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z Geog 111 > Week 9 - Biogeography > Flashcards

Week 9 - Biogeography Flashcards

1
Q

What is biogeography?

A

“Biogeography is the study of the past and present geographic distributions of plants and animals and other organisms.”

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2
Q

What is biogeography concerned with?

A

The distribution of species.

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3
Q

What are the three main branches of biogeography?

A

Ecological, historical, and conservation.

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4
Q

What is the difference between ecology and biogeography?

A

Ecology is concerned with the relationship of species and their environment whereas biogeography is concerned with species and their distribution over space.

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5
Q

What are communities?

A

A community is formed by the interactions among populations of living animals and plants at a particular time and place.

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6
Q

What are habitats?

A

Within a community, a habitat is the specific physical location of an organism, i.e. where it lives.

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7
Q

What is a niche?

A

A niche is the environmental conditions under which an organism can survive.

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8
Q

For plant growth, what is light a critical part of?

A

The energy transfer process.

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9
Q

Photoperiod and intensity vary by what?

A

Latitude and season–the angle of the sun is important here.

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10
Q

Why does light depend on an organism’s position in the structure of the community?

A

This will affect how much light its receiving, i.e. if you live underneath a canopy.

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11
Q

What is the formula for photosynthesis?

A

carbon dioxide + water + light => glucose + carbohydrate + oxygen

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12
Q

What is the dominant factor in the formation of plant communities?

A

Competition for light.

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13
Q

What is the most important system for humans?

A

Photosynthesis.

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14
Q

What is the opposite of photosynthesis?

A

Respiration.

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15
Q

What is the formula for respiration?

A

glucose + oxygen => carbon dioxide + water + energy

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16
Q

What happens during respiration?

A

Carbohydrates are broken down into carbon dioxide and water.

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17
Q

When does respiration occur?

A

At night.

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18
Q

What does the overall growth of a plant require?

A

An excess of carbohydrates beyond what is lost through respiration.

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19
Q

Draw a diagram explaining the relationship between photosynthesis, respiration, and growth.

A 
Photosynthesis: 
- In: light, carbon dioxide, water
- Out: oxygen
- gives sugars to plant growth
Respiration:
- In: oxygen
- Out: carbon dioxide, water
- gives energy to plant growth
The difference between the two is net photosynthesis.
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20
Q

What is net primary productivity?

A

The net photosynthesis for a given community; the amount of stored chemical energy that the community generates for the ecosystem.

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21
Q

How is net primary productivity measured?

A

By fixed carbon per square metre for year.

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22
Q

What is biomass?

A

Biomass is the net dry weight of organic material.

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23
Q

Biomass is an indirect form of what?

A

Solar energy.

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24
Q

What are some examples of biomass as stored solar energy?

A

Charcoal, biogas, or alcohol, which are used as fuels.

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25
Q

Which areas have high terrestrial NPP?

A

Forests, especially tropical, and estuaries.

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26
Q

Which areas have low terrestrial NPP?

A

Grasslands and agricultural lands.

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27
Q

Which areas of the world have high and low NPP?

A

The tropics are high, arid and polar regions low (no vegetation).

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28
Q

What happens to NPP in temperate and high latitude regions?

A

Rate at which carbon is fixed varies seasonally.

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29
Q

What are the NPP rates like in the tropics?

A

High all year round (low seasonality).

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30
Q

What does temperature trigger and control in plant growth?

A

The stages of plant growth.

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31
Q

What happens to plant growth with temperature extremes?

A

It limits growth at temperature extremes.

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32
Q

Why do air and soil temperatures determine the rate at which plant growth proceeds?

A

Most chemical reactions are going to be governed to a certain extent by temperature.

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33
Q

How do plants survive below freezing?

A

They require special adaptations.

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34
Q

How do cold-blooded animals regulate body temperature?

A

They moderate their temperatures through their environment, by seeking warm or cold places.

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35
Q

How do warm-blooded animals regulate body temperature?

A

Through internal adaptation.

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36
Q

Organisms are limited by what?

A

The availability of water.

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37
Q

What does water availability depend on?

A

Evaporation, precipitation, and soil conditions.

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38
Q

How can organisms affect water availability.

A

Through plant transpiration.

39
Q

What are xerophytes?

A

Organisms that are adapted to arid conditions, e.g. they reduce water loss with waxy leaves or no leaves at all.

40
Q

How are xeric animals adapted?

A

They are nocturnal or have adaptations to conserve water.

41
Q

What are the two most important variables that will determine the distribution of species?

A

Temperature and precipitation.

42
Q

What is a keystone species?

A

The species that holds everything else together in an ecosystem.

43
Q

What are stomata?

A

The pores on leaves; related to transpiration.

44
Q

Who developed the concept of life zones changing with altitude?

A

Alexander von Humboldt

45
Q

Whose textbook was based on von Humboldt’s work?

A

Mary Somerville’s

46
Q

What did von Humboldt recognized could be exchanged for one another?

A

Altitude and latitude

47
Q

Why does each life zone have its own biotic communities?

A

Because they have their own temperature, pp, and insolation.

48
Q

Which mountains begin in tropical rainforests and go up to ice?

A

The Andes

49
Q

How do we map species distribution?

A

With environmental or ecological niche models.

50
Q

What are three questions that we ask when mapping species distribution?

