Unit 1 - The Living World | APES

Mutualism

Relationship that benefits both organisms

Commensalism

Relationship that benefits one organism and doesn’t impact the others

Parasite vs. Parasitoid

Parasites use a host for energy, parasitoids lay eggs inside a house

Symbiosis

Any close and long-term interactions b/w two organisms of different species

What is the exchange between coral and algae (symbiosis)?

Provide reef structures & CO2 for algae; algae provide sugars for coral to use as energy

What does latitude determine?

Temperature and precipitation

Nutrient Availability importance?

Plants need soil nutrients to grow, availability determines which plants can survive

Why do biomes shift?

Due to climate changes

Salinity

Amount of salt in a body of water, determines survivability and drinkability

Depth

Influences the sunlight that can reach plants below the surface for photosynthesis

Flow

How much O2 can dissolve into water & determines which organisms can survive,

Temperature

Warm water holds less dissolved O2 and thus supports fewer aq. organisms

Rivers

Have high dissolved O2 due to flow mixing water & air, also carry nutrient-rich sediments

Lakes

Standing bodies of fresh H2O

Littoral

Shallow water w/ emergent plants

Limnetic

Where light can reach (photosynthesis)

Profundal

Too deep for sunlight — no photosynthesis

Benthetic

Murky bottom where inverts (bugs) live, nutrient-rich sediments

Wetlands

Soil submerged/saturated in water, shallow enough for emergent plants

Benefits of Wetlands:

Stores excess water, recharges groundwater, filters pollutants, water/nutrients

Estuaries

Areas where rivers empty into the ocean

Examples of Estuaries?

Salt Marsh, Mangrove Swamps

Qualities of Estuaries?

Mix of fresh/salt water, high productivity and plant growth

Coral Reef

Warm shallow water beyond the shoreline; most diverse marine biome on Earth

Intertidal Zones

Narrow band of coastline between high and low tide, organisms have to adapt to hard waves/heat

Open Ocean

Low productivity/area as only algae/photosynthesis can survive

Photic zone:

Area where sunlight can reach (photosynthesis)

Aphotic Zone (Abyssal)

Area too deep for sunlight

Carbon Source

Releases more Carbon than it receives

Carbon Sink

Receives more carbon than it releases

What does photosynthesis do?

Takes CO2 from the atmosphere and converts it to glucose (CO2 sink)

What does Cellular Respiration

Uses O2 to break glucose down and release energy and CO2 (Carbon Source)

How do Photosynth. and C.R. cycle Carbon and what is the net gain/decrease?

Cycles b/w biosphere and atmosphere in balanced amount, no net change

What is the carbon exchange amount and rate b/w atmosphere and ocean?

Very quick rate and in equal directions, so CO2 remains even b/w both ocean and atmosphere

Sedimentation

Marine org. die, their bodies sink and are broken into sediments containiing Carbon

Burial

Water pressure compresses carbon-containing sediments into sedimentary stone (Carbon sink)

Fossil Fuels

Fossilized remains of organic matter

Extraction and Combustion

Burning Fossil Fuels as energy, releasing CO2 into atmosphere

Is burial faster than combustion, and how does such affect CO2?

Burial takes far longer than extract/combust. and therefore INCREASES concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere

Nitrogen sinks/reservoir

Receives Nitrogen from atmosphere in increasing amounts

Nitrogen Sources

Releases Nitrogen into the atmosphere

N = ?

Critical plant and animal nutrient

What is Nitrogen Fixation?

Process of N2 gas being converted into biologically available (usable NH3 ammonia, or No2- nitrate)

Bacterial fixation

Certain bacteria that live in the soil, or in a symbiotic relationship with plant root nodules convert N2 into ammonia