Unit 1 Flashcards
Where are Old Growth Forests located in the US?
Alaska, California, and Oregon
What factors define terrestrial biomes?
Temperature: Average annual temperature and seasonal temperature fluctuations.
Precipitation: Amount of rainfall throughout the year.
Sunlight exposure: Intensity and duration of sunlight received.
Soil type: Composition and nutrient content of the soil
latitude:
Altitude
Soil:
Nutrients:
What factors define aquatic biomes?
Water depth: Distance from the water surface
Salinity: Concentration of dissolved salts in the water
Light penetration: How far sunlight reaches into the water column
Water temperature: Average temperature of the water body
Dissolved oxygen levels: Amount of oxygen available in the water
What factors influence NPP
In addition to solar radiation, the main abiotic factors that affect rates of photosynthesis and NPP are water, temperature, carbon dioxide concentration, sunlight, and nutrients.
Which biomes have short growing season? why?
The Taiga has the shortest growing season due to its harsh climatic conditions, which include long, cold, dry winters and short, moist, and moderately warm summers.
Why are Grasslands so productive?
Grasslands are considered productive ecosystems primarily because of their deep, fertile soils, moderate rainfall that supports consistent grass growth, and the ability of grasses to rapidly regrow after grazing
What is a Climatogram?
A climatogram, also called a climograph, is a graphical representation of a location’s climate, displaying the average monthly temperature as a line graph and the average monthly precipitation as bar graphs
How do abiotic factors influence biotic factors
Abiotic factors, like temperature, water availability, sunlight, and soil composition, directly influence biotic factors (living organisms) by determining their distribution, growth, behavior, and overall survival within an ecosystem
What are the biogeochemical cycles
Water cycle, carbon cycle, phosphorus cycle, nitrogen cycle
How do Humans impact the hydrological (water) cycle?
Climate change caused by humans burning fossil fuels has led to increased temperature, leading to increased evaporation
How do Humans impact the carbon cycle?
The process of burning fossil fuels releases stored carbon back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide
How do Humans impact the phosphorus cycle?
Mining has caused the amount of phosphate being released has increased.
Run off from fertilizing being used in farms get into water streams, leading to excessive algae growth and nutrient pollution for aquatic animals
How do Humans impact the nitrogen cycle?
Haber Process: Large scale, artificial method to convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia that can be used by plants as nutrients
What can use both nitrate and ammonium?
Plants, plants prefer nitrate, however, they will use ammonium
What is the NPP equation?
NPP=GPP - respiration
What is the difference between NPP and GPP is open ocean biome?
The open ocean is the least productive biome. Total GPP = the biggest, however, per unit GPP = lowest
GPP: Represents the total organic matter produced by photosynthesis.
NPP: Represents the organic matter left over after subtracting the energy used by the primary producers for their own respiration.
What are the different species interactions?
Competition, predation, mutualism, parasitism, commensalism
What is competition?
a relationship between organisms that strive for the same resources in the same place.
What is predation?
A relationship between two species of animal in a community, in which one (the predator) hunts, kills, and eats the other (the prey)
What is mutualism?
A relationship between two living species in which both organisms benefit
What is parasitism
a relationship between the two living species in which one organism is benefited at the expense of the other
What is commensalism?
a symbiotic relationship between two organisms where one organism benefits from the interaction while the other is neither harmed nor benefited
What is the competitive exclusion principle?
Two species cannot use the same species at the same time. Resource partitioning allows different species to use the same resource without getting in each other way
What is the 10% rule?
10% of the energy from one level of the food web is lost when passing up to the next level.
EX) 1000 for primary producer, 100 for primary consumer
Why is agriculture of floodplains so successful?
Due to flooding which replenishes all the nutrients in the soil
How do you calculate % of two numbers
original - new / original X 100
What is the process of eutrophication?
Starts where there is a nutrient input, then we get an algae bloom, then the algae die, which leads to bacteria using all the dissolved oxygen that is breaking down all the algae, resulting in a condition of apoxia or dead zones
