BIO 215 Terms for Final - GVSU, Dreyer

Ecologists study...

the economy of nature and focus on biotic and abiotic resources and abiotic conditions; they emphasize the study of relationships and interactions among members of the same species and different species as well as between organisms and their abiotic environment

intraspecific

members of the same species

interspecific

members of different species

individuals & populations

a distinctive entity of life; groups of individuals of the same species is a population

community

an assemblage of all populations of all species that coexist in an area (thus, may interact. Includes bacteria, fungi, plants, animals, etc)

ecosystem

the biotic/ecological community plus the abiotic features (e.g. minerals in soil, oxygen, water)

landscape

juxtaposed ecosystems that interact in various ways (e.g. nutrient flow, energy cycling)
e.g. a stream flowing through a forest and into a grassland

biome

an ecological community of geological extent; distinctive, major categories of terrestrial ecosystems
e.g. temperate grassland, tropical desert, shrubland

biosphere

everywhere living organisms occur on earth and in its atmosphere; deep caves to mountaintops to atmosphere

climate

patterns of temperature, precipitation, and atmospheric conditions; typical atmospheric conditions and patterns in a place measured over a long period of time

what determines climate?

large-scale phenomena: earth's curvature, tilt, rotation, and orbit

latitude (position with respect to the equator) and altitude

position and size of oceans, continents, and mountains

why is climate important?

moisture and temperature influence distribution of plant species

dominant plant species determine biotic foundation of ecosystems upon which communities assemble. thus, the distribution of deserts, forests, grasslands, and shrublands is largely determined by climate

weather

variation in atmospheric conditions over short time frames (hours or days)

the key difference between climate and weather is the time frame

climatic variation is a result of...

sun exposure

warm, moist air rises and then cools, condenses, and falls as rain as it gets higher. the cooler, dry air falls back to the surface.

coriolis effect

deflection of an objects path due to the rotation of the earth - air currents

deflected to the right in northern hemisphere
deflected to the left in the southern hemisphere

think of a turn signal - you push it down to go left and up to go right

how can smaller scale geographic features affect regional and local climates?

rain shadow in mountainous areas

elevation (pressure and temperature changes)

ocean currents (affected by solar energy, air currents, coriolis effect, topography of land masses and ocean floor, physical and chemical properties of water (salinity and density))

gyre

large scale water circulation patterns between continents

biotic

living

abiotic

nonliving

ecological systems

entities that have their own internal processes and interact with their surroundings from individuals to the entire planet.

individuals are the most fundamental unit of ecology

terrestrial biomes

areas with similar climatic conditions, based on dominant vegetation and adaptations of organisms to the environment; there are relatively few types (9-11, it depends)

climate diagrams

when precipitation line is above the temperature line, plant grown is limited by temperature and vice versa.

shaded area = months of growing season

tropical rainforest characteristics

- vertical stratification - epiphytes
- really sunny at the treetops but doesn't reach the bottom very well
- very warm and wet - foggy, very green, high diversity
- near the equator
- little variation in temperature (hot)
- very poor soils (little clay, fast decomposition)
- heavy rain (cloud forest) - quickly leaches soil nutrients
- high human encroachment

tropical seasonal/dry forest

- much like a tropical rainforest and tends to be near them but has a dry season and leaves drop when it's dry
- hot temperatures and wet/dry seasons - it's warm all year but is not rainy all year
- semi-evergreen
- many migratory animal species
- rapid cycling of nutrients in soils
- high human populations (agriculture - crops and cattle; high erosion)

desert

- drought/flash floods
- extreme temperatures - hot and cold
- sparse, slow growing vegetation
- many nocturnal animals
- human impairment increasing
- only biome that has been increasing - desertification (only one that is not decreasing)
- rain shadow
(a subtropical desert is hot and dry with a long growing season and sparse vegetation)

woodland/shrubland

- mixed environments - dry adapted shrubs and grasses
- dry, hot summers
- cool, moist winters
- fire - important mediator
- mediterranean climates
- often cleared for agriculture or residential areas
- called chaparral in U.S.

grassland

- extreme temperatures
- many grasses with deep roots
- very rich soils
- fire - keeps the area grassy and tree-less (if fire were suppressed, there would be a loss of grasslands as they would turn into forests)
- overgrazing/converted to agriculture
- erosion

temperate deciduous forest

- high precipitation
- moderate temperatures
- fast plant growth
- high human population centers
- limit growth/regeneration
- trees drop their leaves because this climate prevents plant growth 4-6 months out of the year

temperate rainforest

- large trees
- old-growth forests
- high diversity
- fog condensation (very foggy)
- epiphytes
- found on west coast (washington)

boreal forest (taiga)

- relatively poor (acidic and sandy) soils = low water retention
- cold climate
- low diversity
- needles on trees are acidic which makes the soil acidic and also reduces water loss (the trees are adapted to the cold so they don't lose needles as much and therefore lose less water than others)
- important resource for the paper industry

tundra

- ice limits plant growth - permafrost
- arctic - low light
- animal migration
- harsh environment
- low/slow decomposition
- low diversity - sparse
- small human population

what are aquatic biomes characterized by?

