Unit 4 Lesson 4: Carrying Capacity Flashcards
biodiversity
the collection of different kinds of organisms living in a given area at a given time
acidification
The decrease in the Ph of the Earth’s oceans that is cuased by the incread of carbon dioxide in the atmopshere. This can affect marine life including the dissolving of protective shells
Climate change is making the oceans more acidic. This process is called
acidification
impact of acidification on coral
It is a change that most corals cannot tolerate. The microscopic algae living within the coral polyps leave or die, causing the coral to bleach (turn white).
Acidification isn’t the only condition negatively impacting reef systems, but it is a significant one. As you might have guessed, coral is a keystone species for a coral reef ecosystem. What is a keystone species and what happens when coral dies
a species on which the other species in an ecosystem largely depend, such that if the keystone species were removed the ecosystem would change drastically. When the coral itself dies off, the biodiversity of the reef system is often drastically reduced.
ecosystem
all the organisms in a given area along with the nonliving things with which they interact
Ecosystems are impacted by both biotic and abiotic factors, what does biotic mean
– any living or once-living things in an ecosystem
abiotic
elements in an ecosystem that have never been alive
In the coral reef, what kind of factor is acidification
In the coral reef, acidification is one abiotic factor.
Are the chemicals found in seawater, and the minerals in the seafloor itself abiotic or biotic
The chemicals found in seawater, and the minerals in the seafloor itself, are also abiotic
Are dead corals biotic or abiotic
A biotic example is the dead corals which form the base of the reef, they provide the ecosystem with calcium. Dead corals look very much like stone, and they provide a mineral resource in like some stones might. However, because they are the skeletons of once living things, they are biotic.
How can you tell what parts of the reef are biotic, and what parts are abiotic? Biotic components are those which are or have been alive, so to determine if something is biotic, you must first know how to define life. In biology, all life shares certain characteristics.
- Living things respond to their environment. That response can be as dramatic as a dog drooling for food, or as subtle as a plant’s leaves turning toward the sun.
- Living things are organized. A living thing, whether single- or multicellular, is a complicated, coordinated structure. For instance, cells possess certain organelles, and those organelles are found in the same areas of each cell.
- Living things grow and self-replicate.
- Living things are in homeostasis. That means that they maintain a stable internal state even when their environment changes.
- Living things have a metabolism. That is, living things can make their own energy from the sun or food.
homeostasis
living things maintain a stable internal state even when their environment changes
metabolism
The process that occur in an organim to sustain life sch as converting food to energy in order for all cell processes to take place
Are viruses biotic
Viruses, for instance, replicate inside a host. They respond to their environments. But viruses can’t maintain a stable state, they do not grow, and they can’t make their own energy. Viruses are abiotic. That doesn’t mean they don’t affect their environments!
Picture an ecosystem that is so plentiful in terms of resources that every individual in the local population can feed, grow, reproduce, and live happily ever after. Is this realistic?
Of course not, under those circumstances, the populations of different species in the ecosystem would continue to increase in size forever.
What is one way human activity can alter the carrying capacity of an ecosystem?
Human-caused climate change is causing the oceans to become more acidic. As such, very sensitive organisms, such as corals, are unable to tolerate living in their home waters. The reefs bleach out due to the loss of the algae living in the corals. The corals can no longer make food, so the entire reef dies. The ecosystem can no longer support the organisms living there.
Exponential growth vs linear growth
Exponential growth is different from linear growth because it happens as a constant ratio, while linear growth happens as a constant number. For instance, if a tree grows at a rate of one inch every month, it is experiencing linear growth. Its growth rate (one inch) is always the same over a given amount of time (one month). If the tree is instead growing to double its previous height every month, then its growth is exponential.
Exponential growth
Here, the initial population size increases exponentially (represented by the almost straight vertical line on the graph), meaning it grows in number significantly within a short period of time.
logistic growth
On the graph above, population growth begins by increasing exponentially, only to level off as it reaches carrying capacity. That pattern is known as logistic growth.
carrying capacity
the maximum number of individuals of a particular species that an ecosystem can support at a given time
What is an ecosystem’s carrying capacity?
The carrying capacity is the total number of individuals an ecosystem can support at one time due to environmental conditions.
What does it mean When a growth trend is exponential
Exponential growth is not simply growth that happens quickly. When a growth trend is exponential, that means the rate of change is proportional over time to the size of the population.
what causes a population to shift from an exponential growth pattern to a logistic one?
Exponential population growth occurs when resources are plentiful, and all individuals are able to survive and reproduce. Once the population size gets too large (or the environment changes somehow), population growth levels off. The ecosystem recalibrates, and the number of individuals remains fairly constant, until (and unless) there is another disruption.
Example of logistic growth
Imagine you have two rabbits. Now imagine that you leave them in their pen, with lots of food and water, and come back in a month. You discover you now have four rabbits. You refresh the food and water, then come back a month after that. Now there are sixteen rabbits. That pen is starting to get crowded.
When resources like food, space, and mates were plentiful, the rabbit population increased proportionally over time. For two months, your rabbit population has grown exponentially. Every month, the population squared itself. Two rabbits became four. Four rabbits became sixteen.
In the third month, though, the pen is crowded. The rabbits still have plenty of food and water, but space is no longer a plentiful resource. The ecosystem can no longer support exponential growth. It must recalibrate. At the end of the third month, your rabbit population is seventeen. At the end of the fourth, it is fifteen. In the sixth month, there are sixteen rabbits again. The rabbit population has reached carrying capacity. The growth pattern is now logistic.
What type of growth initially occurs in a population when resources are plentiful?
Exponential growth occurs when resources are plentiful.
Why does the curve of a graph of an ecosystem’s carrying capacity fluctuate and not appear as a straight line?
The fluctuation seen at the end of the carrying capacity graph is caused by slight changes in the environment. Natural systems are not static, meaning there are always small things that change. It might be a wetter than usual year, or some form of disease kills some of the prey species. The environment can still maintain the number of individuals overall, but it will change slightly over time.
Name a community that has organisms such as shrimp, algae, fish, and coral polyps.
A coral reef would have shrimp, algae, fish, and coral polyps.
Name one change in the marine ecosystem that is having a dramatic impact on its carrying capacity.
Global climate change is making the oceans warmer, which is causing many species to die or move to other locations. It is greatly reducing the carrying capacity of the oceans.
How does a population of beavers differ from a community of beavers?
A population of beavers would be all the individual beavers living in a given area at a given time. A community of beavers would include all the beavers, but also include the trees they chew, the insects and fish in the water in which they swim, and the deer and bears that come to the water source to drink and swim.
What is the relationship between resource availability and exponential growth?
When there are unlimited resources, populations grow quickly and may appear to double in size for each period of time. When resources are limited, populations are unable to grow as quickly, if at all.
Which factor do you suspect is contributing the most to the increase in Earth’s human population?
To increase the population size, the number of births must be greater than the number of deaths.
The human population of Earth will increase by what percentage from 2020 to 2050?
Earth’s population will be about 25% larger in 2050.
What impact would a population of 10 billion people have on the planet?
A population of 10 billion people will continue to put demands on resources such as food and land. That many people will need food. Food is grown on farms. As more people demand food, more farms will be needed. This will result in more pristine land being destroyed to plant crops.
Other than a “one-child” rule, how could a country like India reduce its population size? Provide two solutions.
Education is a powerful tool for a human population to change its behavior. High school and college curriculums can teach young people the effects of overpopulation on humans and societies, along with access to effective birth control supplies. The government could also provide free education and birth control supplies across the country, teaching people how managing their family’s growth can help them prosper.
