Unit 1: The Living World - Ecosystems

Phosphorus

________ is released from these rock forms through chemical weathering.

Commensalism

________: one organism benefits while the other is neither helped nor hurt.

Soil bacteria

________ converts ammonium (NH4 +) into one of the forms that can be used by plants, nitrate (NO3)- (3) assimilation.

Net Primary Productivity

________ (NPP): amount of energy plants pass on to the community of herbivores in an ecosystem.

geological formation

Involves living organisms, ________, and chemical substances.

Fertilizes

________ easily leach into groundwater and flow into aquatic ecosystems → eutrophication.

Parasitism

________: one species is harmed and the other benefits Ecosystems.

Exchange pool

________: site where nutrient sits for only a short period of time; opposite of reservoir (ex.

Respiration

________: animals and plants breathe in oxygen and give off CO2.

Gross

________ Primary Productivity (GPP): amount of sugar that the plants produce in photosynthesis; rate at which the producers are converting solar energy to chemical energy Food chains /food webs Producers.

dead organisms

Decomposing bacteria convert ________ and other waste to ammonia (NH3) or ammonium ions (NH4 +)

SO2

Humans: industrial process that produce sulfur dioxide (________) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gases Freshwater.

Producers

________ in non- oxygen environments make food through CHEMOSYNTHESIS.

freshwater

All ________ comes from precipitation of atmospheric water vapor → reaches inland lakes, rivers, and groundwater bodies directly (or after melting of snow or ice)

Sulfur

________ is in rocks, salts, buried deep in the ocean in oceanic sediments, atmosphere.

Heterotrophs

________ obtain nitrogen when they consume plants proteins and nucleic acids- (4) ammonification.

Thermocline

________: demarcation line between epilimnion and hypolimnion where the temperature shifts dramatically.

Animals

________ obtain sulfur by consuming plants.

Estuaries

________: sites where the arm of the sea extends inland to meet the mouth of a river.

Gauses principle

________: no two species can occupy the same niche at the same time; the species that is less fit will relocate, die out, or occupy a smaller niche.

Reservoir

________: place where a large quantity of a nutrient sits for a long period of time (ex.

Animals RESPIRE

________ and release water vapor and additional gases to the atmosphere.

Bioaccumulation

________: accumulation of a substance in the tissues of a living organism.

Plants TRANSPIRE

________ and release large amounts of water into the air.

Predation

________: one species feeds on another.

Evaporation

________: water returned to atmosphere from earths surface and living organisms.

Interspecific

________: two individuals that are competing are the diff species.

Detritivores

________: consume nonliving organic matter (dead animals or fallen leaves)

Decomposers

________: bacteria or fungi that absorb nutrients from nonliving organic matter such as plant material, wastes of living organisms, corpses → convert materials into inorganic forms Food chains.

Photosynthesis

________: plants take in CO2, H2o, and energy from the sun to produce carbohydrates.

Atmosphere

________ is made up of 78 % N2 and 21 % O2.

Phosphates

________ that enter the water table and travel to the oceans can eventually be incorporated into rocks in the ocean floor.

Subcategories

________: salt water marshes, mangrove forests, inlets, bays, river mouths.

Plants

________ consume water (and CO2) from photosynthesis → produce carbohydrates.

Northern hemisphere

________: gulf stream carries sun- warmed water along the East Coast of the US as far as UK → warm water displaces the colder denser water in the polar regions → moves south to be rewarmed by the equatorial sun.

Ecotones

________: transitional area where two ecosystems meet.

O2

In all natural bodies of water, there exist layers of water that vary significantly in their temperature, ________ content, nutrient levels (affected by season and other disturbances)

Cnidarians

________ that secrete a hard calciferous shell create coral reefs.

Hypolimnion

________: lower, colder and denser layer.

Nitrogen

________ must be in the form of ammonia (NH3) or nitrates (NO3-) to be used by living organisms.

Intraspecific

________: two individuals that are competing are the same species.

Epilimnion

________: uppermost layer, thus most oxygenated.

secondary sources

Organisms that obtain food energy from ________ by eating plant of animal matter.

