Unit 1 Flashcards
Biotic
living
Abiotic
nonliving
Symbiosis
long term interaction between 2 species
- Mutualism
both benefit
- Parasitism
one benefits, one is harmed
- Commensalism
one benefits, one is unaffected
Competition
Individuals attempt to consume or use the same resources
Interspecific – between 2 different species
Intraspecific – between the same species
Resource Partitioning
Competition can involve using the same resource in different ways, including different places, or times.
Allows for more species to thrive.
Predator-prey relationship
Predator (carnivore), eats the other organism.
Biome
Area classified by species that live there
Biome distribution is based on several factors:
Precipitation
Average temperature
Geography
Latitude
Altitude
Nutrient availability
Soil
Climatogram/Climatograph
-Understanding climate, not weather
-Months of the year
-Precipitation
-Temperature
-Biomes are constantly changing due to climate change
-Historically, changes in earth’s tilt, atmospheric composition, volcanic activity, asteroid/comet hits changed climate
-Humans are not a major driver of climate change
*Example: Desertification – expansion of deserts or degradation of land that was once arable
Terrestrial Biome Types
Taiga
Temperate Rainforest
Taiga/coniferous or boreal forest
-Subarctic Forest
-Has permafrost any ground that remains completely frozen)
-Coniferous forests (evergreens)
-Poor soil nutrients
-Some birds, lots of migration
-Rodents are the main prey for owls, eagles, etc.
-deer
-Clearcutting is a threat (cut down and remove every tree from (an area))
-Cold
-low rainfall
Temperate Rainforest
Mid-latitude forest
Some pines & some broad-leafed evergreens
Some of the tallest trees in the world
Deep humus layer, more nutrient rich
Diverse animal wildlife: more unique to habitat
Cool climate, summers and winters are more mild
Deforestation & Climate Change are big threats
Temperate Seasonal Forests
Also Mid-latitude forest
Receive warm and cold air masses, meaning seasons
More nutrient filled soils, trees prepare for winter
Trees lose leaves in fall and winter for dormancy
Flowers and trees bloom again in spring/summer
Forest species are common, owls, hawks, deer, racoons, etc.
Clear Cutting and acid rain are threats due to industrialized areas nearby
Tropical Rainforest
Tropical conditions are optimal, abundant precipitation and warmth/light
Many layers of vegetation: Canopy, sub canopy, shrub layer, ground layer
Poor soil nutrients due to massive plant growth
Animals or plants die and nutrients are immediately taken up by rest of plants
Extremely biodiverse animal populations depending on country/location
Threats include:
Climate change
Farming/agriculture/clear cutting
Hydroelectric projects
Shrubland
Middle latitudes area
Get more rain than deserts, but not as much as forests
Shrubs, grasses, and aromatic herbs grow
Somewhat acidic soils, vary with geography
Rodents tend to burrow and live in colonies, draws raptors as predators, as well as wild dogs and leapards
Threatened by climate change, which can lead to prolonged drought
Temperate Grassland
Middle latitudes area
Mix of grasses and forbs
Most fertile soils
Perennial grasses, sunflower pea plants
Low in diversity, Bison were dominant herbivores historically, now pronghorn, also had many rodents
Overgrazing by cattle, agriculture, and urban development
Savanna
Typically areas that have wet and dry climate, so could be forests, but species shape the area like grasslands
Tends to have tall perennial grasses with some trees which identify type of savanna
Soils are somewhat low fertility due to bedrock type
Largest diversity of hoofed animals, many different grazing species
Also abundance of termites, which make very large termite mounds
Climate change, agriculture, overgrazing and irrigation practices are main threats
Deserts
Deserts cover almost 1/5 of the surface
Plants try to conserve water, so adapt spines to protect from animals
Soils are made of sand, gravel, stone, depending on bedrock
Animals have adapted to heat and lack of water through aestivation, large ears for cooling, burrowing, etc.
