BOTANY UNIT ONE

Mostly orange terms :)

Paramo

Tundra like ecosystem

Names of two tropics

Tropic of cancer (north) and Tropic of Capricorn (south)

Longitude

Lines running in a north south direction

Latitude

Lines run in a east west direction

What is Longitude and Latitude measured in

Degrees, minutes, and seconds

Differences between tropical and temperate environment

• Lack of dictinct season in the tropics

• Tropics are warmer and wetter

• Insolation is greater in the tropics

• Tropics have constant daylength

Insolation

Amount of solar energy input

Paleotropics

Old world tropics (africa, asia, Australia)

What causes seasons

Earths tilt

summer solstice

When the sun is directly over the tropic of cancer

winter solstice

when the sun is directly over the tropic of capricorn

torrid zone

Place where is is the warmest (located between two tropics)

Three measurements to determine what sort of terrestrial ecosystem will occur

• Mean annual temperature

• Total annual precipitation

• Ration of potential evotranspiration (moisture+temp) to mean annual precipitation

Doldrums (aka. intertropical convergence zone) - ITCZ

Region by equator where trade winds meet. This area has low atmospheric pressure and light winds, high humidity and frequent storms.

how does growing season affect the tropics

Longer season to thrive = more biodiversity.

ENSO in the tropics

Also known as (el nino or southern oscillation) - is a climate cycle involving fluctuations in ocean temps and atmospheric pressure across the pacific ocean. This affects fruit production and ecosystems

What does ice records in equatorial areas show?

Past climare, monsoon history, atmospheric composition

Hadley cell

The priciple air circulation in the tropics. This is driven by higher solar radiation.

Hadley cell explained

Where the suns energy is highest, air on the surface is warm. This warm air rises via convection and this initiates Hadley circulation. the belt of warm wet air is called equatorial low pressure belt.. then the air cools and water vapor condenses to form clouds. when the air gets to the stratosphere it directs it north and south. This cool air goes down just outside the two tropics.

when does the equinox occur?

when the sun is positioned directly above the earths equator. (equal light and dark)

Intrinsic Value

Idea of letting nature exist. ex. protecting endangered species even if there is no economic gain ot ecological importance.

Instrumental Value (utilitatian or economic value)

Value of a species or organism os attributed to nature because of the economic benefits.

Examples of direct values (provisioning service)

Food, timber, medicine, freshwater

Examples of indirect values (not directly consumed)

Regulating services - Pollination, flood control

cultural services ex. reincarnation, or aesthetics

supporting survices - ex. nutrient cycling

Optional value - future thought

Relational value

The importance of biodiversity stems from relationships between people and nature.

How many rainy seasons are near the equator vs near the tropics

Near equator - 2 rainy seasons

near tropics - one rainy season

Horse Latitudes

High pressure regions located 30 degrees north and south of the equator.

Driest place on earth

Atacama desert

Trade winds

air coming from sub tropical high pressure zone that is deflected bu the coriolis force created by the spin of the earth.

How is wind named?

by the direction it is blowing from.

flow of winds across tropics

Net westward flow of air and moisture

Where does water flow in northern hemisphere

Coriolis force deflects water…

clockwise in the northern hemisphere

where does water flow in the southern hemisphere

Coriolis force deflects water…

counter clockwise in the southern hemisphere

Ocean Gyres

systems circulating ocean currents

Generally water is _____ on eastern costs

Warmer

Generally, water is _____ on western coasts

Colder (because its more arrid)

orographic lift

When airmass hits a mountain it is forces upward. Most air that gets over a mountain looses its moisture and therfore the windward side of the mountain is usually wetter

Windward side of the mountain

side that faces the wind

leeward side of the mountain

side that is drier (doesnt face wind)

Rainshadow effect

Mountains are drier on the leeward side of the mountain

Topography

Study and layout of the land as well as its surface features.

What two things affect climate greatly

Vegetation and Temperature.

Albedo

a measure of how much light or radiation is reflected by a surface

Have all the species been discovered

No, millions could still be out there

Frontiers (border/edge) of biodiversity

Rainforest canopy

marine environments

Soil

Bacteria and (viruses)

Mycoheterophic

Fungi that consumes food from other organism. (not photosynthetic)

How do people sample insects high in a canopy

Fog method

Species richness

# of different species

Definition of species

group of the same organism that can breed with individuals and produce fertile and viable offspring

Binomial Naming system

Scientific naming system that includes a Genus (capitalized) + specific epithet (not capitalized) and it is always italicized or underlined.

Does species richness = species diversity

NO - you must also look at eveness.

Genetic diversity

genetic variation of the number of different genotype within a single population, single species, or between species.

IntrAspecific

Occurs between two members of the SAME species

IntErspecific

Occurs between two DIFFERENT species

Phylogenetic trees

map genetic info

systematics

Naming things and putting them into categories

Taxonomy

Naming of things

List the taxonomic levels in order

Kingdom

Phylum

Class

Order

Family

Genus

Species

How do you remember taxonomic levels

“King Phillip can order fresh green spinage”

Functional diversity

Function/role of species

Ecological roles

Redundancy - repetition

Resiliency - ability to bounce back

Functional trait - trait you can measure what an organism is doing

Ecological diversity

The number of biological communities or habitats

• ex. birds migrate to different habitats

• ex. salmon swim in fresh and salt water

Biological Homologation

similar biological features or genetic sequences shared by different species because they were inherited from a common ancestor

Endemism

when a species in unique to a location and foudn no where else on earth naturally

Provisioning services

any type of benefit to people that can be extracted from nature

Regulating services

The benefit provided by the ecosystem processes that moderate natural phenoma

Cultural services

Non material and cultural benefits

Supporting services

allow earth to sustain basic life forms ex. water cycle.

What us diversity the balance of

Extinction and speciation

Sucession

process by which life comes back to land after a disturbance

How does altitude affect biodiversity?

higher altitude means less species

How does habitat area affect biodiversity?

Larger land area or islands have more species and are more biodiverse

Species area curves

How do species accumulate as you sample land (eventually plateau)

How does distance from the mainland affect biodiversity?

Further from mainland means fewer species

Island biogeography theory

further from mainland means fewer species

how does time affect biodiversity

• older vs younger habitat regions

• pacific (older) than atlantic (newer)

• early vs late sucession

Biodiversity

The balance of speciation adn extinction

What is the time since disturbance graph showing

It shows how you have the highest levels of diversity with intermediate levels of disturbance (goldilox)

Intermediate disturbance theory

describes how local species diversity will peak when a medium level of ecological disturbances are present.