Bio Test

  • Biogeography - organisms that are distributed across geographical space

  • Habitat- the natural setting or place where an organism lives and where it finds the resources it requires

  • Ecosystem- a geographic area that includes all living and nonliving parts.

  • Biome- a large terrestrial region with characteristic climate, soil, plants, and animals

  • Temperate Grassland Biome- an area where vegetation is dominated by fire-tolerant grasses with few to no trees. Temperatures from 90 degrees in summer and freezing in winter. Annual rainfall of 20-35 inches.

  • General vegetation forms are trees, shrubs, and grasses AHHH

  • Forest- a closed canopy of trees

  • Savanna- codominance of grasses and trees

  • Chaparral- dominance of shrubs

  • Desert- scarcity of plant cover

  • Ecotone- Region of transition from one biome to another. A blending of ecosystems

  • Tropical Rainforest- Dominated by evergreen trees. Evenly distributed annual rainfall and temperature. Mineral and nutrient-poor soils characterize the physical environment. 50% of all known plant and animal species are found here.
    TemperanceForest- dominated by deciduous trees and marked by autumn colors. Occur in humid mid-latitudes

  • Boreal Forest- Dominated by cold-tolerant needle-lead evergreen conifers. Earth’s largest biome, literally circling the globe.

  • Tropical Savannah is dominated by drought-tolerant and fire-adapted trees and grasses. Occurs in tropical areas with low or seasonal rainfall. Worlds largest expanse of savannah left in good condition covers more than 370 million actors of northern Australia. 70% of biomes lost

  • Temperate Grassland- dominated by drought tolerant and fire-adapted grass species. It is usually found in mid-continental regions. It is subject to recurring drought and regular naturally ignited fires. Largest North American Biome. 99% has been lost

  • Chaparral- dominated by thickets of fire-adapted evergreen shrubs and trees occurring in geographic locations with wet, mild winters and dry summers.

  • Arctic Tundra- Dominated by cold-tolerant low-growing shrubs, lichens, and herbaceous plants. Short-growing season and permanently frozen subsoil (Permafrost) characterize the physical environment.

  • Desert- Dominated by drought-tolerant perennials and ephemeral herbs. Plants and animals have adaptations for conserving water.

  • Estuary- coastal ecosystem surrounded by land, receiving a large amount of freshwater from rivers and streams but also saltwater from an ocean connection

  • Wetlands- represent the interface between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Wetlands are characterized by waterlogged soils that are dominated by anaerobic processes, and plants adapted to tolerant stress

  • Aerenchyma- Spongy tissue many wetland plants have in their stems and leaves. Allows air to diffuse down into the roots

  • Pneumatophores- Specialized roots some wetlands shrubs and trees have. These grow up out of waterlogged soil and allow air to diffuse down to the roots buried in the mud.

  • Prop-roots- Specialized roots that stabilize them in the soft mud. Located in shrubs in the wetlands, these shrubs also have pneumatophores.

  • Buttressing- in forested wetlands, large trees have flared bases to stabilize them in the soft mud.

  • Ecology- a branch of biology concerned with studying interactions between organisms and their environment.

  • Ernst Haeckel- Fahter of Ecology, according to many but not all ecologists

  • Environmental Movement- beginning in the 60’s to 70’s 

  • Organisms->Populstopn->Community->Ecosystem AHHHH

  • More nitrogen in the soil means there’s better plant growth AHHHH

  • Nitrogen Fixation- Nitrogen fixation is a chemical process that converts atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia, which is absorbed by organisms.

  • Distribution- the area over which a population occurs

  • Geographic Range- an area that includes all individuals of a species

  • Abundance- The Number of individuals in the population

  • Density- Number of individuals per unit area

  • Dispersion- The spacing of individuals relative to each other

  • Random Dispersion- each individual's position is random compared to everyone else’s location.

  • Clumped Dispersion- Individuals appear in groups; groups are like patches

  • Uniform Dispersions- Individuals are spaced more or less evenly in rows

  • Age Structure- The proportion of individuals in different age groups

  • Population Growth- describes how the number of individuals increases or decreases over time

  • Species Diversity- The number of species and the relative importance of each species (Means there’s variety)

  • Species Richness- The number of species in the community, and the more variety, the richer it is.

  • Relative Abundance- The percentage of each species contributes to the total number of all species.

  • Species Evenness- Communities with more equal distribution of individuals have more evenness.

  • Dominant Species- Dominare organisms within the community based on the number and/or size of the individual

  • Keystone species- Species that have a disproportionate impact community relative to its abundance (basically a species that keeps the ecosystem from coming down)

  • Competition- When two species fight for a common resource

  • Intraspecific competition- Competition between two individuals of the same species

  • Interspecific competition- competition between individuals of different species

  • Competitive Exclusion Principal- If species have exactly the same ecological requirements, one will always drive the other to local extinction. Complete competitors cannot coexist

  • Resource Partitioning- Complete competitors can’t coexist, however, if similar species utilize the same resources at similar times, it can work.

  • Physical Structure- space distribution of populations that gives rise to physical features 

  • Vertical Structure- Variation of vertical structures between species like height in trees

  • Zoonation- Changes in structure and species along the landscape or topographic gradient

  • Ecological Succession- the process of colonization of an unoccupied area by a variety of species but gradually replaced by other species, it keeps repeating

  • Primary Succession- When it begins at rock bottom, with soil not even formed

  • Secondary Succession- When everything is gone, but the soil is still there (like a forest fire)

  • Mass Extinction Events- Events that cause a mass extinction,

  • Permian Mass Extinction- eliminated 96% of all marine species.

  • Yucatan Peninsula- Eliminated 70% of species.

  • Tasmanian Tiger- Extinct because of the destruction of habitat by human activities

  • Zoonotic Spillover- Sevents such as MERS, SARS, SARS CoV-2

  • Invasive species- non-native species introduces from a different continent

  • Conservation Biologist- Biologist trying to conserve environments 

  • Identify Threatened species early- evaluate, rank, and prioritize threatened species 

  • Biodiversity Hotspots- High Diversity regions on earth

  • Biota of North America Program- Program that identifies diversity in North America. 

  • Texas has the highest number of endemic plants in the US

  • Minimum Viable Population-Population size required for long term survival of the species. The smallest isolated population that has a 99% of remaining for 1000 years

  • Mark Schaffer-Developed MVP

  • Ecological Restoration- Oftren Necessary part of conservation effort 

  • Economic- Countless products we stand to lose as our ecosystems collapse

  • Evolutionary- Extinction will limit the evolution of species diversity in the future

  • Ethical- To what degree will we allow to continue resulting in the extinction of other species

  • Eichhornia Crasspies- Native species to the Amazons, brought to the World Fair)

  • (1884) to New Orleans, the plant was given as a gift, but soon choked waterways, and destroyed aquatic habitats

  • Water hyacinth- spread from lake to lake in Texas as fragments stick to boats

  • Guam Snakes-Snakes from New Guinea were introduced to Guam, no other species could kill it, so it was responsible for causing the extinction of a bunch of species