Ecology Chapter 3

Ecology Chapter 3 Biology 20-1 IB

Biogeochemical cycle

The cycling of chemicals in the biosphere through land, water, and air

Properties of Water

Polar, high boiling point, low density when frozen, cohesive and adhesive forces, high surface tension

Evaporation

Water is converted to vapor by the sun and transferred from the earth’s surface to the atmosphere

Transpiration

Water vapor is released by plants and soil into the atmosphere

Condensation

Water vapor is transformed into liquid water droplets in the air, creating clouds and fog

Precipitation

Water vapor in the atmosphere condenses into liquid or soilid and returns to earth

Infiltration

The flow of water from the ground surface into soil

Runoff

The variety of ways water moves along the ground

Groundwater Flow

The flow of water underground

Plant Uptake

Plants use the water for photosynthesis and other metabolic reactions

Acid deposition

The process by which acidic components from the atmosphere fall to the earth’s surface causing damage to the environment

Carbon Sink

Anything that absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases

Anthropomorphic

Human produced

The higher the temperature

The less carbon dioxide dissolves

carbon dioxide + water

carbonic acid

less carbon dioxide in ocean

more calcium carbonate in ocean

more carbon dioxide in ocean

more bicarbonate in ocean

positive feedback cycle

A loop that increases the result of something

Conditions required for coral reef formation

water depth, ph, salinity, water clarity, temperature

Stratification

The process of forming layers with different properties that resist mixing

4 main carbon sinks

Earth crust, oceans, air, organisms

Carbon Resevoirs

A storage pool that can either release or store carbon depending on conditions

Carbon Flux

The rate of exchange of carbon between different carbon sinks and resevoirs

Biggest carbon sink

The ocean

Biggest carbon resevoirs

Marine sedimentary rock

6 carbon conversion processes

photosynthesis, cellular respiration, decomposition, gaseous dissolution, lithification, combustion

Lithification in the carbon cycle

The compaction of carbon containing sediments into fossil and rocks within the earth’s crust

Gaseous dissolution in the carbon cycle

The exchange of carbon gases between the ocean and atmosphere

3 factors that affect carbon fluxes

Climate conditions, natural events, human activity

Keeling Curve

A standard in keeping a reocrd of the global atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration

Obligate anaerobes

Organisms that can grow and survive only in the absence of oxygen

Facultative anaerobes

Organisms that can grow and sruvive in both the present and absence of oxygen

Obligate aerobes

organisms that can grow and survive only in the presence of oxygen

Greenhouse gases

Atmospheric gases that trap heat

4 examples of greenhouse gases

carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrogen oxide

factors that determine how much impact a greenhouse gas has

The ability to absorb long wave radiation and the concentration within the atmosphere

The greenhouse gas increasing most rapidly in the atmosphere

carbon dioxide

the cause of the rapidly increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

combustion

Albedo effect

The amount of light or radiation reflected by a surface

Nitrogen cycle processes

Nitrogen fixation, decomposition, denitrification, ammonification, nitrification

Nitrogen fixation

The process of converting nitrogen gas to usuable nitrates

Decomposition in the nitrogen cycle

when organisms die, decomposers break down and release the nitrogen compounds

Ammonification

The process of microorganisms converting dead organisms into ammonia or ammonium

Denitrification

The process of bacteria converting nitrates and nitrites into nitrogen gas

Nitrification

The process of bacteria converting ammonia to nitrite to nitrate

Phosphorus cycle processes

Leaching, sedimentation, geological uplifting, weathering, runoff, assimilation, decomposition

In situ conservation

the preservation of plant and animal species within their natural habitat

Ex situ conservation

The preservation of plant and animal species outside their natural habitat

Simpson’s Index

A way to measure biodiversity in a species

Keystone species

A species with a large impact on its ecosystem despite having a low population

Trophic cascade

The change of the food chain or web when a species is removed from an ecosystem

Rewilding

A way to restore the natural process or biodiversity

2 EDGE criterias to identify animal species that most needs conservation

Amount of relatives in species, the threat level of extinction

Lincoln’s Index

A way to measure a species population

Macroplastic

Plastic that can be degraded and broken down into microplastics by UV radiation and wave action

Phenology

The study of natural phenomena that recur periodically in plants and animals and their relationships to seasonal changes and climate