2.6 APES

What is a natural disturbance?

A natural event (no human impact) that causes a pronounced change in the structure or function of an ecosystem

Are ecosystems static?

No, they shift

What is a seasonal shift?

When plants change color or the environment shifts to conserve energy.

What is a shift over geological time?

Organisms found in rock layers (why is it no longer there, what adaptations did it not have to be able to survive?)

How do the things that live recover? what is the name?

succession

Are natural disturbances as bad as human impact?

They can match or exceed many human-impact causes

What might the disturbance allow?

Adaptations for the animals to have a better chance of survival overall

What determines ecological damage and recovery?

Magnitude and duration

What is a mass extiction?

When 75% or more of the organisms on earth die

Are all natural disturbances bad?

Nope! Some play vital roles in maintaining the health and diversity of an ecosystem

What are fire-adapted ecosystems?

Reduces hazardous fuel loads, limits extreme crown fires, recycles nutrients to the soil, triggers seed germination, maintains open, diverse habitats

What is a periodic disturbance?

Events that repeat on a predictable schedule or cycle

What is an episodic disturbance?

Occasional events with irregular frequency

What is a random disturbance?

Unpredictable events without a frequency

In which time disturbance have animals adapted to?

Animals have adapted to periodic processes

What is an example of an animal adapted to periodic processes?

Seasons and monsoons set reliable wet—dry timing for life, nutrient-rich coastal upwellings fuel marine food webs

What is an adaptation?

An actual gene that helps with the shift making them able to survive in their environment compared to other species

What is being adapted?

Altering their customs, not genetically, to be able to survive

What are examples of short-term disturbances?

Ash, lava, causing mass mortality; light and air quality depleting (in terms of a volcano)

What is succession?

How fast, after a disturbance, species are able to recover

What is primary succession?

Life grows back

What is the number one pollutant volcanos let out?

Sulfur dioxide

What is earth temperature set by?

The energy balance: energy in (sunlight) vs. energy out (heat trapped by greenhouse gases, clouds, etc.)

What causes changes in climate overtime?

Changes in Earth's tilt and the shape of its orbit around the Sun

Whats another example of a geological change?

Changes in sea level over time (colder: lower sea level, ice locks it on land; warmer: higher sea level, ice melts and expands water molecules as they warm)

Are regional climates fixed?

No, earth has drifting plates, geologic uplift, etc.

What are other things organisms do to combat these disruptions?

Short-term migrations follow natural seasonal food, water, and temperature windows;

What impedes movement?

Barriers as they cause isolation and possible decline (wildlife corridors help movement)

Who causes climate change?

Humans, causing wildlife to change their migration behaviors

Where do biomes shift?

Toward poles, where animals follow