APES Units 1 &2 Review

individual

one organism (i.e. elk)

population

group of individuals of the same species (i.e. elk herd)

community

all living organisms in an area

ecosystem

all living and nonliving things in area (plants, animals, rocks, soil, water, air)

biome

large area with similar climate conditions that determine plant and animal species there; area that shares a combination of avg. yearly temp and precipitation; community of organisms that live here are uniquely adapted to live in that biome

competition

organisms fighting over a resource like food or shelter; limits population size

predation

one organism using another for its energy source

mutualism

relationship that benefits both organisms

commensalism

relationship that benefits one organism & doesn’t impact the other

symbiosis

any close and long-term interaction between two organisms of different species

resource partitioning

different species using the same resource in different ways to reduce competition

temporal partitioning

using resource at different times, such as wolves & coyotes hunting at different times

spatial partitioning

using different areas of a shared habitat or ecosystem

morphological partitioning

using different resources based on different evolved body features

annual temp and precip

what are biomes defined by?

latitude

what determines the temp and precip of a biome? This is why biomes exist in a predictable pattern on Earth

climate change

What causes biomes to shift locations?

salinity

What is the word for how much salt there is in a body of water? this determines which species can survive and if the water is useable for drinking

flow

What determines which plants & organisms survive and how much oxygen (02) can dissolve in water?

depth

What influences how much sunlight can penetrate and reach plants below the surface for photosynthesis

warmer

What kind of water temperature holds less dissolved O2 - can support fewer organisms

rivers

have high O2 due to flow mixing water and air; also carries nutrient-rich sediments

lakes

standing bodies of fresh water - key water drinking source

littoral

shallow water with emergent plants

limnetic

where light can reach (for photosynthesis) - no rooted plants only phytoplankton

profundal

too deep for sunlight - no plants

benthic

murky bottom where inverts (bugs) live - nutrient rich sediments

wetland

area with soil submerged/saturated in water for at least part of the year, but shallow enough for emergent plants

wetland

some of the benefits of this area includes: stores excess water during stores (lessening flooding), recharges groundwater by absorbing rainfall into soil, roots of plants here filter pollutants from water, and high plant growth due to lots of water and nutrients in sediments

estuary

area where rivers empty into the ocean; mix of fresh and salt water, and high productivity due to nutrients in sediments deposited by river

mangrove trees

this type of plants grows in estuaries along coast in temporal climates - they have long, stilt roots that stabilize shoreline and provide habitat for many species of fish and shellfish; has adaptation where it can filter out salt from water through ultra filtration in roots

coral reef

the most diverse marine biome of earth; warm shallow water beyond the shoreline; coral and algae have a mutualistic relationship here (coral takes carbon out of water to create calcium carbonate exoskeleton and provides carbon to algae and algae provides sugar (energy) to the coral thru photosynthesis

desiccation

this word means “dried out”

open ocean

this biome has low productivity since only algae and phytoplankton can survive here

carbon cycle

this cycle involves the movement of molecules that contain carbon between sources and sinks; some steps are very fast and some are very slow; leads to imbalance in which sinks are storing carbon

carbon sink

a carbon reservoir that stores more carbon that it releases - ocean, plants, soil, photosynthesis, atmosphere

carbon source

processes that add carbon to the atmosphere - burning fossil fuels, animal burps and farts, deforestations, cellular respiration

photosynthesis

this process is done by plants, algae, phytoplankton; it removes carbon from atm. and converts it into glucose; it’s a carbon sink and is very quick

cellular respiration

this process is done by plants and animals to release stored energy; its when they use oxygen to break glucose down and release energy, it releases carbon into atm; very quick process

direct exchange

C02 moves directly between atmosphere and the ocean by dissolving into and out of the ocean water at the surface; happens very quickly and in equal directions, balancing levels of C02 between atmosphere and ocean

ocean acidification

caused by direct exchange - increased amount of C02 causes a reduction of pH in the ocean

algae and phytoplankton

What type of organisms take C02 out of the ocean and atmosphere through photosynthesis?

coral reefs and marine organisms with shells

What type of marine life takes C02 out of the ocean to make calcium carbonate exoskeleton

sedimentation

when marine organisms die, their bodies sink to ocean floor where they’re broken down into sediments that contain Carbon

Burial

slow process that stores Carbon in underground sinks like sedimentary rock or fossil fuels- pressure of water compresses C-containing sediments on ocean floor into sedimentary stone; this process takes far longer than extraction and combustion which means they increase concentration of C02 in atm.

Fossil fuels

coal, oil, natural gas are formed from fossilized remains of org. matter like dead ferns or marine algae and plankton

extraction and combustion

the processes of digging up or mining FF’s and burning them as energy source; releases C02 into atm.

