unit 4 part 2 Flashcards
where does the diversity in biodiversity come from
natural selection and adaptations and meiosis in sexually reproducing organisms
what are the 3 levels of diversity
- ecosystem diversity: different groups of biotic and abiotic factors-diff adaptations
- species diversity within ecosystem
- genetic diversity within species
what kind of correlation is there between diversity and an organisms ability to survive
positive
what are mass extinctions caused by
climate change
what follows a mass extinction
exponential increase
what does anthropogenic mean
climate change caused by humans
why is the climate change rate faster now
the climate change isn’t natural
5 main causes of mass extinction
- overharvesting
2.habitat destruction
3.invasive species - pollution
- climate change
over harvesting definition
taking things from earth and not giving it back-imbalances the nutrient cycles
4 extinctions caused by humans
1.giant moa-hunted by Maori-overharvesting
2.Caribbean monk seal-hunted by europeans-overharvested
3. atitlan grebe-bass was brought to guatamala and killed them off
4. mount glorious torren frog-forest habitat cut down
2 examples of ecosystem loss
dipterocarp forest of southeast asia
-family of trees cut down to be replaced with palm trees for palm oil
Aral sea of central asia
-completely dammed up so rivers don’t meet anymore
-shrunk insize so salinity increased and organisms cant survive anymore
- no native organisms left
what does biodiversity crisis refer to
the rate of mass extinction happening
what do groups like IPBES do
group of scientist that work together from around the world to collect evidence of biodiversity crisis
from help of from citizen scientists
evidence of biodiversity crisis
population size comparisons
different species in community
area they live
diversity within species
Simpsons index formula
(N(N-1))/(sum of n(n-1)
what does Simpsons index show
compares different communities diversity
-higher index, more riversity
-measures number of species and the size of species
what are the 2 major categories of methods to conserving biodiversity
Insitu methods and Ex situ methods
what are in situ methods
the organism is left in natural habitat to protect it
-peaching laws
reserves, parks
-rewilding
advanatages and disadvantages to in situ
advantages: organism is well adapted, cheaper, some control
disadvantage: hard to patrol-can make it expensive, habitat could be the reason for endangerment
what are ex situ methods
take organism away from natural habitat and usually putting in zoo
-supposed to protect and encourage repopulation
advantages and disadvantages to ex situ
advantage: more control over health and safety, encourages people to care
disadvantage: some zoos don’t properly care for animals, cost
what is germplasm
isolate reproductive cells from organisms in hope to produce organisms
what is the edge of existence program
working to protect endangered organism
what are some difficulties in deciding if organism is endangered
-population
-how many did there used to be
-what number determines if they’re endangered
-cause
-solution
what is EDGE
evolutionary distinct and globally endangered
-evolutionary distinct: unique niche
why are ecosystems normally stable
organisms are able to evolve
-disturbances threaten stability
examples of natural disturbances
fires, earthquakes,hurricanes
stable ecosystems can withstand these
resistance definition
ecosystem doesn’t change when disturbance happens
resilience def
ecosystems ability to bounce back or recover
3 examples of ecosystems that are old because of their stability
- Daintree rainforest
-100s of millions of years - Borneo rainforest
-indonesia
-more unstable now than ever - Namib desert
-not as much biodiversity as the others
-stable against climate change because it’s already an extreme environment
5 key conditions for stability
- energy
-from sun,consumed by producers, released as eat
-constant flow - nutrients
-cycle between abiotic and biotic
-decomposers make unusable nutrients usable - genetic diversity
4.species diversity - climate range
-must be stable
-need specific temp
what does tipping point refer to
past the point of no return
why has the Amazon became unstable
its lost a lot of trees from overlogging
-creates habitat loss and reduces transpiration
transpiration meaning
water evaporating off trees
what does a decrease in transpiration cause
there is less water in air so there is a decrease in cloud formation which leads to less rain which leads to less plants which leads to less transpiration
-positive feedback
-hard to stop
what is a keystone species
an organism that has more effect on the community than other species-keeps ecosystems balanced with high stable biodiversity
keystone species example
sea otters
they eat urchin which eat kelp
without sea otters, the urchin population would grow and the kelp would die out
what are the 3 things that contribute to Earth’s sustainability
nutrient availability-balanced fluxes
detoxification of waste
energy flow
way of testing sustainability
mesocosms
what is human sustainability
our way of life continuing
why are fossil fuels not sustainable
they are used fast and replaced slowly
2 examples of things sustained by humans
Brazil nuts
-large, take time to form
-when harvested, we leave a certain amount, usually small in size
-sometimes large are left so they drop and make new trees
cod
-used to be overfished for food
-protected breeding grounds,nets used must have big holes to let young ones out,monitoring population
unsustainable farming practices
- soil erosion-same crop planted year after year so soil has to be tilled to bring up nutrients
- nutrient leeching-soil loses nutrients so a overuse of fertilizer happens-causes algae blooms-crop rotation needed
- pesticide overuse- as they move up food chain they become harmful-biomagnifies
- fossil fuels use-causes pollution from co2
eutrophication meaning
when there is an overabundance of artificial nutrients in the water
