Biosphere Flashcards

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering the Biosphere lecture notes including biomes, marine and freshwater habitats, and human environmental impacts.

Biosphere

Includes all living communities on Earth.

Solar Radiant Energy

Energy from the Sun that passes through the atmosphere; its intensity and wavelength composition are modified as about $1/2$ of the energy is absorbed.

UV-B

A specific wavelength of solar radiation that is strongly absorbed by the ozone layer.

Angle of Incidence

The way the Sun’s rays strike the spherical Earth; some parts of the surface receive more energy than others, affecting climate and life.

Global Circulation Patterns

Large-scale atmospheric movements caused by the equator's intense solar radiation making hot air rise and move toward the poles.

Coriolis Effect

The curvature of the paths of the winds due to Earth’s rotation; winds curve to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere.

Rain Shadows

The dry leeward side of a mountain range caused by air losing its moisture as it rises over the windward side.

Monsoons

Seasonally shifting winds caused by the massive heating and cooling of the land surface, particularly in Asia.

Elevation Change Rule

The air temperature falls approximately $6^{\circ}\text{C}$ for every $1,000\,\text{m}$ increase in elevation.

Microclimates

Highly localized sets of climatic conditions, such as gaps in a forest canopy or the space under a log.

Biomes

Major types of ecosystems on land defined largely by sets of regional climatic conditions and vegetational structures.

Tropical Rain Forests

Richest land ecosystems characterized by high temperature and high rainfall between $140\,\text{cm}$ to $450\,\text{cm}$ per year.

Savanna

Tropical or subtropical grasslands with $50\,\text{cm}$ to $125\,\text{cm}$ of annual rainfall that transition between rainforests and deserts.

Deserts

Sparse vegetation regions with unpredictable rainfall of $25\,\text{cm}$ to $40\,\text{cm}$ per year, often located at $30^{\circ}$ latitude.

Temperate Grasslands (Prairies)

Ecosystems with rich soils and deep-rooted grasses that are adapted to periodic fire; in North America, many were converted to agricultural use.

Taiga and Tundra

Two biomes that stretch in unbroken circles around the entire globe.

Photic Zone

The area in a lake or pond where light penetrates and photosynthesis is possible.

Littoral Zone

The shallow water area at the edge of a lake.

Aphotic (Benthic) Zone

The area in a lake habitat located below the level of light penetration.

Thermal Stratification

A process where less dense warm water floats on top of colder water, creating layers that can cut off oxygen to bottom waters.

Thermocline

A transition layer between warm and cold waters in a stratified body of water.

Anoxia

A state in which waters are depleted of oxygen.

Oligotrophic Lake

A body of water low in nutrients and usually high in oxygen, characterized by crystal clear water where light penetrates deep.

Eutrophic Lake

A body of water high in nutrients and densely populated with algae; often low in dissolved oxygen in summer.

Continental Shelves

Coastal ocean areas about $80\,\text{km}$ wide and up to $130\,\text{m}$ deep.

Phytoplankton

Single-cell or colonial organisms that serve as the principle primary producers in marine habitats.

Neritic Waters

Waters over the continental shelves containing high concentrations of nutrients, providing $99\%$ of the ocean food supply.

Estuaries

Shelf ecosystems where fresh water from streams or rivers mixes with ocean salt water.

Intertidal Habitat

An area exposed to air at low tide but underwater at high tide.

Hydrothermal Vent Communities

Deep-sea life that does not depend on the Sun's energy but on sulfur-oxidizing bacteria.

DDT

An oil-soluble insecticide that biomagnifies in the food chain, leading to the plummeting of predatory bird populations like ospreys.

Point Source Pollution

Pollution originating from an identifiable location, such as factories or sewage-treatment plants.

Diffuse Pollution

Pollution exemplified by eutrophication caused by excessive run-off of nitrates and phosphates from thousands of small sources.

Zoonotic Disease

Contagious diseases that spread between animals and humans, accounting for $60\%$ of human pathogens.

Ozone Hole

An area over Antarctica where ozone concentrations are between $1/2$ to $1/3$ of original levels.

CFCs (Chlorofluorocarbons)

Chemically stable chlorine- and bromine-containing compounds that are a major cause of ozone depletion.

Methane

A greenhouse gas with $20\,\text{times}$ the heat-trapping properties of $CO_2$ and locked up in permafrost.

Coral Bleaching

An ecosystem effect of global temperature change that targets reef-building corals.

Ocean Acidification

An increase in ocean acidity, estimated at $30\%$ since the 1950s, due to dissolved carbon dioxide from burning sources.

Salt Marshes

Ecosystems in the intertidal zone whose destruction was a major contributing factor to the hurricane damage of Katrina in Louisiana.