APES Ch 3

Disturbance

Disturbance

An event caused by, physical, chemical, or biological agents, resulting in changes in population size or community compostition

Resistance

A measure of how much a disturbance can affect flows of energy
+ matter in an ecosystem

Resilience

The rate at which on ecosystem returns to its original state after a disturbance

Restoration ecology

The study and implementation of restoring damaged ecosystems

Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis

ecosystems experiencing intermediate levels of disturbance are more diverse than those with high or low disturbance levels

Watershed

all land in a given landscape that drains into a particular stream, river, lake, or wetland

Nitrogen fixation

Process that converts Nitrogen gas into a form that producers can use

Nitrification

conversion of ammonia (NH+4) into Nitrite (NO-2) + Nitrate (NO-2)

Assimilation

process by which producers incorporate the nutrients into tissues

Mineralization

process by which Fungal + bacterial decomposers break down organic matter found in dead bodies + waste products + convert it into inorganic matter

Ammonification

like mineralization, but breaks materials down + converts it into inorganic ammonium (NH+4)

Denitrification

conversion of Nitrate into the gasses Nitrous oxide(N2O) + Nitrogen gas (N2), which is emitted into the atmosphere

Flows

The process that move matter between pools

pools

components that contain the matter

Biogeochemical cycles

the movement of matter within + between ecosystems

Gross Primary Productivity

the total amount of solar energy that the producer in an ecosystem capture via photosynthesis over a given amount of time

Net Primary Productivity

the energy captured by photosynthesis producers in an ecosystem minus the energy producers respire

Autotroph

producer that use the sun’s energy to produce usable forms of energy

heterotroph

consumers that are incapable of photosynthesis and must obtain energy by consuming other organisms

respiration

how organsims unlock energy from chemical compounds

glucose

C6H12O6