-comes from overuse of fertilizer run off into water
why is fertilizer good for plants
its made of nitrated and phosphates which plants ues to make nucleotides and amino acids
what is an algal bloom
they use nutrients more than other organisms and exponentially increase on water
-block sunlight
-less oxygen since plants are killed
-saprotrophs move in and use up oxygen
-biochemical oxygen demand is higher than supply
what is bioaccumulation
the buildoff of a chemical within one organism- usually because organism cant process chemical
-usually fat soluble chemicals which causes accumulation
what is biomagnification
concentration of toxin increases up food chain
-larger organisms eat lower organisms and intake a lot of toxinsto get enough energy
2 biomagnification examples
- DDT-pesticide only hurts insects at low levels
-got into water
-made eagle eggshells thin and fragile
-its used for mosqitos in other places - Mercury:used in manufacturing, good at cleaning metals and absorbing toxins
-harmful in high levels like dolphins
-causes birth defects
why do plastics pollute earth
it is non biodegradable so even if it kills an organism it can still do more damage
macroplastic examples
bottles, straws, string
-we try to recycle these
microplastics
what macroplastics break down into
they get inside living things and biomagnify
gyre meaning
area of ocean with higher amount of plastic
-patches
plastic consequences
organisms eat plastic, get caught in it, eat organisms with plastic in it, plastic can absorbs toxins
what is rewilding
human intervention to get ecosystem back to what it was
methods of rewilding
distributing seeds
-bring back keystone species ex wolves in yellowstone
-reestablish broken piece-bridges or tunnels for animals
-controlling invasive species
rewilding example
Hinewai reserve-in New Zealand, used to be farm, introduced species, it has recovered
greenhouse gas definition
any chemical in atmosphere that traps heat
main greenhouse gas examples
CO2
-most abundant
-release by cell respiration(keeps cycle balanced) and combustion(makes lots)
methane CH4
-better at trapping heat, but there less
-archaebacteria called methanogens produce it
-oxidizes into co2
where is methane found
extreme environments
guts of cows, anaerobic areas
released by cows and sheep
released when swampy areas are destroyed
short waves of radiation
gamma,UV, violet and blue colors
long waves of radiation
infrared, radio, red and orange colors
which wavelenth is readily accepted and absorbed by earth
short waves
which wavelength is mainly bounced off
long wave
what does it mean for a wave to be reradiated
layer of greenhouse gasses absorbs long wave and sends it back
what are the 2 factors to the greenhouse layer getting thicker
ability of gas to absorb and reradiate
concentration of gas
what did the industrial revolution cause
led us to burn more fossil fuels and put more CO2 in environment
evidence of average global temperature increasing
ice in antarctica
the ice traps air and we analyze bubbles from years ago to help us find CO2 and temperature levels
highest CO2 level was 300ppm, now its 400ppm
what does positive feedback mean
more of something=more of that same thing
or vice versa
negative feedback meaning
more of something=less of same thing
fluctuates
how is heat a positive feedback with snow and ice
snow and ice usually reflect light-have high albedo
as temperature increases, there is less ice, which means less reflection, which means more heat absorbed, which leads to a higher temperature and less ice
what is permafrost
permanently frozen soil
-full of dead stuff-detritus- since there’s low decomposition rates in cold places
-anaerobic
-lots of methane
-carbon sink
permafrost positive feedback w heat
heat goes up, soil melts, methanes released, heat is trapped, earth is warmed
positive feedback with gases solubility
the gases are soluble and can dissolve in ocean which means less in atmosphere
when temperature increases, gases become less soluble, which means they are less dissolved, which means more in atmosphere, which means increased temperature
positive feedback with fires
higher temp, more fires, more CO2, higher temp
what leads to a tipping point
positive feedback
why does positive feedback mainly affect cold places
they have slow decomposition rates which are sped up
are carbon sink but the concern is them becoming sources
what is landfast ice
ice fastened to the land
-habitat for many organisms
-is melting
2 examples of organisms affected by melting of landfast ice
- emperor penguins
-live on landfast ice in antarctica
-the ice is closer to their food
-when it melts the food is farther which takes more energy to get to meaning they need more food - walruses
-rely on ice to rest
-the ice melting means they have less rest, more separation from their young, more energy taken
what is upwelling
colder water comes up and cools off warmer water at top- stable temp- negative feedback
-brings up detritus, allowing decomposers to live at top and increase biodiversity and nutrients
what happens when the water is too warm in upwelling
current decreases
-less decomposers, less life
-positive feedback
what does poleward range shift mean
as temperature increases, range shifts towards poles
what does upslope range shifts mean
range shifts in altitude-can cause competitive exclusion
ex: organisms that fly, some plants
what makes up 50% of the oceans biodiversity
coral reefs
where do coral get their carbonate ions
the water around them
what happens to carbonate when there is more CO2
the CO3 ions dissolve
-worse carbonate building ability
-existing coral reefs dissolve
how does CO2 affect water’s pH
the pH decreases
coral is sensitive
when its too warm, coral rejects algae-causes coral bleaching
what is carbon sequestration
taking carbon from environment and keeping it out of atmosphere
examples of natural sequestration
photosynthesis
unburned fossil fuels
building of coral reefs
when is human intervention required
only in extreme situations
percentage change formula
(F-I)/I
x100%