flow, depth, and salinity (physical and chemical properties)

lotic

characterized by flowing water (rivers and streams)

riparian zone

a band of terrestrial vegetation alongside rivers and streams influenced by seasonal flooding and elevated water tables

lentic

nonflowing water (ponds and lakes - some area of the water is too deep for plants to rise above the surface)

littoral zone

shallow area around the edge of a lake or pond

limnetic zone

open, interior water beyond the littoral zone; aka pelagic zone (oceans)

dominant photosynthetic organisms are floating algae

profundal zone

the area in a lake that is too deep to receive sunlight

benthic zone

the floor of water bodies (the bottom)

epilimnion

the surface layer of the water in a lake or pond

hypolimnion

below boundary where the sun penetrates

thermocline

in between epilimnion and hypolimnion - the boundary between warm and cold (when the water suddenly gets a lot colder)

stratification

the condition in a lake or pond when the warmer, less dense surface water floats on the cooler, more dense water below

spring turnover

vertical mixing of lake water that occurs in early spring, assisted by winds that drive the surface currents (happens twice per year - there is also a fall turnover)

water is most dense at 4 degrees celsius

freshwater wetlands

aquatic biomes that contain standing fresh water, or soils saturated with fresh water for at least part of the year and are shallow enough to have emergent vegetation throughout all depths

swamp

has emergent trees

marsh

has emergent herbaceous plants

bog

has acidic water, acid-adapted plants, slow decomposition, and accumulation of peat

peat

partially decomposed plant matter

estuaries

an area along the coast where the mouths of freshwater rivers mix with the salt water from oceans

salt marshes

a saltwater biome that contains nonwoody emergent vegetation

mangrove swamp

occurs along tropical and subtropical coasts and contains salt-tolerant trees with roots submerged in water

intertidal zone

consists of the narrow band of coastline between the levels of high tide and low tide

highly stochastic, harsh environment (random distribution)

experiences drastic, rapid changes in moisture, salinity, temperature, and flow rate

coral reef

a marine biome found in warm, shallow waters that remain 20 degrees celsius year round

extremely biodiverse

open ocean

the part of the ocean that is away from the shoreline and coral reefs

these cover the largest portion of the earth's surface

neritic zone

the ocean zone that is beyond the range of the lowest tidal level and extends to depths of about 200 meters

upwelling and sunlight = high productivity

oceanic zone

zone beyond the neritic zone

photic zone

area of neritic and oceanic zones that contains sufficient light for photosynthesis by algae

aphotic zone

area of the neritic and oceanic zones where the water is so deep that sunlight cannot penetrate

species

group of organisms that can naturally interbreed with each other and produce fertile offspring (definition can be applied to all organisms)

adaptation

a characteristic of an organism that makes it well suited to its environment

law of conservation of matter

matter cannot be created or destroyed; it can only change form

law of conservation of energy

energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only change form (aka the first law of thermodynamics)

dynamic steady state

when the gains and losses of ecological systems are in balance

phenotype

attributes of an organism (behavior, morphology, physiology, etc)

genotype

set of genes an organism carries

evolution

change in genetic composition of a population over time

natural selection

change in the frequency of genes in a population through differential survival and reproduction of individuals that possess certain phenotypes

fitness

survival and reproduction of an individual

producer

organism that uses photosynthesis to convert solar energy into organic compounds (aka autotroph)

consumer

obtains energy from other organisms (aka heterotroph)

mixotroph

obtains energy from more than one source

predator

kills and consumes other individuals

parasite

lives in/on another but rarely kills it

parasitoid

lives within and consumes the tissues of a host, eventually killing it

pathogen

parasite that causes disease in its host

herbivore

consumes producers (plants, algae, etc)

competition

negative effects between 2 species that depend on the same limiting resources to live

mutualism

both species benefit

commensalism

one species benefits, the other is unharmed

symbiotic relationship

2 different types of organisms live in a close physical relationship

scavenger

consumes dead animals

detritivore

feeds on dead organic matter and waste products that are collectively known as detritus

decomposer

breaks down dead organic material into simpler elements and compounds that can be recycled through the ecosystem

niche

range of biotic and abiotic conditions that an organism can tolerate

manipulative experiment

a hypothesis is tested by altering a factor that is hypothesized to be an underlying cause of the phenomenon

manipulation

what we want to vary in an experiment (aka treatment)

control

includes all aspects of an experiment except the factor of interest (unchanged)

experimental unit

gets the manipulation

microcosm

a simplified ecological system that attempts to replicate the essential features of an ecological system in a lab or field setting

variance of the mean

a measurement that indicated the spread of data around the mean of a population when every member of the population has been measured

sample variance

a measurement that indicates the spread of data around the man of a population when only a sample has been taken

natural experiment

an approach to hypothesis testing that relies on natural variation in the environment

mathematical model

representation of a system with a set of equations that correspond to hypothesized relationships among the system's components

global warming

increase in average temperature of the planet due to an increased concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere

greenhouse gases

compounds in the atmosphere that absorb the infrared heat energy emitted by earth and then emit some of that energy back toward earth

greenhouse effect

the process of solar radiation striking the earth, being converted to infrared radiation, and being absorbed and re-emitted by atmospheric (greenhouse) gases

albedo

fraction of solar energy reflected by an object

solar equator

latitude receiving the most direct sun rays

atmosphere currents

circulations of air between the surface of earth and the atmosphere