water and carbon capture
processes: primary productivity and nutrient cycling

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2
Q

What is the PNW

A

is a geographic region in western North America
bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west
and (loosely) by the Cascade Mountain Range
on the east. ”

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3
Q

What are the PNW dry ecosystems?

A

Bunchgrass prairies, oak savannahs and woodlands, shrub steppe, and interior forests

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4
Q

What is ecological restoration

A

The process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged or destroyed

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5
Q

What is restoration ecology

A

The science that provides the concepts, models and methodologies that guide ER

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6
Q

What is ecosystem degradation (what kind of change)

A

gradual , subtle and slow-acting changes that compromise ecosystem integrity

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7
Q

What is ecosystem damage

A

More acute and obvious ecosystem changes

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8
Q

What is ecosystem destruction

A

Nearly complete removal or loss of major ecosystem elements

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9
Q

What is ecosystem transformation

A

An ecossytem that has been completely and deliberately converted to different land use

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10
Q

Why restore an ecosystem?

A 
Mitigation 
Compensation 
Economic gain 
Safety 
Legal requirement 
Moral ethics
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11
Q

What is a reference ecosystem?

A

Curent approach for setting restoration goals is to use reference conditions

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12
Q

What is soil

A

Soils are the interference of air, minerals, water and life
Defined as naturally occurring, unconsolidated, mineral or organic material at the earth’s surface, that is capable of supporting plant growth

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13
Q

Components of soil

A

Air
Water
Mineral matter
Organic matter and biomass

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14
Q

Soil horizons (top to bottom)

A 
O (organic, LFH-litter, fermented, humic)
A (Topsoil)
B (Subsoil)
C (Substratum)
R (Bedrock)
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15
Q

Soil textures and classes

A

clay , silts and sands

Soil texture relates to the size distribution of particles

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16
Q

Soil minerals

A

Primary: prominent in sand and silt fractions
Secondary: minerals dominate the clay and sometimes silt fractions

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17
Q

What are soil aggregates

A

Granular aggregation of surface soils
Smaller aggregates are more stable than larger aggregates
Biological and abiotic processes involved in aggregate formation

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18
Q

What are macroaggregates

A

Roots and hyphae

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19
Q

What is bulk density

A

Weight of solids/volume of soil (solids + pores)= Mg/m3

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20
Q

Why do we care about pore size

A
  • macropores: allow water and air flow, roots;

* micropores: slow water movement, not available to plants

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21
Q

What are microaggregates

A

Root hairs, hyphae and polysaccharides

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22
Q

What is soil water and why do we care

A

Held within soil pores
AKA soil solution
Soil solids and organics constitute colloidal particles
Organic matter increases available water holding capacity in soil

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23
Q

What are soil colloids

A

Cations (remember, cats have paws (+)) are held by electrostatic attraction to the colloids negatively charged (e.g. clay)
Cation exchange happens when cations break away from the “swarm” and move out to the soil solution

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24
Q

Why do we care about Cation Exchange

A

Fundamental to nutrient cycling

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25
Q

What factors influence soil formation

A 
S=f(ClORPT)
Cl=climate 
O=organisms
R=relief
P=Parent material 
T=Time
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26
Q

Why is soil compaction bad

A

Crushes macropores into
smaller micropores
increasing bulk density

Decreases total pore space
thus less water is retained

Reduction in macropore
size and numbers generally
means less air pore space.

The creation of more very
fine micropores decrease
the available water
content.

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27
Q

What do you use to measure soil compaction

A

Penetrometer

any device that is forced into the soil to measure resistance to vertical penetration

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28
Q

Why measure conductivity of soil

A

Gives an indirect measurement of the salt content

Pure water is a poor conductor of electricity due to a lack of salt content

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29
Q

What is anthropogenic soils

A

Have had one or more of their natural horizons removed, replaced or modified by human activities

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30
Q

What are disturbed layers called

A

Designated as D layers, anthropogenic in origin, physical manipulation of structure or addition and incorporation of natural or human-made materials

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31
Q

What is a bunch grass praire

A

Dominated by perennial grasses and forbs with little of no woody vegetation
Maintained by low frequency fires

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32
Q

What is a savannah

A

Community of scattered trees, with the understory dominated by grasses and forbs

33
Q

What is a woodland

A

Community of scattered trees, with the understory dominated by shrubs

34
Q

What are oak associated plant communities

A

Shrub steppe: limited precipitation limits tree growth and development
Chaparral: community dominated by thickets and dwarf evergreen oaks
Oak woodland: understroy dominated by shrubs, canopy comprised of several oak species

35
Q

First nations and managing prairies

A

High frequency and low intensity fires:
Keep trees from establishing
Reduce grass thatch and moss lichen cover
Create suitable microsites

36
Q

How are bunchgrass prairies and oak woodlands and savannahs linked

A

bunchgrass are early seral stage of savannah, wooland and mixed conifer.

if successfion progressed, prairies would develop into oak savannahs, oak woodlands, and eventually douglas fir climax forest

37
Q

Urban threats to bunchgrass prairies

A

Since they are low-lying and coastal, many areas are being turned into cities and towns

38
Q

Hierarchical framework

A 
Regional processes:
Species pool 
Dispersal barriers
Colonization order
Geography and climate

Envrionmental conditions:
Abiotic interactions
Disturbance
Habitat heterogeneity

Biotic interactions:
Competition
Trophic interactions
Mutalism

39
Q

What are the regional processes to H framework

A

Species pool
The composition and abundance of species in a local community is largely a function of the species diversity in the regional species pool

Dispersal barriers
Distance from reference site and the size of the recipient site for transplants

Colonization order
th e order in which species are added or lost impacts the community compostion
Geography and climate

Alterations due to climate change are important considerations

40
Q

What are the environmental conditions to H framework

A

Abiotic interactions
Sunlight, temperature, water availability and movement, soil texture and nutrient content

Disturbance
I.e fire very important to prairie ecoystem processes

Habitat heterogeneity

41
Q

What are the biotic interactions to H. framework

A

Trophic interactions
Insects and herpetofauna will likely require a transplant
Often indicator species of ecosystem health
Birds benefit from restoring prarie vegetation structure

competition

mutalism

42
Q

Role of wildfire in oak habitats

A

.

