Trees & Forests Flashcards
What are the five reasons why trees are valued?
Habitat for living things Recreation Raw materials Life-supporting environment Protection
What are producers?
Plants are producers.
Name three types of consumers.
Omnivore
Herbivore
Carnivore
Name some decomposers.
Worms, mold, bacteria, mites, fungi, maggots, millipedes.
Why do herbivores have a detrimental effect on plants?
Herbivores only eat plants.
What is an ecosystem?
A community of biotic and abiotic components in relationship with each other and their environment.
How do trees impact conditions under the canopy?
- break wind
- less evaporation
- shade ground
- lower air temperature
- supply materials to decompose (therefore provide nutrients)
What are the levels of a forest?
- forest floor
- shrubbery layer, herb, underbrush
- understory
- upper canopy
If a tree loses all of its leaves due to tent caterpillars, what happens?
It will grow a second set, just smaller.
What is the definition of a food chain?
A sequence of organisms in an ecological community.
What is at the bottom of a food chain?
A primary producer.
What is at the top of a food chain?
A top predator.
What lives in the upper canopy?
- owls
- birds
- insects
- aphids
- tent caterpillars
How much precipitation is intercepted by the upper canopy of a forest?
Up to 35%.
What kinds of plants are in the understory?
Small trees and shrubs.
The understory provides shelter to what?
- birds, small animals
- insects
List some plants and animals found in the shrubbery layer.
- ferns
- wild flowers
- soft-stemmed plants
- seedlings
- butterflies, dragonflies
- mice, weasels, porcupines, rabbits, skunks
The forest floor can also be called:
A storehouse for growth.
List some plants and animals found on the forest floor.
- mushrooms, leaf litter, moss
- insects, toads, worms, bacteria, spiders, millipedes,mice
What do trees create habitats for?
- producers
- Consumers: omnivores, herbivores, carnivores
Name some raw materials we get from trees.
- wood chips
- mulch
- sap
- gum
- paint, turpentine
- medicine
- pulp
- lumber
What is the definition of fungi?
Organisms that have no roots, stems, or leaves. They also have no chlorophyll, so no photosynthesis.
NOT PLANTS
Where does fungus grow?
It grows on the remains of plants or animals, or as a parasite (on a living thing.)
How does fungus reproduce?
Spores. (Not seeds)
Name some fungi.
- molds
- rusts
- smuts
- mildew
- puffballs
- yeasts
- conks
What is a conk?
A fungus that lives on tree bark or rocks and looks like steps.
What kind of environment can conks tolerate?
High heat and low cold.
What do conks not like?
Smoke, flames, and pollution.
What are lichens?
They are a composite: a cross between fungus and algae, but considered a PLANT.
Fungus absorbs nutrients and H2O.
Algae produces food because it has chlorophyll.
Where do lichens grow?
On rocks and banks where fungi and algae don’t grow.
Mycorrhizal fungi has a _____________ relationship with trees.
Symbiotic.
What is the relationship between mycorrhizal fungi and trees?
When sugar is produces by the leaves, it goes to all parts of the tree, including the roots. The mycorrhizal fungi feeds on the sugar, and in turn, breaks down nitrogen so the tree can use it.
What is the chemical formula for photosynthesis?
CO2 + H2O = C6 H12 O6 + O2
Carbon dioxide + water = sugar + Oxygen
Uses chlorophyll in leaves
Transpiration is like the _______ of a tree.
Sweat.
One large tree cools the air just like _______ air conditioners.
Five.
One large tree transpires _____L of water.
45L
What do the roots of a tree do?
Anchor, absorb H2O and minerals
What does the trunk do for a tree?
Provides support.
What does the outer bark do?
It’s dead…but it protects the tree.
What are xylem?
Hollow cells that transport H2O and minerals upwards.
What does phloem do?
Moves sap down.
What does cambium do?
Makes new xylem every year.
What is the difference between heartwood and sapwood?
Heart wood is dead.
Sapwood surrounds heart wood.
