Biome and Aquatic Ecosystems

Why are plants used to define and area?

Why are plants used to define and area?

The are immobile and easily visible

What supports more vegetation?

Warmer climates and increased rainfall

Where are tundras found?

Areas ow low temp and precip, high latitudes

Arctic Tundra vs Alpine tundra

Arctic: High latitude

Alpine: High elevation

What biome exists in the highlighted area?

Tundra

What is temperature range of the tundra?

-35-12 degree C

Term for permanently frozen spoil

permafrost

What is peat soil?

Partially decomposed vegetation cause by low decomp rate, occurs in tundra

What are some vertebrates of the tundra?

Arctic fox, caribou, snowshoe hare, snowy owl, ect.

Vertebrates characteristic of an ALPINE tundra

Mountain goat, pika

Characters of Taiga

Forested, high elevation, discontinuous permafrost

Where are taigas located ?

Areas of Russia and Canada

How do trees survive in taiga

Narrow shape of leaves for water retention, unique shape of tree

Characteristic evergreens of taiga

fir, spruce, pine

Why is fire important in the taiga?

Seed release from cones

Why is nitrogen limiting in taiga

much of it is tied up in undecomposed matter

Vertebrates of taiga

elk, lynx, moose, marten

Characters of temperate forests

lower latitudes, can be deciduous coniferous or mixed, fire important

What is a boreal-mixed forest ecotone

Gradation of boreal into northern temperate coniferous forests

What is the forest in the map?

Jack Pine Forest

Where are montane coniferous forests located?

Rockies, Sierra Nevada, Cascade

Trees characteristic of montane coniferous forest

lodgepole, mt. hemlock, red fir, giant sequoia, ponderosa pine, costal redwoods

What is niche partitioning?

microclimate specializations

Where are the only primary growth in the US?

High in Appalachian mt.

Plant adaptions for rainforest vegetation

Large leaf tips, drip tips

What allows for rapid recycling of nutrients in rainforests?

Higher microdiversity

What are plants the root on the surface of other plants? Example?

Epiphytes, Bromeliads

Parasitic plant that leeches nutrients from host plants

Strangler vines

What are buttress roots?

Large wide roots on shallowly rooted trees

Characteristic of Heliconia

cup shaped, collects rainwater that hummingbirds collect, provides roost for tent bat

Tropical Rainforest vs Cloud Rainforest

Tropical: ~ <10 latitude

Cloud: elevation of ~ 1000-2500m

What is unique about leaf cutter ants

They take leaves to colony to decompose and provide nutrients to fungi that the plants eat (mutualism)

Latitude of deserts

~20-30 N and S

Max temps in desert

50C

Hot vs Cool Desert

Hot- created by rising air from rainforest that dries and heats as it falls

Cool- created by a rain shadow

Whats unique about kangaroo rat?

Creates metabolic water

Indicator species of Great Basin

Sagebrush

Indicator species of Chihuahuan

Creosote bush

Indicator species of Tallgrass prairie

Big bluestem

Indicator species of Sonoran

Saguaro cactus

Indicator species of deciduous temperate forest

hickory, oak

Indicator species of Mojave

Joshua tree

Indicator species of mixed grass prairie

Little bluestem

Indicator species of shortgrass prairie

Blue gramma

Desert?

Sonoran Desert

Desert?

Mojave

Desert?

Chihuahuan

What county makes up stopover point for migratory bird

Woods Co. (salt flats) and Alfalfa Co. (great salt plains)

What is the largest biome in N.A.? Historical percentage vs percentage now?

Temperate Grassland, 42% → 12%

How is the hydrological cycle powered?

solar radiation

Process where plants lose water through stomata

transpiration

Ways water is released into atmosphere

transpiration, respiration, evaporation

Percentage of water that is freshwater

2.6

Percentage of freshwater held as ice

80%

Where is there maximum light penetration, and primary productivity in the water column

Photic/Euphotic Zone

Water zone where only blue and green light penetrates

Twilight/Dysphotic Zone

Water where no no light or photosynthesis occurs

Aphotic zone

What is the maximum depth of light penetration?

100m

Area in water where there is a significant drop in temp, what depth does it occur

Thermocline, 120-240m

What nutrients are limiting depth decreases

Nitrate and phosphate

Ocean Zone of highest primary productivity, shallow water, high light penetration

Neritic zone

Zone prone to evaporation and higher temps

Littoral zone

Range of continental slope

700-4000 m

Range of abyssal zone

4000-6000 m

Zone that is >6000m

Hadal zone

How deep can trenches get

36,000 ft

What is the term for cycling nutrient rich mud caused by wind

Upwelling

What causes “Red Tides”

Dinoflagellates containing xanthophyll

What causes ciguatera poisoning

Consuming something that has eaten another organism that has consumed dinoflagellates (biological concentration)

Charcters of Pfisteria

cyst form turns to trophozoite, malignant or benign, can cause large fish die off, 24 morphological types

What is equivalent to tropical forests in the ocean

Coral reefs

How much of calcium is taken up by coral reefs, what form?

1/2 that enters the ocean, CaCO3

How much carbon do coral reefs remove/year

700 billion Kg

What is coral

Cnideria (polyp)

What do coral use to bring in food

stinging nematocyst

What do dinoflagellates provide to coral?

nutrients, CO2

What type of algae helps in solidifying CaCO2 and strengthens exoskeleton

Coralline

What temperature range for coral?

20-35C

What are most coral in regards to salt content, what does this make them vulnerable to

Stenohaline (tolerable to narrow range), runoff

Why are coral usually in clear clen water?

Sediment effects light penetration, zooxanthellae shedding, and pollutes mucus string

What is the most common reef?

Fringing

Characteristic of fringing reef

Very close to shore, very shallow water, most vulnerable

Characters of a barrier reef

Usually located near a lagoon, can be near a fringing reef. protected by lagoon separating it from mainland

Characters of atoll

Occurs around volcano, volcano sinks into ocean, rarest of reefs

Deep sea zone above 200 m

Photic/ epipelagic zone

Deep sea zone from 200m to ~1000m

Mesopelagic zone

Deep sea zone 1000m-4000m

Bathypelagic zone

Deep sea zone 4000m-6000m

Abyssopelagic zone

Deep sea zone >6000m

Hadopelagic zone

How deep is Mariana trench?

36,070ft

Where does food come from in deep sea

Dense water carrying food from above

Where does oxygen come from in deep sea?

Overturning along the great ocean conveyor

What is the enzyme that produces light in photophores

Luciferase

How do deep water organisms control light production

controlling blood circulation

Purpose of photophores

attracting food and mates

Where are many photophores located?

Along ventral surface

What is counterillumination

photophores on ventral that break up silhouette

Adaptions of mesopelagic zone fish

small size, slower metabolic rate, less food intake, large eyes, large mouth

What is the phenomenon of very large fish in deep sea

Abyssal gigantism