APES: Units 1 and 2

Aquatic ecosystems

• a water-based biological community where organisms interact with each other and their environment, divided into two main types: freshwater and marine

Dissolved oxygen

• the amount of free oxygen gas (O₂) present in water, essential for aquatic life to breathe

Resource partitioning

• where competing species divide limited resources, like food or habitat, by using them differently in space, time, or by consuming different forms of the resource

Symbiosis

• interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association, typically to the advantage of both

• to lower competition

littoral zone in lake

• the shallow zone of soil and water in lakes and ponds near the shore where most algae and emergent plants such as cattails grow

limnetic zone

• a zone of open water in lakes and ponds as deep as the sunlight can penetrate

phytoplankton

• floating alage

profundal zone

• a region of water where sunlight does not reach, below the limnetic zone in very deep lakes

benthic zone

• the muddy bottom of a lake, pond, or ocean beneath the limnetic and profundal zones

oligotrophic

• describes a lake with a moderate level of fertility

eutrophic

• describes a lake with a high level of fertility

nitrogen cycle

• the biogeochemical cycle by which nitrogen is converted into multiple chemical forms as it circulates among atmospheric, terrestrial, and marine ecosystems

• Nitrogen Fixation, Nitrification, Assimililation, Ammonification, and Denitrification

phosphorus cycle

• phosphorus is not atmospheric and it comes from rock

NPP/GPP calculations

• NPP= GPP- respiration loss

• to find total amount of energy transferred during photosynthesis for this ecosystem, add them all together

NPP- net primary productivity

• amount of available energy available for the rest of the ecosystem

GPP- gross primary productivity

• total energy that plants capture and assimilate into biomass in a given period of time

compensation point

• where pond goes to non-productive, sunlight won’t enter

• respiration loss is equal to GPP

photosynthesis and equation

• the process by which plants, algae, and some bacteria use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to create their own food in the form of carbohydrates and release oxygen as a by-product

• 6CO₂ + 6H₂O + Light Energy → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂

cellular respiration and equation

• the metabolic process in cells that converts chemical energy from glucose and oxygen into ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the main energy currency for cellular processes, and releases water and carbon dioxide as byproducts

• C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂ → 6CO₂ + 6H₂O + Energy (ATP)

10% rule

• only about 10% of energy from one trophic level in a food chain is transferred to the next level, with the rest lost as heat

species richness

• total count of different species in a given area

species evenness

• the relative abundance of those species, indicating how equally distributed individuals are among them

biodiversity

• measured by species evenness and richness

• the variety of life

why biodiversity matters

• it is essential for the stability, resilience, and proper functioning of ecosystems, which in turn provide humans with essential "services" like clean air and water, fertile soil, food, and medicine

supporting ecosystem service

• natural services that would be expensive if humans had to generate/replicate them

• already there, adding it one

• ex.~ pollination of food crops, natural pest control, natural water filtration

provisioning ecosystem service

• the goods produced by ecosystems that human can directly use

• ex.~ lumber, food crops, medicinal plant

regulating ecosystem service

• a service that helps an ecosystem to be resilient in the face of major disruption

• protection from problems

• keeping it resilient

• ex.~ tropical rainforests, oceans remove carbon from the atmosphere, sand dunes protect against erosion

cultural ecosystem service

• ecosystems provide cultural or aesthetic benefits to many people

• ex.~ national/ state parks, Native American preserves, historical landmarks, hiking

island biogeography

• the greater the island, the closer to the mainland, and the greater biodiversity

fragmentation

• the division of their forested habitats into smaller, isolated patches due to human activities like logging and agriculture

range of tolerance

• the full range of environmental conditions (like temperature, pH, salinity, or light) within which that species can survive, grow, and reproduce, before succumbing to injury or death

disturbances-focus on fires

high/low resistance

• an organism’s ability to withstand the initial impact with minimal change

high/low resilience

• an ecosystem's ability to recover and bounce back from a disturbance over time

mutations

• random

natural selection

• not random

tragedy of commons

• an economic and environmental concept describing how individuals will overuse and deplete a shared, unregulated resource, leading to its destruction and harming the whole group in the long run

eutrophication

• the process where excess nutrients, like phosphorus and nitrogen, are added to a body of water, causing excessive plant and algae growth (algal blooms)

causes of eutrophication

• runoff from fertilized fields containing nitrogen and phosphorus

• use of pesticides and herbicides

• livestock waste

impacts of eutrophication

• the creation of harmful algae blooms and "dead zones" from oxygen depletion, leading to reduced biodiversity and fish kills, especially in coastal areas

water quality tests and eutrophication

• focus on measuring key parameters like nutrient levels (total nitrogen, total phosphorus), dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll-a, water transparency, and pH to identify the nutrient enrichment process

density and stratification- lab activity with food coloring

• describe the process where liquids or fluids, such as water, separate into stable, distinct horizontal layers based on their density differences

• (blank) occurs when gravity causes the densest (heavier) substances to settle at the bottom and lighter substances to rise to the top, with factors like temperature and salinity influencing water density

what impacts dissolved oxygen?

• temperature, with cooler water holding more oxygen, and salinity, where higher salt levels reduce oxygen capacity

how does dissolved oxygen change through the seasons, day, etc.?

• fluctuate throughout the day, month, and year due to a combination of physical and biological factors

• in general, levels are highest in winter and during the daytime, and lowest in summer and during the nighttime

competition

• Both species are negatively affected as they vie for the same limited resources like food, water, or shelter

predation

• One organism (the predator) kills and consumes another (the prey). Herbivory, where an animal eats a plant, is a specific type of predation

mutualism

• Both interacting species benefit from the relationship. An example is pollination, where a pollinator gets food, and the plant is fertilized.

commensalism

• One species benefits from the interaction, while the other remains unaffected

parasitism

• One organism (the parasite) lives on or in a host, benefiting at the host's expense

amensalism

• One species is harmed by the interaction, and the other is neither helped nor harmed

population bottleneck

• an event that severely reduces a population's size, leading to decreased genetic diversity and increasing the impact of genetic drift and inbreeding

specialist species

• an organism that depends on a narrow range of environmental conditions or a very specific food source to survive

generalist species

• an organism capable of surviving and thriving in a wide range of environmental conditions and utilizing various resources, such as different food sources and habitats