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Environmental Systems and Societies IB > topic 2: ecosystems and ecology > Flashcards

topic 2: ecosystems and ecology Flashcards

1
Q

species

A
  • can reproduce to have fertile offspring
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2
Q

ecosystem

A
  • community of interdependent organisms and the physical environment they interact with
  • made up of biotic and abiotic components
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3
Q

biotic components

A 
- producers
plants that convert energy into matter
- consumers
animals that eat plants or other animals
- decomposers
organisms that breakdown waste into parts able to be reused
- interactions between living components
predation, herbivory, parasitism, mutualism, disease and competition
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4
Q

populations

A
  • species live together in groups called populations
  • births and immigration increase population size
  • deaths and emigration
    decrease population size
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5
Q

abiotic components

A
  • temperature
  • sunlight
  • pH
  • salinity
  • precipitation
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6
Q

habitat

A
  • natural environment around the organism
  • has the physical and biological resources an organism needs to survive
  • physical
    soil, moisture, temperature, sunlight
  • biological
    food, mate, predators
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7
Q

niche

A
  • smallest unit of a habitat

- how an organism fits into an ecosystem

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8
Q

fundamental niche

A
  • tolerance range for abiotic factors in their environment
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9
Q

realized niche

A
  • the niche the species actually occupies, usually due to competition of others
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10
Q

J-shaped growth curve

A
  • exponential population growth

- ideal conditions, plenty of resources and limited competition

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11
Q

predation

A
  • one predator hunts and kills the prey to gain energy for survival and reproduction
  • can be individual, group or plant
  • prey usually higher than predator numbers
  • populations peak out of sync
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12
Q

herbivory

A
  • consumption of plant material by an animal
  • plants can produce enzymes/ thorns to reduce herbivory
  • animals can adapt, strong tongues for thorns etc
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13
Q

parasitism

A
  • when a parasite takes nutrients from the host

- parasites can live inside or outside the host

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14
Q

mutualism

A
  • two organisms of different species exist in a mutually beneficial relationship
  • oxpecker eating ticks on herd of animals
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15
Q

disease

A
  • departure from normal state of functioning

- can impact the whole body or just parts

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16
Q

competition

A
  • organisms compete for a limited resource
  • intraspecific, same species
  • interspecific, different species
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17
Q

primary producers

A
  • convert inorganic compounds into food
  • base of the food chain
  • most make their food through photosynthesis
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18
Q

consumers

A
  • also known as heterotrophs
  • can’t make their own food, get it by consuming other organisms
  • herbivores, carnivores, omnivores
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19
Q

decomposers and detritivores

A
  • gain energy and nutrients from dead plant and animal material/waste
  • ie bacteria and fungi
  • metabolise waste and release as inorganic chemicals that can be recycled via plants
  • release nutrients locked up in organic matter and making them available again
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20
Q

S-shaped growth curve

A
  • when resources are limited
  • exponential growth only possible for a short period of time, resources depleted
  • growth rate slows and plateaus
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21
Q

photosynthesis

A
  • green plants take light energy and turn it into chemical energy

carbon dioxide + water = LIGHT = glucose and oxygen

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22
Q

respiration

A
  • photosynthesis is reversed in respiration
  • chemical energy transformed into kinetic, some lost as heat
  • at a cellular level

glucose + oxygen = OXIDATION = carbon dioxide + water + energy

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23
Q

trophic level

A
  • position an organism occupies in the food chain
24
Q

1st law thermodynamics

A
  • energy is neither created nor destroyed
25
Q

2nd law thermodynamics

A
  • as energy passes along the food chain entropy increased
26
Q

calculate food chain efficiency

A

output/input x 100 =

eg
solar energy = 21,000
primary producers = 3,330
3,330/21,000 x 100 = 15.9%

27
Q

ecological pyramids

A
  • organisms at each tropic level in order

- numbers, biomass, energy

28
Q

pyramid of numbers

A
  • shows number of organisms at each tropic level in the food chain
  • may not be pyramid shaped, ignores biomass and energy
  • 1 oak tree = 1 caterpillar
  • non destructive
  • good for comparing changes over time
  • ignores size
  • hard to represent numbers accurately
29
Q

pyramid of biomass

A
  • amount of biomass at each trophic level
  • biomass = total amount of living matter in a given area
  • measured as dry weight
  • overcome the problem of counting
  • destructive, unethical
  • whole body is measured, including parts not contributing energy, skeleton
  • extrapolated samples, inaccuracy
  • seasonal variation
  • animals different fat, higher fat higher energy
30
Q

