ch 3-6 (ecology) Flashcards

1
Q

Ecology

A

the scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment ,or surroundings

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2
Q

biosphere

A

highest/largest level of organizaion containing the combined ortions of the planet in which all life exists , including land, water, and air, or atmosphere; portions of the planet in which life exists

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3
Q

population

A

a group of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area

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4
Q

community

A

assemblages of different populations that live together in a defined area

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5
Q

ecosystem

A

A collection of all the organisms that live in a particular place together with their nonliving or physical environment

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6
Q

biome

A

A group of ecosystems that have the same climate and some more dominant communities

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7
Q

producers/autotrophs

A

Organism that can capture energy from the sunlight or chemicals and use it to produce food from inorganic compounds
producers make the suns energy avalible for other living things

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8
Q

species

A

a group of organisms that are able to breed and produce fertile offsprin

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9
Q

consumer/heterothrophs

A

Organism that relies on other organisms for its energy and food supply

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10
Q

herbivore

A

Consumers that obtain energy by eating only plants

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11
Q

omnivore

A

Organism that obtains energy by eating both plants and animals

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12
Q

carnivore

A

Organisms that obtain energy by eating animals

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13
Q

detritivore

A

Organism that feeds on plants and animal remains and other dead matter

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14
Q

decomposer

A

Organism that breaks down and obtains energy from dead organic matter

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15
Q

what are the levels of orginization (list form lowest/smallest to highest/largest)

A

species, populations, communities, ecosystem, biomes, & Biosphere

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16
Q

what is the equasion for photosynthesis

A

carbon dioxide+water—–> carbohydrates+oxygen

6CO2 + 6H2O——-> C6H12O6 + 6O2.

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17
Q

what are the diffrent types of heterotrophs/consumers

A

herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, detrivores, decomposers

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18
Q

what happens to the flow of energy when one organism eats another

A

That energy moves along a one way path. energy flows through an ecosystem in one direction from the sun or inorganic compound to autotophs and then to various heterotrophs

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19
Q

food chain

A

A series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten; they show the one way flow of energy in an ecosystem

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20
Q

food web

A

A network of complex interactions form by the feeding relationships among the various organisms in an ecosystem
links all the food chains in an ecosystem tgether

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21
Q

trophic level

A

Each step in a food chain or food web

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22
Q

what makes up the throphic levels

A

the first level is made up by producers

the second, third or higher levels are made up of consumers

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23
Q

ecological pyramid

A

A diagram that shows the relative amounts of energy or matter contained within each traffic level in a food chain or food web

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24
Q

What are the three different types of ecological pyramids

A

Energy pyramid, biomass pyramid, pyramid of numbers

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25
Q

biomass

A

total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level

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26
Q

limiting nutrient

A

single nutrient that either is scarce or cycles very slowly, limiting the growth of orgnisims in an ecosystem; Something in organism needs but is in a limited supply and therefore control of the population

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27
Q

algal bloom

A

an immediate increase in the amount of algea and other producers that results from a large input of a limiting nutrient

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28
Q

greenhouse effect

A

natural situation in which heat is retained in Earth’s atmoaphere by a layer of carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and other gases

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29
Q

biotic factor

A

biological influence on organisms within an ecosystem

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30
Q

abiotic factor

A

physical, or nonliving, factor that shapes an ecosystem

examples amount of water, temp., amount of sunlight, and amount of nitrogen…

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31
Q

habitat

A

the area where an organism lives,including the biotic and abiotic factors that affect it

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32
Q

niche

A

full range of physical and biological conditions in which an organism lives and the way in which the organism uses those conditions

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33
Q

predation

A

interction in which one organism captures and feeds on another organism

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34
Q

symbiosis

A

realationship in which two species live closely togrther

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35
Q

mutualism

A

symbiotic relationship in which both species benifit from the relashionship

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36
Q

commensalisms

A

Symbiotic relationship in which one member of the Association benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed/ isn’t affected

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37
Q

parasitism

A

Symbiotic relationship in which one organism lives in or on another organism (the host) andl consequentially harms it

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38
Q

ecological succession

A

Gradual change in living communities that follows a disturbance

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39
Q

Primary succession

A

On land, succession that occurs on surfaces were no soil exist and starts with the arrivale of living things such as lichens that do not need soil to survive

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40
Q

Pioneer species

A

First species to populate an area during primary succession

41
Q

Secondary succession

A

Succession following a disturbance that destroys it community without destroying the soil

42
Q

Renewable resource

A

resource that can regenerate quickly and that is replaceable; can regenerate at a rate equal to or faster then we use it

43
Q

nonrenewable resource

A

Resource that cannot be replenished by natural processes

44
Q

soil erosion

A

wearing away of surface soil by water and wind

45
Q

desetification

A

In areas with dry climates, a process caused by a combination of poor farming practices, overgrazing, and drought that turns productive land into desert

46
Q

Deforestation

A

destruction/Loss of forests

47
Q

smog

A

Mixture of chemicals that occurs as a gray – brown haze in the atmosphere

48
Q

nitrogen fixation

A

process of converting nitrogen gas into ammonia

49
Q

what is biogeochemical cycle? and what are some types are there?