Deltas

________: landform where rivers meet the ocean.

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Biotic

interactions with other organisms (intra/interspecific competition, predation, parasitism, or demographic changes)

Abiotic

physical and climatic factors

Population

groups of organisms of the same species

Community

populations of different species occupy the same geographic area

Species niche

total sum of a species use of a/biotic resources in env

Habitat

area/env where organism lives/occurs Competition

Intraspecific

two individuals that are competing are the same species

Interspecific

two individuals that are competing are the diff species

Resources

food, air, shelter, sunlight, etc

Gauses principle

no two species can occupy the same niche at the same time; the species that is less fit will relocate, die out, or occupy a smaller niche

Realized niche

smaller niche in the absence of competition

Fundamental niche

niche with no competition

Resource partitioning

different species use slightly different parts of the habitat but rely on the same resource Interspecies interaction

Competition

see above

Predation

one species feeds on another

Symbiotic

close, prolonged association b/t 2+ different organisms of different species that may benefit each other

Mutualism

both species benefit

Commensalism

one organism benefits while the other is neither helped nor hurt

Parasitism

one species is harmed and the other benefits Ecosystems

Biomes

ecosys based on land

Aquatic life zones

ecosys based in aqueous env

Ecotones

transitional area where two ecosystems meet

Ecozones

smaller regions within ecosystem that share similar physical features

Law of minimum

living organisms will continue to live, consuming available materials until the supply of these materials is exhausted

Limiting factor

factor that controls a populations growth

Energy that drives biogeochemical cycles (in the biosphere) comes primarily from

(1) the sun

Law of Conservation of Matter

matter can neither be created nor destroyed

Net Primary Productivity (NPP)

amount of energy plants pass on to the community of herbivores in an ecosystem

NPP = GPP

respiration

Units

kcal/m2/yr

Gross Primary Productivity (GPP)

amount of sugar that the plants produce in photosynthesis; rate at which the producers are converting solar energy to chemical energy Food chains/food webs Producers

Primary consumers

herbivores → consume only producers (plants and algae)

Secondary consumers

consumes primary consumer

Tertiary consumer

consumes secondary consumer

Detritivores

consume nonliving organic matter (dead animals or fallen leaves)

Decomposers

bacteria or fungi that absorb nutrients from nonliving organic matter such as plant material, wastes of living organisms, corpses → convert materials into inorganic forms Food chains

10% rule

only 10% of energy from one trophic level is passed to the next (most is lost as heat; used for metabolism, respiration, digestion, running away)

Bioaccumulation

accumulation of a substance in the tissues of a living organism

Reservoir

place where a large quantity of a nutrient sits for a long period of time (ex

water cycle

ocean)

Exchange pool

site where nutrient sits for only a short period of time; opposite of reservoir (ex

water cycle

cloud)

Residency time

amount of time a nutrient spends in a reservoir/exchange pool (ex

Precipitation

water exists in atmo as gas → condenses from gaseous state to form liquid/solid → dense enough to fall to the earth bc of gravity

Reservoirs

lake, ocean, snow, ice

Exchange pools

bc all living organisms are primarily made up of water → plants are exchange pools for water

Evaporation

water returned to atmosphere from earths surface and living organisms

Respiration

animals and plants breathe in oxygen and give off CO2

Photosynthesis

plants take in CO2, H2o, and energy from the sun to produce carbohydrates

Exchange pools

living things are carbon exchange pools

Oceans

CO2 is very soluble in water

Rockes

carbonate rocks contain CO2 in the form of calcium carbonate

Fixing

process that allows nitrogen to be made biologically available (like how photosynthesis makes carbon biologically available)

Rhizobium

important nitrogen fixing soil bacteria

Eutrophication

body of water receives excess nutrients