Some deserts have large amounts of rainfall that occurs once a year or two
Climate change threatens deserts that currently exist by reducing water even more than normal, and raising temperature beyond adaptions
Also, deserts spread due to poor agricultural practices
Tundra
Near Arctic (high) latitudes
Lichens, mosses, shrubs are common vegetation
No truesoil, permafrost below, and rocks serve as ground
Small mammals with thick layers of fur/fat, animals adapt to seasons by color change
Other animals like birds are migratory due to climate
Larger animals like polar bears roam tundra and arctic ice for food or due to the climate
Major threat is climate change due to melting ice and permafrost, but also air pollution can kill lichens and disrupt fragile food web/food chains
Aquatic Biome Types
Aquatic Biome distribution is based on 1 main factor:
Salinity: salt content
Other important factors include:
Depth: vertical location in the water
Turbidity: clarity of the water
Nutrients: N, P, K
temperature: also related to light and depth
Freshwater Biomes
Streams
Rivers
Ponds
Lakes
Marine Biomes
Marine Biomes hold algae which are responsible for a large chunk of O2 and for taking up CO2. These biomes are:
Oceans
Coral Reefs
Marshland
Estuaries
Marine biomes are abundant in non-mineral resources
These resources vary by
Salinity – salt content
Depth – vertical location in the water
Turbidity – clarity of the water
Nutrient availability – N, P, K
Temperature – also related to light and depth
Carbon Cycle
The Carbon Cycle Moves atoms between Sources and Sinks
Two main movements of biological carbon:
Photosynthesis
Respiration
(also Decomposition)
Deforestation can add to the Carbon cycle due to less of a biological reservoir for
Carbon
- Can be managed
Fossil Fuels add more Carbon that can’t be managed, which adds to climate change
Sink
area where carbon originates from
Reservoir
area where carbon can be stored for long or short periods of time
short Term (months to centuries)
Atmosphere
Oceans
Biosphere
Long Term (millions of years)
Rocks
Fossils
Fossil Fuels
Photosynthesis
This is the process of converting Carbon Dioxide and Water into a Sugar and Oxygen:
6CO2 + 6H2O → C6H12O6 + 6O2
Plants & Algae are primary photosynthesizers
-Algae responsible for 40-60% of photosynthesis globally
Respiration
This is the process of burning a Sugar molecule with Oxygen to form Carbon Dioxide and Water:
C6H12O6 + 6O2 → 6CO2 + 6H2O
Producers and Consumers tend to undergo respiration
This release can be used back in photosynthesis
Rate of energy burned by an organism to perform normal functions
Nitrogen Cycle
-Nitrogen is 78% of the atmosphere - N2
-Needed by all organisms, but N2 is not usable
-Complicated process to break the bonds
Nitrogen’s biggest storage spot is the atmosphere
Biological nitrogen doesn’t stay very long
Humans are adding more nitrogen due to fertilizers and fossil fuel use
Nitrogen fixation
removing nitrogen from the air and converting it to ammonia
Nitrification
converting ammonia in the soil to the nitrate ion
Denitrification
converting nitrates back to nitrogen gas
FIX NAAD-ANPAN
FIX (N fixation) 🡪 Ammonia
Nitrification 🡪 Nitrates/Nitrites
Assimilation 🡪 Proteins/DNA/AA
Ammonification 🡪 Ammonia
Denitrification 🡪 Nitrogen
Phosphorus Cycle
Like Nitrogen, phosphorus is a needed element for growth of plants and animals
The difficulty lies in that it lacks an atmospheric component
Commercially added through fertilizers
phosphorus tends to be a limiting factor in most ecosystems
Most prominently in aquatic systems
Hydrologic (water) cycle
-Earth’s surface is 71% covered in water
-The bulk of the water is ocean water
Movement of Water
-Water moves through the various physical phases due to the sun:
*Solid ice
*Liquid
*Gas
-Freshwater is stuck mostly in ice caps
Net primary productivity
the rate of energy available after respiration, typically calculated in a given area
NPP = GPP - R
Gross primary productivity
the rate of energy produced through photosynthesis
Light Absorption in Water
-Visible light is a small part of the Electromagnetic Spectrum
-380 nm to 740 nm are the colors of light.
-In the upper portion (1 meter) of layers of water, red light is absorbed, and blue light gets further down (100 meters).
-Photosynthesizes adapt to this in several ways
Biogeochemical cycle
Nutrients such as Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium flow through the trophic levels
Water Cycle moves these nutrients
Nitrogen and Phosphorous are necessary and can be limiting factors
Matter is cycled through and returned via decomposers
Trophic level
Producers
Primary consumers
secondary
tertiary
10% rule
Energy can’t be 100% efficiently transferred from one trophic level to the next
Energy can’t be created or destroyed
Energy moves towards entropy (heat loss)
Because of this, every trophic level loses around 90%
(loses one zero at every trophic level)
Food chain
A food chain shows the flow of energy from a primary producer up several trophic levels
Arrows indicate that energy is moving from prey to predator
Food web
several food chains in an interlocking pattern
Meant to show energy and nutrient movement
-Positive feedback loop
reaction causes more of the original reaction to occur
ex. climate change
-Negative feedback loop
the reaction causes a return to normal
ex. predator prey relations
