Unit 2 Sac 2 Flashcards
Individual organism change
Individual plants and animals constantly grow, develop, reproduce, die and decompose
Three levels of change
-Individual Organisms
-Community
-Large scale
Community Change
One type of community can succeed another type. Natural changes in plant communities are often referred to as ‘plant succession’ and result in climax vegetation. In most of
Victoria, climax vegetation is dominated by fire-adapted eucalypts
Large Scale Change
Climatic change and movement in the Earth’s crust can cause large-scale natural changes to occur. Some abiotic factors can result in sudden change (such as floods, cyclones,
earthquakes, landslides and tsunamis) but more often changes happen slowly, such as the
weathering of rocks and soils
Climax Vegetation
Vegetation that establishes itself in
an area over a long time in the absence of any major disturbances
Short term change
- Day to night
- Solar influences such as seasons
- Lunar Influences such as tidal flow
- Flood and drought
Long term change
- Migration
- Primary and secondary succession
- Climate change
Nocturnal
Animals and plants that are active at
night
Diurnal
Animals and plants that are active
during the day
Diorhythm
Cyclic pattern of changes in activity of
living organisms
Circadian Rhythms
A 24-hour cycle in the physiological
processes of living organisms
Intertidal Zone
Area of foreshore and seabed exposed to air at low tide and
submerged at high tide (i.e. the area
between low-tide and high-tide marks)
Impervious Surfaces
Areas that have been covered
by any material that impedes the
infiltration of water into the soil
El Nino
Extensive warming of the central and
eastern tropical Pacific, associated
with an increased probability of drier
conditions
Migration
A species that moves from one location to another in response
to changes in habitat
