SC.912.L.17.5, SC.912.L.17.9, SC.912.L.17.20 Notes

Population Size

• Determined by births, deaths, immigration, and emigration.
• Limiting factors (biotic and abiotic) determine carrying capacity.
  • J curves, S curves
• Consequences to biodiversity:
  • Human activity
  • Catastrophic events
  • Non-native species
  • Climate change
• Factors affecting life in aquatic systems:
  • Depth
  • Salinity
  • Geography
  • Temperature
  • Light (photic/aphotic)
  • Eutrophication
  • Chemistry
• Causes of changes in ecosystems:
  • Seasonal variations
  • Succession
  • Climate change
  • Human activity
  • Invasive species
• Limiting factors:
  • Food, water, living space, shelter
  • Competition, predation
  • Density-dependent vs. density-independent

Food Webs

• Identify producers, consumers, and decomposers.
• Energy transfer through trophic levels.
• Reduction of available energy at successive trophic levels.
• Predict outcomes of disruptions to food webs (biotic and abiotic).
• Identify trophic levels:
  • Producers
  • Primary consumers
  • Secondary consumers
  • Tertiary consumers
  • Decomposers
• Energy pyramid:
  • 10% rule
  • Amount of biomass at each level
• Biogeochemical cycles:
  • Carbon
  • Water
  • Phosphorus
  • Nitrogen

Impact on Environmental Systems

• Impact of individuals on environmental systems.
• How human lifestyles affect sustainability.
• Renewable and nonrenewable resources.
• Costs and benefits of renewable and nonrenewable resources.
• Monitoring environmental parameters.
• Impact on environmental systems due to human impact.
• Evaluate scientific claims in terms of the environment.