Chapter 49: An Introduction to Ecology

Conservation biology

Conservation biology

________ is the effort to study, preserve, and restore threatened genetic diversity in populations, species diversity in communities, and ecosystem function.

Weather

________ consists of the specific short- term atmospheric conditions of temperature, precipitation, sunlight, and wind.

Biologists

________ are particularly concerned with how temperature and moisture influence net primary productivity (NPP)

Massive ocean currents

________ flow in cycles, or gyres, that move in a clockwise direction in the Northern Hemisphere and in a counterclockwise direction in the Southern Hemisphere, due to the Coriolis effect.

biotic factors

A niche is a product of many abiotic and ________, both present and past.

NPP

________ is often estimated by measuring aboveground biomass the total mass of living plants, excluding roots.

organismal level

At the ________, researchers explore morphological, physiological, and behavioral adaptations- heritable traits that increase the fitness of an individual in a particular environment relative to individuals lacking the trait.

Broad

________- leaved evergreen forests, deserts, grasslands, and tundra are biomes: regions characterized by distinct abiotic characteristics and dominant types of vegetation.

Wallace

________ founded the study of biogeography- the study of how organisms are distributed geographically and through geologic time.

Turbidity

________ is sometimes caused by natural processes such as the erosion of river sediments by floodwaters and the erosion of coastal sediments by wave action.

ecosystem

A(n) ________ consists of all the organisms in a particular region along with nonliving components.

intertidal

The ________ and sunlit regions of the neritic, oceanic, and benthic zones make up the aphotic zone.

limnetic zone

The ________ is offshore and comprises water that receives enough light to support photosynthesis but that is too deep for plants to take root.

Northern Hemisphere

The spinning of the Earth on its axis causes a Coriolis effect, the tendency for moving air or water to be deflected from a straight path, instead swerving in a clockwise pattern in the ________ and in a counterclockwise pattern in the Southern Hemisphere.

intertidal zone

The ________ consists of rocky shoreline, sandy beach, or mud flat that is exposed to the air at low tide but submerged at high tide.

littoral zone

The ________ consists of the waters along the shore that are shallow enough for plants to take root.

NPP

________ is defined as the total amount of biomass generated by the fixation of carbon per year minus the amount that is oxidized during cellular respiration, where biomass refers to the total mass of organisms, of primary producers in this case.

Biologists

________ define the biosphere as a thin zone surrounding the Earth where all life exists- the sum of all terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

turbidity

The ________, or cloudiness, of water, is an important determinant of light.

Turbidity

________ is also caused by many human activities, such as runoff from agricultural fields and algae bloom caused by nutrient pollution.

Broad-leaved evergreen forests, deserts, grasslands, and tundra are biomes

regions characterized by distinct abiotic characteristics and dominant types of vegetation