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ENVISCI Module 2
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| ecology | looks into the interactions among and between organisms in their abiotic environment |
| ecosystem | structural and functional unit of the biosphere |
| ecosphere | ecological model |
| species | a group of similar organisms of the same species that occupy and live in the area at the same time |
| community | the populations of different species that interact in the same area at the same time |
| niche | specific job/role of the organism |
| generalists | eat a variety of foods |
| specialists | eat few or even one type of food |
| polymerization | the chemical process, normally with the aid of a catalyst, to form a polymer by bonding together multiple identical units |
| monomers | multiple identical units |
| macromolecule | a very large molecule, especially used in reference to large biological polymers (e.g. nucleic acids and proteins) |
| molecule | the smallest particle of a specific compound that retains the chemical properties of that compound |
| molecule | two or more atoms held together by chemical bonds |
| biosphere | highest level of organization for living things |
| organelle | simplest level of organization for living things (composed of aggregates of macromolecules) |
| atom | the smallest and most fundamental unit of matter |
| biological levels of organization | marcomolecules > organelles > cells > tissues > organ system > organism > population > community > ecosystem > biosphere |
| organelles | mitochondria and chloroplasts |
| eukaryotes | membrane-bound organelles and membrane-bound nucleuses |
| prokaryotes | single celled or colonial organisms are called |
| organ system | tissues grouped together performing a common function |
| photosynthetically active radiation (par) | effective radiation from the sun |
| 40-50% | percent of par that we received |
| 1-10% | percent of par that is used by plants for photsynthesis |
| defense mechanisms | camouflage, playing dead, trickery, chemical features, warning calls |
| ecological relationships | predation, competition, mutualism, commensalism, ammensalism |
| predation | one wins and one loses |
| competition | multiple organisms vie for the same limited resource (double negative) |
| mutualism | interaction that benefits both species |
| commensalism | positive/zero interaction |
| ammensalism | negative/zero interaction |
| law of thermodynamics | energy cannot be created nor destroyed however it can be converted from one form to another (inefficient energy conversion) |
| 10 percent law | only 10% of energy is transferred from one trophic level to another |
| primary consumers | herbivores |
| secondary consumers | carnivores |
| food web | energy stored in organic products > chemical energy turns into kinetic energy by primary consumers through heat conversion > degradation when secondary consumers consume primary consumers > degradation when tertiary consumers consume secondary consumers |
| adaptation | biological mechanism by which organisms adjust to new environments or to changes in their current environment |
| types of adaptation | biological and behavioral adaptation |
| artificial selection | man breeding certain species according to dictates of society |
| ecological succession | disturbed area may be colonized by a variety of species which are gradually replaced by a succession of other species |
| process of primary succession | begins in a place without any soil, arrival of things like lichens which do not need soil (pioneer species) which will then decompose to create soil |
| process of secondary succession | started in land with pre-existing soil initiated by an event (fire, typhoon, crop harvest) |
| biome | an area of the planet that can be classified according to the plants and animals that live in it |
| northern hemisphere | the hemisphere tilted towards the sun from april to september |
| southern hemisphere | the hemisphere tilted towards the sun from october to march |
| 23.5 degrees | how much the earth's axis is titled to the perpendicular |
| latitude | location of a place north or south of the equator and is expressed by angular measurements ranging from 0° at the equator to 90° at the poles |
| major terrestrial biomes | tundra, taiga, desert or dunes, savvanah, grassland, tropical forest and rainforest, and ice caps |
| tropical rain forest | found near the equator with high humidity and heavy rainfall, diverse floristically and structurally |
| tropical dry forest | found near the equator with tinier and smaller leaves, receives less rain |
| temperate deciduous forest | biome with four seasons |
| taiga | low temp, has melting, located across north america, europe, and asia, with only few species of trees (conifers and deciduous trees) |
| tundra | low temp, low plant diversity, subject to permafrost and 6-8 week summers with 24 hour summer |
| deserts or dunes | vegetation is sparse and conditions are dry because sand does not hold water well. small animals that tend to remain under cover throughout day |
| allelopathy | adaptation by desert plants in which toxic substances secreted by roofts or shed leaves inhibit the establishment of competing plants nearby |
| grassland | dominated by grass good for grazing, principal predators and insects are present, rainfall is erratic and fires are common, soil has organic materials |
| savannah | warm all year long, soils are low in nutrients, seasonal rainfall with dry periods all year long, plant communities are composed of wide stretches of grass interrupted by occasional trees |
| shrubland | patches of vegetation, shrubs, and tumbleweed |
| ice caps | large bodies of land ice that form when large snowfalls and low temperatures encourage the snow to turn into ice |
| major aquatic biomes | ponds, lakes, rivers, estuary, ocean |
| ponds and lakes | stationary bodies of freshwater |
| permafrost | permanently frozen layer found in tundra |
| in the shallow waters of ponds and lakes | there is an abundance of life |
| in the deeper waters of ponds and lakes | decomposers thrive |
| lake zones | littoral, limnetic, benthic zone |
| littoral zone | where shallow water persists and rooted plants and algae exist. most productive zone of the lake |
| limnetic zone | open water area that extends down as far as light can penetrate |
| profundal zone | deepest zone of the lake. lacks light and therefore food producers and less likely to inhabit the space |
| thermal stratification | results when ice has melted in the spring, solar radiation warms the surface water faster than deeper waters. warmed water becomes less dene and remains at surface floating above cooler, denser water below |
| epilimnion | shallowest layer of the warm surface that interacts with the wind and sunlight (contains the most dissolved oxygen) |
| hypolimnion | cold dense water at the lake bottom. rarely gets direct warmth from the sun and contains the lowest amount of dissolved oxygen |
| metalimnion | middle or transition zone of water between epilimnion and hypolimnion |
| thermocline | the point of greatest temperature difference and therefore density difference within in the metalimnion |
| stability of thermal stratification is achieved through | the larger difference in temperature and density between the epilimnion and hypolimnion (capable to mix through wind turbulence) |
| rivers or streams | moving bodies of water |
| pathway of rivers | start from headwaters (springs, snowmelt, or lakes) and travel to mouths (ocean or another water channel) |
| temperature difference in rivers | cooler at the source than near its mouth |
| middle of the stream/river | width increases and so does species diversity |
| mouth of the river | water becomes murky from carried sediments, decreasing the amount of light it can penetrate through (= less diversity of flora, less oxygen, less fish that require oxygen) |
| estuary | areas of water and shoreline where rivers meet the ocean or another large body of water |
| positives of estuary | provides buffers against coastal storm impacts |
| why do organisms in estuaries have to stay adaptive | there are variations in water chemistry including salinity, as well as physical changes like the rise and fall of tides |
| oceans | cover 71% earth surface |
| upstream areas in river | have more oxygen |
| 99% | percent of habitable space on earth w/ oceans |
| types of marine environments | coastal, continental shelf, deep sea |
| marine environments vary according to | distance from land, depth below the sea surface, water temperature, salinity, density, ocean currents, seabed characteristics, nutrient sources, waves and tides |
| chemosynthesis | food chain based on bacteria that perform chemical reactions to obtain energy in deep parts of the ocean |
| climate zones | polar, temperate, tropic |
| polar | zones surrounding the north and south pole / from the north pole 60 degrees north and from the south pole 60 degrees south |
| temperate | region of the earth between 23.5 degrees north and 60 degrees north (between the tropic of cancer and the arctic circle) and between 23.5 degrees south and 60 degrees south (between the tropic of capricorn and the antarctic circle) |
| tropic | region of the earth that surrounds the equator, from 23.5 degrees north to 23.5 degrees south. |
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