A

a process in which elements, chemical compounds, and other forms of matter are passed from one organism to another and from one part of the biosphere to another

water cycle, the carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle, the phosphorous cycle

50
Q

pollutant

A

harmful material that can enter the biosphere

51
Q

acid rain

A

rain containing nitric and sulfuric acids

52
Q

biological magnification

A

increasing concentration of harmful substance in organisms at higher trophic levels in a fod chain or web; when polutants increase as you move up a trophic level

53
Q

invasive species

A

plants and animals that have migrayed to places where they are not native

when it is introduced it begins to take over

54
Q

ozone layer

A

atmosphere layer in which ozone gas is relatively concentrated

55
Q

global warming

A

increase in the average temperatures on Earth

56
Q

climate

A

average year after year conditions of temp. and precipitation in a particular region

57
Q

weather

A

day to da conditions in a particular place at a particular time

58
Q

energy pyramid

A

ecological pyramid that shows the relative amount of energy available at each ttophic level. Orgnisms use about 10% of this energy for life processes. the rest is lost as heat

(starting @ 100% at the base only 10% of the enegrgy is transfered to organisms at the next trophic level)

59
Q

why is only part of the energy that is stored in one thropic level is passed on the next level ?

A

because organisms use much of the energy they consume for life processes, such as respiration, movment, and rreproduction. and some of the remaining energy is released by heat

60
Q

biomass pyramid

A

represents the amount of potential food available for each trophic leve in an ecosystem;represents the amount of living organic matter at each trophic level.

typically, the greatest biomass is at the base of the pyramid

61
Q

Pyramid of numbers

A

shows the relative number of individual organisms ar each trophic level

62
Q

what does natrual accuring ozone levels do?

A

it absorbs a good deal of harmful UV radiation from the sunlight, before it reaches the earth

63
Q

what happens if ina pyramid the level bellow gets smaller

A

everything above that level gets smaller, because each consumer depends on the level below for its energy

64
Q

water cycle

A

the cycle of processes by which water circulates between the earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and land, through evaporation, tranpiration, condencation, precipitation

65
Q

transpiration

A

evaporation from leaves

66
Q

what 4 main processes move carbon through its cycle

A

biological processes such as photosynthesis, respiration, and decomposition- take up and release carbon

geochemical processes such as erosion and volcanic activity-release carbon dioxide to atmosphere and ocean

mixed Biogeochemical processes, such as the Burial and decomposition of dead organisms and their Conversion under pressure into coal and petroleum- store carbon underground

Human activities, such as my name, cutting and burning forest, and burning fossil fules- release carbon dioxide into atmosphere

67
Q

carbon cycle

A

the series of processes by which carbon compounds are interconverted in the environment, involving the incorporation of carbon dioxide into living tissue by photosynthesis and its return to the atmosphere through respiration, the decay of dead organisms, and the burning of fossil fuels…

68
Q

how have humans altered the carbon cycle

A

Human activities, such as my name, cutting and burning forest, and burning fossil fules- release carbon dioxide into atmosphere

69
Q

nitrogen cycle

A

the series of processes by which nitrogen and its compounds are interconverted in the environment and in living organisms, including nitrogen fixation and decomposition.

70
Q

what do organisms need nitrogen for

A

to build proteins

71
Q

what percent of the atmosphere is nitrogen

A

78%

72
Q

phosphorous cycle

A

a cycle in which phosphorous moves through rocks, water, soil and sediments and organisms

73
Q

how do organisms get phosphorous

A

plants get it from the soil and water animals get it from eating the plants

74
Q

how does phosphorous get into soil/water

A

manuer, erosion of rocks, artificial fertilizers

75
Q

how does the greenhouse effect, latitude, and heat transport affect climate

A

the greenhouse effect traps heat from leaving earth and therfore keeps it warm

differences in the angle of sunlight direct at different latitudes result in the delivery of more heat to the equator than the poles

ocean currents and winds distribute heat to diffrent places.

76
Q

what are the 3 main climate zones

A

Polar zones, temperate zones, tropical zones

77
Q

climax community

A

the stable group of plants and animals that is the end result of a succession process

78
Q

photic zone

A

well lit upper layer of the ocean wear photosynthesis takes place

79
Q

aphotic zone

A

below the photic zone and is permanently dark

80
Q

benthic zone

A

the ocean floor

81
Q

what is flowing water

A

water on its way to the ocean

82
Q

estuaries

A

wetlands formed where rivers meet the sea

83
Q

wetland

A

an ecosystem in which water either covers the soil or is present at or near the surface of the soil for at least part of the year

84
Q

desertification

A

a combination of farming, overgrazing, and drought has turned once productive areas into deserts

85
Q

intertidal zone

A

also known as the foreshore and seashore, the area that is above water at low tide and under water at high tide
Organisms that live in this zone are exposed to regular an extreme changes in their surroundings

86
Q

neritic zone

A

The neritic zone is the relatively shallow part of the ocean above the drop-off of the continental shelf

87
Q

open ocean

A

the ocean lying beyond the continental shelf it is the largest marine zone

88
Q

salt marshes

A

Temperate – zone estuaries dominated by salt – tolerant grass is above the low – Tideline, and by sea grasses underwater

89
Q

detritus

A

Teeny pieces or organic material that provide food for organisms at the base of the estuaries food web

90
Q

what are the 2 types of freshwater

A

Flowing- water ecosystems and standing – water ecosystem

91
Q

carbon sinks

A

when carbon gets locked away for a long time

example fossil fules

92
Q

nitrogen-fixing bacteria

A

convert atmospheric nitrogen into something that plants can use

93
Q

sustainable development

A

a way of using natural resources without depleting them and of providing for human needs without causing longterm environmental harm

94
Q

what can human activities affect?

A

the quality and supply of renewable resources such as land, forests, fisheries, air, and freshwater

95
Q

humus

A

a material formed from decaying leaves and other organic matter that makes soil fertile

96
Q

overfishing

A

The harvesting of fish faster than they can be replaced by reproduction

97
Q

lichen

A

A symbiotic relationship between algae and fungus a pioneer species

98
Q

ozone depletion

A

caused by CFCs, the distruction of the ozone layer that alwos for UV light to enter the atmosphere and damge tisue