43
Q

Threats to oak woodlands

A

Fire suppression
Invasive species
Overgrazing

44
Q

Restoration of oak woodlnds and praries

A

Reduce fuel loading: conventional thinning and underburning
Restore ecological conditions
Thinning can be used e to restore former prairies

45
Q

Why is restoring prairies ecosystems difficult

A

lack of reference ecosystem
invasive species
realistic plans
long term effective restoration strategy

46
Q

Native species advantages

A

Better for local climate
Not likely to become a weed
Less long term management
Maintains local biodiversity

47
Q

Native species disadvantages

A

Slow to germinate
Difficult to source
Expensive and inconsisitent suppliers

48
Q

Non native advantages

A

Easy to establish
Unifrom germination
Disease resitant
High productivity

49
Q

Non native disadvantages

A

Form monocultures
Can become invasive
Will require more intial maintenance

50
Q

Plant species selection based on..

A

end land use, site characteristics, reclamation or restoration requirements, cost, availability, timing etc

51
Q

native species providence

A

The ability for a species to adapt in regards to a geographical area
Important to restoration

52
Q

ecovar

A

Plant variety developed from a collection, possess a high genetic diversity

53
Q

cultivar

A

Plant variety developed from plant slection or genetic manipulation to exhibit certain characteristics

54
Q

broadcast seeding

A

Drop seed by hand or with pulled equipment, less direct seed contact but better randomized dispersal

55
Q

drill seeding

A

Requires a pre drilled hole for placement, results in row planting but ensures better soil seed contact

56
Q

cover crops

A

Mixed plantings of annuals and perenials, provide shelter and shade, retain surface water (prevent infiltration) and compete with weeds

57
Q

sculpted seeding

A

Match species based on preferred site conditions

58
Q

transplanting

A

Movement of whole plants or parts of plants to a new location
Best for species with poor growth rates, woody species

59
Q

scalping

A

Physically remove plants with tools

60
Q

container stock

A

<1 year old stock from a nursery

61
Q

When to do bare root transplanting

A

For shrubs, trees and forbs without leaves, less expensive

62
Q

sod pros and cons

A

Expensive and slow, best for erosion control

63
Q

What is wilding

A

Moving native plant species from one area to another

64
Q

common density and spacing for trees shrubs and forbs

A

Trees: 3m
Shrubs and ferns: 0.5-1m
Forbs: 0.5 m

65
Q

What is an old growth

A

> 250 years old
High structural complexity
High vertical foliage diversity
Definitions based on age are irrelevant

66
Q

Ecology def of old growth

A

180-220 years old with moderate to high, multi-layered and multi-
species canopy closure due to large overstory trees; numerous large
snags; accumulation of CWD and large logs on the ground.

67
Q

Threats to old growth

A

Land conversion
Timber harvest
80% of old growth has been logged
Managing younger stands will not replace old growth

68
Q

Old growth ecological functions

A

Carbon sequestration, cooling, water cleaning, nutrient cycling

69
Q

How much of old growth is left

A

10%

70
Q

How are young managed stands different to old growth

A

Structurally & compositionally different from OG
and hence do not provide the same functions
• Managing to maximize timber productivity leads
to simple structure, high tree density, simple
composition (e.g., Douglas-fir monoculture)
• Road networks and skid trails disrupt drainage;
roads can also lead to sedimentation,
vulnerability to invasive weeds and enhance
access for predators hence affecting migration,
movement, animal populations, etc

71
Q

How to restore old growth

A

Best approach is to recreate the structure and function of OG

thinning, create snags

72
Q

Features of old growth

A

Diverse range of sizes
Variation in CWD
Variation in shade tolerant conifers

73
Q

What is silviculture

A

What is Silviculture?
The art and science of controlling the establishment, growth, composition, and quality of forest vegetation for a range of forest resource objectives.
• NOT just managing stands and forests purely
for timber.
• Also used to manage forests for wildlife, water,
recreation, aesthetics, or any combination of
these or other forest uses.

74
Q

What are ponderosa pine forests

A

Dry ecosystem, super open, limited shrubs
fire is a part of this ecosystem
Dry, Low elevation forests

75
Q

Threat of climate change to p.p forests

A

More frequent fires
Higher intensity
Bad news bears.

76
Q

How to restore p.p. forests

A

use nature as template, use h. framework

thin douglas fir, promote natural forest successsion, fire, thinning

77
Q

What are some aspects you would consider before planning restoration of a dry ecosystem in the PNW

A 
Historic ecosystem
Access
Fire frequency
Can you use fire?
Risks of using fire as a tool
Are there propagules/seeds? Do we need to reveg? Nearby Sources?
Are there invasives on site?
78
Q

What are some restoration tools/ techniques you may want to use for interior forests?

A

Prescribed Burns
Thinning
Leave it alone?
Fine fuel management

RENR 8106 Wetlands Midterm (5 decks)

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