California Biodiversity Mid Term Flashcards

Endemic

Species there and nowhere else

Biodiversity Crisis

Rapid, human-caused decline in species populations and ecosystem health

Climate Change

Global climate changing faster than species can adapt

Provisioning Services

Provide food, building materials, energy

Regulating Services

Homeostasis (regulating the ecosytem), food prevention, climate and erosion control

Cultural Services

Benefits that our culture as humans benefit

Ecological Literacy

The ability to understand the natural systems that sustain life on Earth and use that understanding to create sustainable human communities

Naturalist

People who observe, study, and interpret the natural world

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)

Body of knowledge, beliefs, practices held by indigenous communities about the environment passed down through generations

Benefits of TEK

healthy ecosystem, mutual exchange of give and take, avoid overextracting

Two-Eyed Seeing

Viewing the world through indigenous and Western lenses

Slope

Measurement of the angle of the land face

Aspect

The compass direction that a slope faces

Elevation

Vertical height of a geographical feature on Earth's surface

Topography

Study of the physical features of Earth's surface

Geographic Range

Spatial distribution of a natural feature of organism, where a species is likely to occur

Endangered Species

In significant danger of going extinct in all or a portion of its geographic range

Endangered Species Act (ESA)

Passed in 1973 to protect endangered species

Carolus Linnaeus

Developed binomial system of classification

The Cell Theory

All living things are made of cells

6 kingdoms

Bacteria, archaea, protista, fungi, plantae, animalia

Photosynthetic kingdoms

Protista and plantae

California Bioregions

Klamath, Modoc, Sacramento Valley, Bay Delta, Sierra, San Joaquin Valley, Central Coast, South Coast Mojave, Colorado Desert

Geomorphic

Rock shape - study of Earth's surface and shape (ex: islands, mountains, valleys, rivers, faults)

Convergent

Where 2 continental plates collide

Divergent

Where continental plates move apart and space is filled in

Transform

Two plates slide past each other in opposite directions

Elevation and Zonation

Foothills, chapparral, lower montane forest, upper montane forest, subalphine forest, alphine, great basin woodland

Biotic vs abiotic

alive vs never alive

water in three forms

liquid = water, solid = ice, gas = vapor

Water cycle order

accumulation, evaportation, condensation, precipitation

4 global carbon reservoirs

atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, lithosphere

Sequester

carbon sink

Biomass

is alive, has weight and volume

Effects of industrial revolution on environment

fossil fueled energy transition, air and water pollution, deforestation, habitat destruction, overall carbon emission increase

Carbon cycle 3 forms

solid = coal, graphite, Liquid = mixed as an oil, gas = Carbon dioxide

Pangea

supercontinent that existed during Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras

True

The San Andreas fault is a transform fault

Common rock types

Igneous/Volcanic, metamorphic, sedimentary

Groundwater

Water deep in the ground and is high enough that roots can tap into it for a water source

Runoff

Serves as a reservoir and accumulation plant

Evaporation and Transpiration

The breathing of water by plants

Soil Horizons

Bedrock, parent rock, subsoil, eluviation layer, topsoil, organic layer

Humus

decomposed plant and animal material

Organic

contains carbon

Symbiosis

Mutualistic relationship between two organisms where neither can live without the other

Mutualism

When two species benefit from their relationship

Mycorrhiza

A symbiotic relationship between a fungus and plant

myco = fungus, rrizhal = root

found in 80-90% of plant life

Solstices

apex days

Equinoxes

mid way points

Latitudinal zones of earth

arctic, temperate, tropical, equator

Topographic extremes in California

Death valley, mt witney, clear lake, San Fransisco Bay/Delta

CA Bioregions

Mediterranean climate

What climate does California have?

Endemic Species

Species that occur in one place and no where else

Geiger counter

scientific instrument detecting radioactive particles

Mycelium

Netwrok of thread like fungal structures growing through soil and connects to plant roots

Hub trees

largest and oldest trees in a forest that act like central part in Mycorrhizal network

Aposemitism

advertising toxicity with color

Where does California's water used most?

Human use - 60% and Agricultural use - 40%

Water formula

H + OH = H2O

Acidic

Excess H

Alkali or Basic

Excess OH

pH

potential hydrogen - a substance's ability to attract hydrogen ions

Carbonic Acid formula

H2O + CO2 = H2CO3

Threats to major rivers of CA (Sacramento San Joaquin)

Dams, Pollution, Overextraction, Recharge

Watersheds

where water flows

Refugia

Location that supports an isolated population of a species that might no longer exist lower down

Vernal Pools

pools that accumulate after rain - important for amphibians and birds

Examples of estuaries being productive ecosystems

bacteria decomposes nutrients, breeding and hatching grounds for fish, feeding grounds for birds, incoming tides bring nutrients and oxygen

Anadromous

Born in freshwater migrate to salt water and return to fresh water to spawn

Anadromous fish species

Steelhead, rainbow trout, pacific lamprey

California current

slow, cold ocean flowing SOUTH along North American coast

Upwelling

winds push surface water away from shore and suck up nutrient rich cold water from deeper areas

El Nino

Warming of sea surface temperature - moisture

La Nina

Cooling of ocean surface - dryness

Air flows

north pole, subtropical, south pole jet streams

orographic effect

Movement of air masses over land - ocean to land

orographic precipitation

when moist air is lifted over mountain range which forms orographic clouds and release precipitation on WINDWARD side of range

Rain Shadow Effect

Why do we have a desert in California?

Because the rain shadow effect of going from coast range to great valley to sierra Nevada it gets very dry at the point at the other side of sierra in desert

What are some of the factors that contribute to California's biodiversity?

Abiotic factors: unique geography (highest and lowest points), mediterranean climate (hot dry summers and wet winters)

Biotic factors: Native species (many are endemic), ecosystem interactions (competition, symbiosis, mutualism), Habitat diversity (forests, coasts, grassalnds, etc)

Mammal Characteristics

Warm blooded, give birth to young, nourhsed by milk, have body hair or fur

Diets of animals

Insectavore, Omnivore, Herbivore, Carnivore, Scavenger

Photosynthesis Equation

CO2 + H2O → C6H12O6 + O2

Aerobic Respiration Equation

C6H12O6 + 6O2 → 6CO2 + 6H2O + ATP

True

True or False: Energy flows and matter cycles through ecosystems

Chloroplasts

Photosynthesis occurs in ...

mitochondria

Aerobic Respiration occurs in ...

Food Chain

Process of moving matter/energy through an ecosystem

Carrying capacity

Number of individuals of a species that an environment can support

Niche partitioning

avoiding competition by exploiting another source

Spatial Niche partitioning

using different areas

Dietary Niche partitioning

consuming different foods in the same habitat

Temporal niche partitioning

Species hunt are active or hunt at different times

Ecological niche

the role of an organism in the community

Producer, herbivore, omnivore, carnivore, scavenger, decomposer

California Food web chain

know this

Ansel Adams

Yosemite photographer

Manifest Destiny affects on environment

deforestation, soil exhaustion and dust bowl, habitat destruction, American buffalo habitat near extinction

Gold rush effects on environment

deforestation, toxic pollution, hydraulic mining washed hillsides into rivers, mercury contamination