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ENVS test 1
words for test
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Mutualism | a relationship between two species which benefits both of them ex. Pollinators, clownfish and sea anemones |
| Symbiosis | when two mutualistic species have become so dependent to one another that they cannot live alone Ex. Lichens (fungus &algae), stomach bacteria and mammals |
| Parasitism | when two species live together, with one benefiting and one being harmed Ex. Leech, flea, tics, lice |
| Commensalism | when two species live together and only one benefits, but the other isn’t harmed Ex. Epiphytes, orb weaver spiders |
| Food web | more than one chain, where animals eat more than one thing |
| Aquatic life zones (not technically considered biomes) | freshwater lakes and ponds, streams and rivers, wetlands, estuaries, and oceans (coastal and open) |
| Climate | average temperature and precipitation expected throughout the year |
| Weather | what is actually happening outside at a given point of time |
| What lead to biological communities? | abiotic factors |
| Ecological succession | transition to a biological community and from one biological community to another |
| Primary succession | begins where there is no life, lichens first arrive that don’t need soil, then pioneer species move in, soil thickens, then grasses, wildflowers, and other plants begin to take over |
| Secondary succession | begins in a place that already has soil, such as after fire, wind, animals, flooding, diseases, starts with weeds, then pine trees, then oaks and maples |
| What follows plants in succession | animals and insects |
| Temperate deciduous forest | North America, Europe, Asia, moderate temperature, moderate precipitation, 30-60 in/yr, challenge to survive two distinctly different seasons, trees lose leaves to store energy for the winter |
| Tropical rainforest | South America, Asia, Africa, hot temperature, high precipitation 100-400 in/yr, no season, really diverse, challenge is little sunlight through tree cover |
| Coniferous/Evergreen/Boreal Forest | Canada, Russia, Northern Europe, Cold temperature, mod-low precipitation, 12-33 in/yr, seasons-spring, fall winter, pine trees, don’t lose their leaves |
| Savannah | Africa, South America, hot temperature, wet season and dry season, mod-low precipitation, 10-30 in/yr, challenge is surviving the dry season, few trees, fur adaptations |
| Prairie grassland | Midwest USA, Russia, southern South America, moderate/cool temperatures, low precipitation 10-30 in/yr, few trees, challenge is climate change and fire, prairie dogs & rodents & herd animals |
| Tundra | near north pole, Canada, Alaska, Scandinavia, cold temperature, low precipitation, <10 in., challenges lack of direct sunlight, less competition, wolves, snow rabbits, polar bears, arctic foxes, birds, reindeer, grasses and bushes, permafrost, thick fur |
| Deserts | Africa, Asia, North America, Australia, high temperatures, low precipitation <10 in., challenge is little water and shelter, fewer predators, camels, shrubs, cacti, lizards, snakes, seeds can last for years |
| 6 most important elements | CHONPS, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur |
| organic molecules | carbon, hydrogen, oxygen |
| law of conservation of matter | law is never created nor destroyed, just rearranged |
| law of conservation of energy/first law of thermodynamics | energy is neither created nor destroyed |
| Kinetic energy | energy that is moving, Ex. X-rays, heat, sun’s energy |
| Potential energy | energy that is stored, Ex. Energy stored in molecules (chemical energy), rubber bands |
| What is essential for every reaction? | water |
| Photosynthesis | Carbon+water+sun=sugars+oxygen+water |
| Respiration | opposite of photosynthesis, breaking down sugars to release energy |
| 4 important cycles | sulfur, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus |
| Carbon | carbon dioxide in the atmosphereenters the living sphere and it is transformed from inorganic to organic mattersoil/sediment where it is storedturns into rock or fossil fuelsfossil fuels are dug up and burnedcarbon released into atmosphere |
| Phosphorus | does not go into the air, phosphorus rockserode and release to be used by all living thingsexcreted by living thingsbroken down by decomposersabsorbed by the earth |
| Phosphorus problems | too much phosphorus cause too much algae |
| Nitrogen cycle | nitrogen in the airnitrogen fixation changed by bacteria to organic nitrogenplants suck up the ammonium and nitrateplants consumed and animalsdecompose into the soilbacteria turn organic nitrogen back to N2 through denitrification |
| Nitrogen | legumes have the nodules with the bacteria |
| Sulfur cycle | sulfur is mostly in the ground and coalsulfur is uplifted into the ground watersulfates in the atmospherecomes back to the earth through acid rain |
| Biological Evolution | descent with modification, occurs when there is a change in gene frequency within a population over time |
| Speciation | when a population of one type of organism changes over time, each generation successively different until you have a new species |
| Charles Darwin | first to articulate the idea of evolution and described it as natural selection |
| Darwin’s proof | all populations can increase exponentially but generally don’t, only the best survive to have more offspring |
| Natural selection | individuals with favorable characteristics tend to survive and pass on their characteristics to their offspring |
| Selective pressures | the challenges that make survival hard, predators, climate, etc. |
| How to deal with selective pressures | adapt, migrate then adapt, become extinct |
| Adaptations | coping with climate, obtaining food and water, escaping, attracting the best mates or pollinators |
| Speciation | when one species adapts(changes) so much that is becomes a new species, time is essential |
| Speciation requires | physiological opportunity, geographic opportunity, ecological opportunity |
| Geographic opportunity | geographic isolation is the key to speciation |
| Physiological opportunity | something is born with a “good” trait, i.e. longer neck |
