Chapter 4: Energies in Communities and Succession

Where is over 1/2 of all water used inside a house (and thus where you can conserve the most water)?

Bathroom

rainshadow effect

When moist air moves up a steep slope (mountain), it cools and condenses, releasing precipitation

no-analog communities or novel communities

mixtures of species that have not previously occurred on Earth

eradication

total elimination of a population; very difficult and expensive

→ population managers instead aim to control populations with trapping, poisoning, and other techniques

introduced species

non-native arrivals in a community brought by people

disturbance

any event that has rapid and drastic effects on the community and ecosystem

climax community species

overtake pioneer species over time (ex: hardwood trees overtake ferns)

competitive exclusion

if one species is a stronger competitor, it may exclude other species from the resource

ex: zebra mussels exclude native mussels

coevolution

Evolve in response to one another; Parasites and hosts adapt and counter-adapt to each other

character displacement

competing species diverge and develop different characteristics

pathogens

parasites that cause disease

biomimicry

1. copying form and shape

2. copying a process, like photosynthesis in a leaf

3. mimicking at an ecosystem's level, like building a nature-inspired city

niche

a species’ role in an ecosystem, including resource use, habitat use, food consumption, and other attributes

What is the primary water supply (90%) for Southern Nevada?

The Colorado River

Xeriscape landscaping involves

using native and low-water-use plants, efficient irrigation systems, and mulch.

In order to determine how small lifestyle changes can affect your domestic water use, you were asked to re-run the water use calculator to evaluate each change, how many times? I.e., how many lifestyle changes were you asked to evaluate in order to determine any change in your domestic water consumption?

3

Losses from ______________ can form a significant but often overlooked use of water in the home.

drips and leaks

Per capita water use is generally higher in the western United States than in the eastern part of the country, primarily because

there is a greater amount of irrigation in the western U.S.

What is the largest category of water consumption in the United States?

irrigation

Which of the following uses the most water in the home (indoor water use)?

flushing the toilet

water consumption is

water that is used and removed from the environment by evaporation, transpiration, or incorporation into a plant or a product, and not returned to the environment.

Which of the following is NOT a method for reducing water consumption in the home?

water lawns during the middle of the day, and washing dishes by hand

Las Vegas is now building a water supply line to pull more underground water since consumption has increased so much in the city over the past 10 years. TRUE OR FALSE

false

How are return-flow water credits earned?

Unused water flows into the sewage system, which then flows to the wastewater treatment plant where water is cleaned and put back into the Colorado River where it was originally drawn from.

What does "per capita" mean as it was used in this lab?

per person

Who maintains a database that contains a wide variety of information on over 5,000 consumer products and possible side effects associated with those products?

National Institute of Health (NIH)

What are the three types of hazard information provided by the HMIS?

health, fire, and reactivity

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defines 'hazardous materials' as

any material that is ignitable, corrosive, explosive, or toxic to humans, plants, or animals

In lab 11, Chemicals in the Home, what does HMIS mean?

Hazardous Materials Identification System

In lab 11, Chemicals in the Home, what does MSDS stand for?

Material Safety Data Sheet

What is an MSDS?

It is a fact sheet developed by manufacturers describing the chemical properties of a product.

99% of the human body is composed of which six chemical elements?

oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus

Synthetic chemicals are

those which are developed by humans and do not exist in nature.

Organic chemicals all contain the element

Carbon - C;

Biodegrade/decompose rapidly

What do environmentalists argue will be the best way to prevent the collapse of our honey bee population in the midst of this crisis?

Change the way large-scale farming is done in the US

What did the EPA do in 2019 after a lawsuit was brought by bee keepers and environmentalists?

They pulled a dozen insecticides from the market

What happened over the last several years resulting in bee's in California becoming sick and eventually dying in record numbers?

The almond industry has doubled and used large quantities of pesticides in their agricultural methods

How can herbivores be a keystone species on a Savannah?

their consumption of plants help control the physical and biological aspects of an ecosystem

What's an umbrella species do and give an example?

have large habitat needs, and the requirements of that habitat impact many other species living there (panda bears)

What's a foundation species and give an example?

play a major role in creating or maintaining a habitat (Coral reefs)

Where does southern Nevada get most of it's water from?

The Colorado River

What are return flow water credits and how are they earned?

The water returned to the lake earns us return-flow credits

What's happening to water use in Las Vegas?

a controversial water pipeline that pitted Las Vegas against a rural area in Nevada for 30 years was ended for now

Why are cane toads a particularly nasty invasive species in Australia?

they are poisonous

How are cane toads influencing freshwater crocodiles?

the baby crocs are learning not to eat the cane toads because it makes them sick

Why was water initially diverted from the Everglades and how?

people wanted to use the soil in the region for planting, flood protection was needed for residents. They created a drainage system and a highway

What does the everglades provide for humans (why is it important that it functions properly)?

drinking water and support for the economies of agriculture, recreation, and tourism

How did that water diversion negatively impact the ecosystem in FL?

it impacted the Everglade's hydrology, decreased water quality, and caused habitat loss and degradation

What are the goals of the Task Force for restoring the everglades?

to address the issue of water, habitats and species, and the built environment

-get the water right

-get the hydrology right

-restore, preserve, and protect natural habitats and species

-foster compatibility of the built and natural system

Why do brine shrimp (loners) begin to swim in groups?

because of parasites, tapeworm. the tapeworm drains their bodies and castrates them, changes their colors, makes them swim in groups because the tapeworm is controlling them and needs multiple hosts