A
  • Where do species occur?
  • Can we predict whether a species exists somewhere, even if we have no direct evidence?
  • Can we predict the effects of climate change on that distribution?
51
Q

What is a limiting factor?

A

The fact that the environment may inhibit biotic operations.

52
Q

Limiting factors may be _____ or _____ in nature.

A

physical or chemical

53
Q

What are some examples of limiting factors?

A

Low temperature, lack of water, low phosphorus content of the soil

54
Q

What are three other abiotic factors?

A

Microclimate, slope and exposure, and magnetic field

55
Q

How do microclimates affect an ecosystem’s climate?

A

If you’ve got one foot in boiling water and the other in a block of ice, then on average you are quite comfortable.

56
Q

What do biogeochemical cycles do?

A

They enable the circulation of materials through ecosystems.

57
Q

What are the two kinds of biogeochemical cycles?

A

Gaseous and sedimentary

58
Q

What is an example of a sedimentary cycle?

A

Nitrogen going through the soil; the plants do not take nitrogen straight from the air, but must get it from the soil.

59
Q

What is the carbon cycle?

A

It is a gaseous cycle in which carbon is fixed through photosynthesis.

60
Q

How is carbon released into the atmosphere?

A

Through living organisms (respiration) and the burning of forests and grasslands.

61
Q

Why does burning fossil fuels cause global warming?

A

There are large carbon storage pools in carbonate sediments and fossil fuels which, when burned, release the carbon into the atmosphere, causing global warming.

62
Q

What is the oxygen cycle?

A

It’s a gaseous cycle in which atmospheric O2 is increased by photosynthesis.

63
Q

How is atmospheric oxygen decreased?

A

By respiration, combustion and mineral oxidation.

64
Q

What is the nitrogen cycle?

A

It’s a sedimentary cycle in which useful forms of bacteria or blue-green algae convert N2 found in the air to ammonia (NH3), which organisms are now able to use.

65
Q

What are denitrifying bacteria?

A

Bacteria that remove nitrogen.

66
Q

Which plants are nitrogen fixing bacteria associated with?

A

Clover, alfalfa, soybeans, peas, beans and ground nuts.

67
Q

What does trophic refer to?

A

The feeding and nutrition relationships in an ecosystem; what is eating what.

68
Q

What do trophic relationship represent?

A

The flow of energy and cycling of nutrients.

69
Q

What are organisms that feed on others called?

A

Heterotrophs

70
Q

What are organisms that are capable of dioxide as their sole source of carbon called?

A

Autotrophs

71
Q

Where does most nitrogen fixation now come from?

A

Human fertilizers

72
Q

What does harvesting mean for the nitrogen cycle?

A
  1. Nitrogen is lost and needs to be replaced with fertilizers.
  2. Fertilizers may run into streams and lakes causing dead zones.
73
Q

What kind of nitrogen is usually found in the atmosphere?

A

N2

74
Q

What does lightning do to nitrogen molecules?

A

The energy from the lightning splits them.

75
Q

What happens to nitrogen molecules after lightning splits them?

A

The nitrogen atoms react with oxygen to form nitrogen oxides which the rain washes into the ground, forming nitrates.

76
Q

Are heterotrophs herbivores, carnivores, or omnivores?

A

They can be all three.

77
Q

What is the flow of energy from producers through a system called?

A

The food chain.

78
Q

What is a food web?

A

Within ecosystems the feeding interrelationships are complex and arranged in a complex network of interconnected food chains called a food web.

79
Q

What is the difference between the food web and a food chain?

A

The food web is the way the world is; the food chain is just one component.

80
Q

What is the final link of a food web or food chain?

A

Decomposers.

81
Q

What do big carnivores need more energy?

A

Because of the 10% rule.

82
Q

What is the 10% rule?

A

When you consume, 90% is used for life support and 10% goes to growth, which means that as you go up the food chain, you need 10x the amount of food to get your 100% energy.

83
Q

What is environmental niche modelling?

A

The process of using computer algorithms to predict the distribution of species over a geographical space.

84
Q

What is the basis of the computer algorithms for environmental niche modelling?

A

Mathematical representations of their known distribution in environmental space or their ecological niche.

85
Q

Why do environmental niche models and the Köppen climate classification look so similar?

A

Because the Köppen classification is based on precipitation and temperature, which are the main two determining factors in species distribution.

86
Q

Where does the major part of the mass of an organism come from?

A

From carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

87
Q

What are GIS layers?

A

Geographic Information System layers; a GIS is a computer system designed to deal with spatial and geographic data.

88
Q

Ecological niche models are made from what?

A

GIS layers

89
Q

How is biomass generally measured?

A

By weight and area.

90
Q

NPP is measured in terms of what?

A

Carbon

91
Q

Who was Alexander von Humboldt?

A

The guy who figured out that altitude and latitude could be exchanged for one another in terms of life zones; he did most of his work in the Andes; Mary Somerville’s textbook was largely based on his work.

92
Q

What is the difference between ecology and biogeography?

A

Ecology is the study of the relationship between species and their environment, whereas biogeography deals with the distribution of species over space.

93
Q

What is the difference between a biological community and a habitat?

A

The community is the interaction of species within an area whereas a habitat is the actual physical location of an organism, i.e where it lives

z Geog 111 (11 decks)

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