Biological Complexity and Biosphere 2

Flashcards covering key vocabulary related to Biosphere 2, ecological hierarchy, biomes, and related concepts from the lecture.

White-nose syndrome

A fungal disease sweeping through North American bat populations, causing devastation.

Biosphere 2

A facility in Southern Arizona, one of the largest greenhouses ever constructed, dedicated to scientific research on biomes, ecosystems, and nutrient cycling, originally for space travel research.

Biosphere 2 'lung'

A gigantic balloon system installed under the stove of Biosphere 2 that would inflate and deflate to manage air volume changes as the internal environment warmed and cooled.

Ed Bass

The eccentric billionaire who privately funded the construction of Biosphere 2 in the late eighties and early nineties, with the idea of building a space station on Earth.

Biosphere 1

Refers to Planet Earth, in contrast to Biosphere 2.

Earth as a materially closed system

The concept that for practical purposes, nothing comes in or goes out of Earth in terms of matter, implying all water that has ever existed is all that will exist (ignoring minuscule comet deliveries).

Earth as an energetically open system

The concept that Earth receives and radiates energy (solar radiation) daily, meaning energy flows in a one-way trip.

Hierarchy of Biological Complexity

An organizational chart for biological complexity, from largest to smallest: Biosphere -> Biomes -> Ecosystems -> Communities -> Populations -> Individual.

Biosphere (ecological term)

The largest unit of life; it encompasses all life on Planet Earth, extending from the upper atmosphere to the deepest ocean sediment and bedrock.

Biome

A large unit of the biosphere characterized by a distinct climate and a particular assemblage of plants and animals adapted to it.

Tundra

A biome characterized by cold and dry conditions, typically at high latitudes or high in the mountains, with low-stature vegetation and animals like caribou and polar bears.

Tropical Rainforest

A biome characterized by warm conditions and abundant water year-round.

Ecosystem

A specific portion of a biome consisting of living (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic) parts interacting with one another.

Biotic

Pertaining to the living parts within an ecosystem.

Abiotic

Pertaining to the nonliving parts within an ecosystem.

Community

The biotic, or living, part of an ecosystem; all the populations, plants, animals, and other species living and interacting in an area.

Population

A group of individuals of the same species living and interacting (meaning breeding) in the same region.

Individual

A single member of a population, representing the smallest level of biological organization in this context.

Species (simplified definition)

For practical purposes, a group of plants or animals that have a high degree of similarity and can generally only interbreed amongst themselves.

Habitat

The physical environment in which individuals of a particular species can be found, defined by factors like structure, rainfall, and temperature.

Niche

The role a species plays in its community, including how it gets energy and nutrients, its habitat requirements, and what other species and parts of the ecosystem it interacts with (often thought of as an organism's 'job').

Mediterranean scrub

A biome defined by a particular climate with warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters, originally described near the Mediterranean Sea but also found in places like California and South Africa.

Sonoran Desert

A desert biome in Southern Arizona characterized by warm winters, hot summers, and rainy periods in both seasons, leading to a high diversity of plants like Saguaro cacti.

Savannah

An ecosystem characterized by scattered trees within a grassland, iconically found in East Africa (e.g., Maasai Mara).

Boreal Forest

A biome characterized by spruce trees and extending across northern latitudes (e.g., from Alaska to Quebec, Scandinavia to Northern Asia).

Mean annual temperature

The average temperature calculated by summing the temperature of every day during the year and dividing by 365, used as a defining factor for biomes.

Annual precipitation

The total amount of rain and snow combined received during a year, expressed in centimeters of water, and used as a defining factor for biomes.