apes unit 1 (the living world: ecosystems)

biotic

living organisms

abiotic

non-living components of an ecosystem

predator-prey relationship

predators hunt and kill prey, biotic interaction, prey is a food source, as the availability of prey fluctuates the number of predators does as well

symbiosis

long term interaction between 2 species in an ecosytem

mutualism

both species benefit resulting in an increased chance of survival and reproduction and the relationship is long term

commensalism

one species receives a benefit and the other is unaffected

parasitism

one organism lives on or inside of another, other organism is called “host” and is harmed (harms host but rarely causes death)

competition

results when individuals from different species or within the same species struggle to obtain the same limiting resource

limiting resource

any resource (biotic or abiotic) that constrains a populations size or could potentially stop a population from growing

broadleaf temperate forest

eastern north america and europe, logging and habitation, typically receives 30-60 inches of rain and 50-70 degrees fahrenheit

shrubland

mediterranean habitation and favorable climate, 10-50 inches of rain and 50-100 degrees fahrenheit

temperate grassland

american "corn belt”, 20-35 inches of precipitation, 0-90 degrees fahrenheit

tundra

canada and russia, harsh climate and poor soils, 10 inches of precipitation, 18 to -40 degrees fahrenheit

taiga

canada and russia, logging, tar sands, natural gas, 15-30 inches of precipitation, 50 to - 65 degrees fahrenheit

tropical rainforests

amazon, congo, west africa, south east asia, brazil, malaysia, timber, palm oil, soy bean, cattle grazing, remain mostly intact, 75-85 degrees fahrenheit, 100-400 inches of rain

wetlands

marshes (non woody), swamps (wooded), bogs (acidic, peat or sphagnum moss)

carbon cycle

carbon is emitted through respiration (C6H12o6+602 —> 6CO2 + 6H2O), combustion of fossil fuels, diffusion from the atmosphere forming calcium carbonate, eruption of volcanoes, methane from anaerobic processes (bacteria, cows, landfills, etc.)

phosphorus cycle

makes up nucleic acids and proteins, begins with weathering of phosphate rich rocks, infiltrates into soil, phosphate then assimilates into plants and then animals

nitrogen cycle

atmospheric nitrogen undergoes fixation either through lightning, biologically (root nodules of legumes), or industrially (Haber-Bosch process N2+3H2 —> 2NH3) which produces ammonia, then nitrification occurs which then turns the ammonia into nitrite and then nitrate, the nitrate is used as yum yum for the plants which are then eaten by animals and when those animals die decomposition breaks down the dead organic matter and releases nitrogen containing compounds which ammonifcation converts into to ammonia or ammonium, denitrification occurs to some of the nitrates which releases atmospheric nitrogen (N2), at high temperatures atmospheric nitrogen becomes NOx, excess nitrates lead to eutrophication

eutrophication

when a body of water becomes over run with an excess of nutrients causing the rapid growth/reproduction of algae

hypoxia

low oxygen levels caused by the decomposition of excess algae which consumes dissolved oxygen in the water

algae bloom

a rapid increase in the population of algae in a water body, often causing discoloration of the water, can also cover the surface of a body of water making photosynthesis more difficult, can also produce toxins which can harm humans, animals and the environment