pyramid of productivity

A
  • turnover of biomass at each trophic level
  • each bar represents amount of energy generated and available for food for next level
  • most accurate
  • ecosystems can be compared
  • solar input can be added
  • data collection is not easy, need to know rate of biomass production over time
  • difficult to assign trophic level to species, species can be multiple trophic levels
31
Q

length of food chains

A
  • terrestrial shorter than aquatic
  • aquatic start smaller organisms at the base
  • less biomass taken up with skeletons, more energy passed on
32
Q

bioaccumulation

A
  • increase in the concentration of a pollutant in an organism as it absorbs or it ingests it from its environment
33
Q

biomagnification

A
  • increase in the concentration of the pollutant as it moves up through the food chain
34
Q

case study

DDT released into an aquatic environment

A
  • persistent organic pollutant (POP)
  • stored in fat cells
  • fat soluble toxins can’t be eliminated through sweating or urine so they stay in the body for a long time
  • half life of 15 years, stays in the environment for a long time
  • results in bioaccumulation and biomagnification
  • sprayed on land to control mosquitoes, ends up in nearby bodies of water
  • primary producers absorb and accumulate DDT and other toxins
  • herbivores ingest and accumulate the DDT from their food source
  • up the food chain more and more DDT
35
Q

apex predators in trouble

A
  • apex predator most impacted
  • amount of biomass and energy decreases up the food chain, top predators have less available food
  • animal lower down food chain killed, knock on effect, impact top food chain
  • dangerous levels of toxins due to biomagnification
36
Q

solar radiation

A
  • also called insolation
37
Q

solar radiation to earth

most to least

A
  • absorbed at the surface
  • reflected by clouds
  • absorbed by atmosphere
  • reflected by atmosphere
  • reflected by earth
38
Q

reflectivity of a surface

A
  • albedo

- dark colors low, light colors high

39
Q

Biomass

A
  • mass of living organisms in a given area expressed as dry weight of mass per unit of area or g m–2.
40
Q

Productivity

A
  • conversion of energy into biomass in a given time expressed as J m-2 yr-1.
  • rate of growth of plants and animals in the ecosystem
  • how much output you get from your input
41
Q

Gross

A
  • total amount of products/money made

- total amount of biomass that is made

42
Q

Net

A
  • what is left over after losses

- ecosystem losses include respiration and fecal loss

43
Q

Primary

A

plants

44
Q

Secondary

A

animals

45
Q

net primary productivity

A

gross primary productivity - respiratory losses

46
Q

gross secondary productivity

A

food eaten - fecal loss

47
Q

net secondary productivity

A

gross secondary productivity - respiratory losses

48
Q

sustainable yield

A
  • if extracting biomass without reducing natural capital, then you are taking the net primary/secondary productivity of the system
49
Q

productivity over time

A
  • less productive in cold seasons
  • life stages, younger organisms grow more
  • introduction of disease or pests
  • damage to organisms from fire etc
50
Q

energy pathways

A
  • solar energy enters in the form of light
  • plants photosynthesize and turn light energy into biomass
  • biomass is a store of chemical energy and converts from one trophic level to the next
  • primary producer biomass converted into biomass of secondary producers
  • these transfers are inefficient, lost as heat
51
Q

energy __

A

flows

- moves steadily and continuously in one direction

52
Q

matter __

A

cycles

- repeats itself

53
Q

the carbon cycle stores

A
  • atmosphere
  • terrestrial plants and food
  • soil and organic matter
  • coal, oil, gas
  • rocks
  • deep ocean
54
Q

the carbon cycle flows

A
  • respiration
  • photosynthesis
  • decay
  • combustion
  • decomposition
55
Q

the nitrogen cycle stores

A
  • atmosphere
  • soil organic matter
  • ocean
  • terrestrial plant biomass
56
Q

the nitrogen cycle flows

A
  • nitrifying/denitrifying bacteria
  • nitrification
  • ammonification
  • assimilation
57
Q

the nitrogen cycle and human activity

A
  • fossil fuel combustion and forest fires increase nitrogen, contributes to acid rain and photochemical smog
  • draining wetlands for urban expansion, denitrification happens in wetlands, less nitrogen enters the atmosphere
  • use of inorganic fertilizers , takes nitrogen from the atmosphere supplementing natural fixation rates
  • application of inorganic fertilizers increases denitrification and leaching, eutrophication
  • farming, increased ammonia in soil animal waste, leach into nearby aquatic systems

Environmental Systems and Societies IB (8 decks)

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