What is the parasite that affects mammals (including humans) but only reproduces in cats?

toxoplasma gondii (toxo)

Are these parasites in extreme abundance and critical to our world?

yes

Describe what happens to the caterpillar when another insect tries to touch it.

it violently thrashes about because it has a parasite

How the introduction of wolves change rivers?

the rivers began to meander less, there was less erosion, the channels narrowed, more pools formed, all of which were great for the wildlife. due to the stabilization of the vegetation and wildlife the banks became stable and more fixed in their course

How are wolves connected to songbirds in Yellowstone?

before wolves arrived, the vegetation and resources were being grazed away by the deer. When wolves arrived the start of regeneration started and songbirds came due to the newfound tree heights and vegetation

What was the wolves biggest influence on the elk herds?

allowed them to thin out, less populated herd caused the area to regrow and became more populated with other species

99% of the human body is composed of 6 chemical elements

Hydrogen – H

Oxygen – O

Carbon – C

Nitrogen – N

Phosphorus – P

Calcium - Ca

Human bodies decompose into chemicals

Hydrogen gas – H₂

Nitrogen gas – N₂

Water – H₂O

Ammonia – NH₃

Carbon Dioxide – CO₂

Phosphoric acid – H₃PO₄

Sulfuric acid – H₂SO₄

Chemical compounds

2 or more elements combined

Inorganic

Do NOT contain C

Do NOT decompose rapidly

competition

when multiple organisms seek the same limited resource.

resource partitioning

the process in which species partition, or divide the resource they use in common by specializing in different ways.

predation

the process by which individuals of one species, a predator, hunt, capture, kill and consume individuals of another species

mutualism

is a relationship in which two or more species benefit from interacting with one another

symbiosis

physically close association between interacting species (whether in mutualistic or parasitic interactions)

pollination

an interaction vital to agriculture and our food supply, involves free living organisms that may encounter each other only once

community

is an assemblage of organisms living in the same area at the same time.

trophic level

rank in the feeding hierarchy

producers

"self-feeders" comprise the first trophic level

consumers

organisms that consume producers, and make up the second trophic level

decomposers

consume nonliving organic matter

biomass

the collective mass of living matter in a given place and time

food web

a visual map of feeding relationships and energy flow that uses arrows to show the many paths by which energy passes among organisms as they consume one another

keystone species

a species that has a strong or wide-reaching impact far out of proportion to its abundance

trophic cascade

predators at high trophic levels can indirectly promote populations of organisms at low trophic levels

resistance

a community that resists change and remains stable despite disturbance

resilience

community changes in response to disturbance but later returns to its original state

succession

if the disturbance is severe enough to eliminate all or most of the species in a community, the affected site may then undergo a somewhat predictable series of changes.

primary succession

follows a disturbance so severe that no vegetation or soil life remains from the community that occupied the site; removes all vegetation/soil life

ex: glaciers retreat, lakes dry up, lava/ash cover landscape

secondary succession

when a disturbance dramatically alters an existing community but does not destroy all life or all organic matter in the soil; leave soil intact

ex: farming, fires, storms, logging, landslides

pioneer species

species that arrive first and colonize the new substrate

phase/regime shift

the overall character of the community fundamentally changes due to disturbance

invasive species

species that spread widely and dominant a community, they can alter a community substantially and are one of the central ecological forces in today's world; introduced species that are thriving

restoration ecology

aim to research and restore the historical conditions of ecological communities as they existed before our industrialized civilization

ecological restoration

the actual on-the-ground efforts to carry out these visions and restore communities

biome

a major regional complex of similar communities

temperate deciduous forest

dominates the landscape around the southern Great Lakes and is characterized by broad-leafed trees that are deciduous, meaning they lose their leaves each fall and remain dormant during winter, when hard freezes would endanger leaves

temperate grasslands

the limited precipitation in the Great Plains region, supports more grasses easier than trees

temperate rainforest

coniferous trees such as cedars, spruces, hemlocks, and Douglas Fir grow very tall in the temperate rainforest, and the forest interior is shaded and damp

tropical rainforest

found in Central America, South America, Southeast Asia, west Africa, and other tropical regions and is characterized by year-round rain and uniformly warm temperatures

tropical dry forest

a biome widespread in India, Africa, South American and northern Australia. Wet and dry seasons each span for about half a year in these areas.

Savanna

tropical grassland interspersed with with clusters of acacias or other trees

desert

where rainfall is sparse, the driest biome on Earth, receive only 25 centimeters (9.8 in) of rain a year

tundra

nearly as dry as desert, occurs at very high latitudes along the northern edges of Russia, Canada, Scandinavia, extremely cold winters with little daylight and summers with lengthy days characterize this landscape of lichens and low, scrubby vegetation without trees

boreal forest

stretches in a broad band across much of Canada, Alaska, Russia and Scandinavia, consists of few species of evergreen trees, such as black spruce that dominate large stretched of forest interspersed with occasional bogs and lakes

chaparral

limited to the fairly small patches widely flung around the globe. Consists of evergreen shrubs and is densely thicketed

food chain

depiction of the flow of energy and feeding relationships from lower to higher trophic levels

food webs

incorporate all of the interlinking food chains within an entire community, showing the map of energy flow, i.e. trophic levels

evolution

change in a kind of organism over time; process by which modern organisms have descended from ancient organisms through generations; originates in genes and often leads to modifications in appearance or behavior

speciation

process by which new species are generated