| Ecological opportunity | the ecology is made so that it is better for a certain form of a species |
| k-strategists | Cared-for offspring, parent(s) invest time and energy to help children and so limited number of offspring at one time |
| r-strategists | Produce massive numbers, if all survive, would see large population growth, but since survival is up to chance most don’t survive |
| j-curve | graph result of exponential growth |
| population crash | when food runs out and entire population dies |
| three possible results after a crash | population recovers and repeats the pattern, population may re-grow in a balanced form, population barely survives in a degraded envt w/o recovery |
| s-curve | starts out similar to j-curve, but level out near carrying capacity |
| predation | animals or plants are eaten (or attacked) by other organisms |
| top-down regulation | top predators control population |
| bottom-up | population mostly controlled by a limited resource (food) |
| intraspecies competition | within, territoriality, self-thinning of plants, natural selection |
| interspecies competition | outside, plants may compete for light, water, food, animals compete for shelter, water, food, natural selection and adaptation into niches |
| resource partitioning | minimize competition |
| roles in niches | symbiotic partners, generalist species, specialists, keystone species, indicator species |
| generalist species | broad limits of tolerance, can live pretty much anywhere, ex. Humans, raccoons, rats |
| specialists | limited tolerance ex. Panda, coral |
| keystone species | species that other species depend on to survive |
| indicator species | indicate how the rest of the species will survive, ex. Birds, fish |
| introduced species | non-native species |
| naturalized species | introduced species that survive |
| invasive species | introduced species that take over ecosystem because there are no predators ex. Mosquitos |
| environmental science | the study of how the world works |
| biodiversity | variability among living organisms and the ecological complexes which they are part |
| sound science | basic understanding of how the world works and how human systems interact with it |
| sustainability | practical goal our interactions are working toward |
| stewardship | actions and programs that manage natural resources and human well-being for the common good |
| concepts | valid explanations of data gathered |
| junk science | info that is presented as valid, but doesn’t conform to the rigors of scientific community |
| sustainable | continued indefinitely without depleting the material or energy to keep it running |
| sustainable yields | such as forestry and fishery, because they reproduce at exponential rates |
| environmental racism | putting waste and hazardous industries in towns and neighborhoods where most residents are non-white |
| ecology | study of all processes influencing the distribution and abundance of organisms and the interactions between living things and their environment |
| species | all members can interbreed and produce fertile offspring |
| population | number of individuals that make up the interbreeding |
| biota | grouping of populations when we study a natural area |
| salinity | saltiness |
| ecosystem | interactive complex of communities and the abiotic environment affecting them in a particular area |
| ecotone | shares species and characteristics of 2 ecosystems |
| biome | large area of the Earth’s surface with the same climate and similar vegetation |
| biosphere | all ecosystems together |
| optimal range | a certain level at which the organisms grow or survive most |
| range of tolerance | the entire span that allows any growth at all |
| habitat | kind of space a species is biologically adapted to live |
| niche | what the animal feeds on, where it feeds, when it feeds, where it finds shelter, how it responds to abiotic factors, where it nests |
| standing-crop biomass | actual biomass of primary producers at any given time |
| permafrost | permanently frozen subsoil |
| ecological succession | transition from one biotic community to another |
| pioneer species | the first to colonize a newly opened area after a fire, flood, volcano, etc. |
| primary succession | if an area lacks plants and soil and the process of initial invasion and progression, ex. After a volcano erupting |
| secondary succession | when an area’s been cleared by fire, humans or floods, and then left, stuff from surrounding ecosystems may reinvade, has pre-existing soil |
| world view | set of assumptions and values one believes to be true about how the world works and one’s place in it |
| ecological footprint | area of productive land and aquatic ecosystems required to produce the resources used and to assimilate wastes produced by a defined population |
| population growth | births plus immigration minus deaths plus emigration |
| carrying capacity | max. population of a species that a given habitat can support without being degraded over the long term |
| interspecific competition | competition between different species |
| intraspecific competition | competition between the same species |
| amenalism | one species is harmed and the other is unaffected (black walnut tree’s chemicals can kill other plants in the area) |
| instrumental value | if its existence or use benefits some other entity |
| ecotourism | place is visited to observe a wild species or unique ecological site |
| threats to biodiversity | HIPPO, habitat destruction, invasive species, pollution, population, overexploitation |
| aquaculture | farming f shellfish, seaweed, and fish |
| animal damage control/wildlife services | responds to requests from livestock owners, farmers, homeowners, and others to remove nuisance animals and birds |
| Lacey Act | (1900) forbid interstate commerce in illegally killed wildlife |
| Endangered Species Act of 1973 | forbid commerce of threatened wildlife anywhere in the world |
| Northwest Forest Plan | worked out in 1994, prohibited logging of trees over 80 yrs old in 7.4 mil. Acres in WA and OR |
| Red list | list of threatened species |
| CITES | (1970s) an international agreement that focuses on the trade in wildlife and wildlife parts |
Created by:
lfalkens
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