Nitrogen Cycle

the movement of N containing molecules between sources and sinks/reservoirs'; sources release N into atmosphere and sinks take N out of atm in increasing amounts- N reservoirs hold N for relatively short periods of time compared to C cycle

Nitrogen fixation

the process of N2 gas being converted into biologically available (useable by plants) NH3 (ammonia) or NO3 (nitrate)

Bacterial fixation

certian bacteria that live in the soil ( or in symbiotic relationship with plant root nodules ) that convert N2 into ammonia NH3

rhizobacteria

these live in root nodules of legumes and fix N for them in return for amino acids from the plant

synthetic fixation

humans combust FF’s to convert N2 gas into nitrate (NO3); nitrates are added to synthetic fertilizers like miracle grow and are used in agriculture

assimilation

plants and animals taking N in and incorporating it into their body; plants do this by taking in NO3 or NH3 from soil; animals do this by eating plants or other animals - this process also applies to the P cycle

ammonification

soil bacteria, microbes, and decomposers convert waste and dead biomass back into NH3 and return it to soil

nitrification

the conversion of NH4 into nitrite (NO2) and then nitrate (NO3) by soil bacteria

dentrification

the conversion of soil N (NO3) into nitrous oxide (N2o) has which returns to atm

ammonia volatilization

what occurs when excess fertilizers use leads to NH3 has entering atm. (NH3 gas in atm. = acid rain and respiratory irritation for humans and animals)

eutrophication

the process when synthetic fertilizer use leads to nitrates leaching or being carried out of soil by water; this is what occurs when there is overuse of synthetic fertilizers bc there’s too much N and P which causes excess of nutrients and therefore algae growwth

Phosphorus Cycle

movement of P atoms and molecules between sources and sinks; this cycle is VERY slow compared to C/N/H2O cycles bc it takes a long time for P minerals to be weathered out of rocks and carried into soil/bodies of water; NO GAS PHASE and doesn’t enter atmosphere-

positive

What type of feedback loop does eutrophication cause? (postive or negative?)

hydrologic cycle

the movement of H2O between sources and sinks; energy from the sun fuels this cycle

ocean

What is the largest water reservoir?

evaporation

the process of liquid water becoming water vapor (gas) in the atm.

transpiration

the process plants use to draw groundwater from roots up to their leaves

evatranspiration

the amount of H2O that enters the atm. from transpiration and evaportation combined is called this

runoff

when precipitation flows over earth’s surface into a body of water or trickles down thru soil into groundwater aquifers; this recharges surface waters but can also carry pollutants into water sources

kcal/m²/ yr

what are the units for primary productivity (PP)?

more biodiversity

Higher PP= ?

primary productivity

the rate that solar energy is converted into organic compounds via photosynthesis over a unit of time (AKA rate of photosynthesis)

NPP= GPP- RL

what the formula for calculating NPP

net primary productivity (NPP)

the amount of energy (biomass) left over for consumers after plants have used some for respiration

respiration loss (RL)

the loss of energy plants use up when they generate energy via photosynthesis by doing cellular respiration

gross primary productivity (GPP)

the total amount of sun energy (light) that plants capture and convert to energy thru photosynthesis

D

What factor(s) lead to high NPP

A - water availability

B-higher temperature

C-nutrient availability

D- all of the above

1st law of thermodynamics

this states that energy is neve created or destroyed

2nd law of thermodynamics

this states that each time energy is transferred, some of it is lost as heat

10% rule

this states that in trophic pyramids, only about 10% of the energy from one level makes it to the next level

tertiary consumers

this type of consumer are animals that eat secondary consumers

secondary consumers

this type of consumer are animals that eat primary consumers/herbivores

primary consumers

animals that eat plants (herbivores)

producers

these convert sun’s light energy into chemical energy

energy flow

arrows in food webs indicate _____________

trophic cascade

the removal or addition of a top predator has a ripple effect down through lower trophic levels

ecosystem diversity

the number of diff. habitats available in a given area

species diversity

the number of diff. species in an ecosystem and the balance or evenness of the population sizes of all species in the ecosystem

genetic diversity

how different the genes are of individuals within a population

richness

the total number of different species found in an ecosystem; higher is generally a good sign of ecosystem health

evenness

a measure of how all of the individual organisms in an ecosystem are balanced between the different species

genetic diversity

What type of diversity gives populations the ability to easily respond to environmental stressors like drought, disease, or famine? this gives population higher chance of some members of the population have traits to survive the env. stressor

bottleneck event

an environmental disturbance that drastically reduces population size and kills organisms regardless of their genome; these events reduce genetic diversity

resilience

the ability of an ecosystem to return to its original conditions after a major disturbance (ie wind storm, fire, flood)

higher ecosystem resilience

higher species diversity = ?

provisioning services

goods taken directly from ecosystems or made from nat. resources to be used by humans (ex: fishing, hunting, lumber, naturally grown foods, or paper, medicine, rubber); disrupted by overharvest, water pollution, clearing land

regulating services

benefit provided by ecosystem process that moderate natural conditions like climate and air quality; disrupted by deforestation

supporting services

when natural ecosystems support processes we do ourselves, making them cheaper and easier (ie wetland roots filter pollutants, bee pollinate ag. ); disrupted by pollinator habitat loss and filling in wetlands for development

cultural services

service where money is generated by recreation (parks, camping, tours) or scientific knowledge (profits from scientific discoveries); disrupted by deforestation, pollution, and urbanization

island biogeography

the study of ecological relationships and community structure on islands - islands can be actual islands figurative habita islands such as Central Park or National Parks)

larger islands support more total species and islands closer to the mainland support more species

what are the two basic rules of island biogeography?

ecological range of tolerance

the range of conditions such as temperature, salinity, pH, or sunlight that an organism can endure before injury or death

optimal range

range where organisms survive grow, and reproduce