CH 3: Ecosystems and Biomes

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What is an ecosystem?

A particular location on Earth distinguished by its mix of interacting biotic and abiotic components.

Organisms that use the sun's energy to produce usable energy are known as _____ or autotrophs.

producers

What are organisms that obtain energy by feeding on other organisms called?

Consumers, also known as heterotrophs.

What is the process where producers use solar energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into glucose?

Photosynthesis

What is cellular respiration?

The process by which organisms convert glucose and oxygen into carbon dioxide, water, and energy (ATP).

What term describes the successive levels of organisms consuming one another in an ecosystem?

Trophic levels.

A sequence of consumption from producers through tertiary consumers is called a _____.

food chain

What is a food web?

A complex network of interrelated food chains that illustrates how energy and nutrients flow through an ecosystem

What is another term for primary consumers, and what do they eat?

Herbivores; they are plant and algae eating animals.

Lions, hawks, and rattlesnakes are examples of what type of consumer?

Secondary consumers (carnivores).

Carnivores that eat secondary consumers, such as bald eagles, are classified as _____.

tertiary consumers

What is the term for carnivores that consume dead animals?

Scavengers.

Organisms that specialize in breaking down dead tissue and waste products into smaller particles are called _____.

detritivores

What is Gross Primary Productivity (GPP)?

The total amount of energy captured by producers through photosynthesis over a specific time period.

How is Net Primary Productivity (NPP) calculated?

NPP is the energy captured (GPP) minus the energy respired by producers.

In the analogy provided, GPP is to revenue as NPP is to _____.

profit

What is biomass in an ecosystem?

The total mass of all living matter in a specific area.

What does the term 'standing crop' refer to?

The amount of biomass present in an ecosystem at a given time.

What is ecological efficiency?

The proportion of consumed energy that can be passed from one trophic level to another.

What is a trophic pyramid used to represent?

The distribution of biomass among trophic levels

What is the biosphere?

The global sum of all ecosystems, encompassing both terrestrial and aquatic environments.

The cycling of matter through the biosphere is known as a _____ cycle.

biogeochemical

What is the hydrologic cycle?

The movement of water through the biosphere.

What is the nitrogen cycle?

The process by which nitrogen circulates and is converted between its various chemical forms in ecosystems.

The movement of carbon among the atmosphere, organisms, and oceans is known as the _____.

carbon cycle

Define an ecosystem disturbance.

An event caused by physical, chemical, or biological agents that results in changes in population size or community composition.

Human settlements, agriculture, and pollution are examples of what type of ecosystem disturbance?

Anthropogenic disturbances.

What is ecosystem resistance?

A measure of how much disturbance an ecosystem can tolerate without significantly changing its flows of energy and matter.

The rate at which an ecosystem returns to its original state after a disturbance is known as its _____.

resilience

What is a watershed?

All of the land in a given landscape that drains into a particular stream, river, lake, or wetland.

How is 'weather' different from 'climate'?

Weather describes short-term, local atmospheric conditions, while climate is the average weather over a long period.

Which layer of the atmosphere is closest to Earth’s surface, extending roughly 10 miles up?

The troposphere.

The layer of the atmosphere above the troposphere, extending from about 10 to 31 miles, is the _____.

stratosphere

In atmospheric convection currents, does less-dense air rise or sink?

Less-dense air rises.

What happens to air's capacity for water vapor as it warms?

Warm air has a higher capacity for water vapor than cold air.

What is adiabatic cooling?

The cooling effect that occurs when rising air expands, leading to cloud formation and precipitation.

What is latent heat release?

The release of heat into the environment when water vapor condenses into liquid water.

What is the Coriolis effect?

The deflection of an object’s path due to Earth’s rotation.

Large-scale circular ocean currents influenced by wind and Earth's rotation are called _____.

gyres

What is upwelling in the ocean?

The process where cold, nutrient-rich water rises to the surface, enhancing marine productivity.

What is thermohaline circulation?

A large-scale ocean circulation pattern driven by differences in water temperature and salinity.

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) involves the reversal of atmospheric and ocean currents in which ocean?

The tropical Pacific Ocean.

What is the general weather pattern associated with La Niña?

Opposite patterns to El Niño, with increased rainfall in the western Pacific and drought in the eastern regions.

Which American ecologist is credited with classifying biomes?

Robert Harding Whittaker.

What is a biome?

A large geographic region on Earth with a unique climate, plants, and animals adapted to those conditions.

What is the defining characteristic of the Tundra biome's soil?

Permafrost, where the underlying subsoil is permanently frozen.

The Boreal Forest, or Taiga, is primarily composed of what type of trees?

Coniferous (cone-bearing) evergreen trees.

Which coastal biome is characterized by moderate temperatures, high precipitation, and huge trees?

Temperate Rainforest.

Which biome is dominated by broadleaf deciduous trees like beech, maple, and oak, and has nutrient-rich soil from decomposition?

Temperate Seasonal Forest.

The Woodland/Shrubland biome is characterized by what type of climate, also known as a Mediterranean climate?

Hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters.

Which biome is characterized by cold, harsh winters, hot, dry summers, and is dominated by grasses?

Temperate Grassland/Cold Desert.

Which terrestrial biome has the highest biodiversity, containing about two-thirds of Earth's terrestrial species?

Tropical Rainforest.

The _____ biome is characterized by warm temperatures and distinct wet and dry seasons, with grasses and scattered deciduous trees.

Tropical Seasonal Forest/Savanna

Cacti and succulent plants are common in which biome, known for hot temperatures and extremely dry conditions?

Subtropical Desert

What are the three primary characteristics used to categorize aquatic biomes?

Salinity, depth, and water flow.

In a lake, what is the shallow area near the shore where algae and emergent plants grow?

The littoral zone.

The open water of a lake, where phytoplankton are the only photosynthetic organisms, is called the _____ zone.

limnetic

What is the profundal zone of a lake?

The zone where sunlight cannot penetrate, and therefore producers cannot survive.

The muddy bottom of a lake beneath the limnetic and profundal zones is called the _____.

benthic zone

Which highly productive aquatic biome is found along tropical and subtropical coasts and contains salt-tolerant trees?

Mangrove Swamps.

How do mangrove trees help coastlines?

They help protect coastlines from erosion and storm damage.

The narrow band of coastline that exists between high and low tide levels is known as the _____.

intertidal zone

What is Earth's most diverse marine biome, found in warm, shallow, nutrient-poor water?

Coral Reefs.

What is coral bleaching?

The phenomenon where algae inside coral die due to a combination of disease and environmental change.

In the open ocean, the zone that receives enough light for photosynthesis is called the _____ zone.

photic

What is the aphotic zone of the open ocean?

The deeper water that lacks sufficient light for photosynthesis.

What is chemosynthesis?

The process in the aphotic zone where some bacteria use methane and hydrogen sulfide to generate energy.