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Ecosytems and enviro
Topics 4-5
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is evolution? | Cumulative genetic changes that occur over time in a population of organisms;evolution explains many patterns of distribution and abundance displayed in the natural world. |
| What is natural selection?(broad definition) | The process in which better adapted individuals, those with a combination of genetic traits better suited to envirnmental conditions, are more likely to survive and reproduce, increasing their proportion in the population. |
| What is an adaptation? | Is a trait with a current functional role in the life history of an organism that is maintained and evolved by means of natural selection.Adaptation is the evolutionary process whereby an organism becomes better able to live in its habitat or habitats. |
| Evolution by natural selection consists of four observations of the natural world, what are they? | 1.High reproductive capacity. 2. Inheritable variation. 3.Limits on population growth or a struggle for existence.4.Differential reproductive success. |
| Explain the first observation of evolution by natural selection. | High reproductive capacity;Each species produces more offspring than will survive to maturity. |
| Explain Inheritable variation hint: everyones different | The individuals within a population exhibit variation. Each has a unique combination of traits such as size, colour and ability to tolerate harsh environments. Some traits put individuals at a greater chance of survival and reproductive success. |
| Explain the third observation of evolution by natural selection. | Limits on population growth or a struggle for existence. There are only so many resources available to a population and organisms compete for these.Not all of those born will survive to reproduce as the environment cannot support this. |
| Explain differential reproductive success | Those individuals that possess the most favorable traits, the ones that make individuals better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive, reproduce and pass these traits onto their offspring. |
| What is the modern unified explanation or theory of evolution? | Modern Synthesis |
| What is modern synthesis? | The combination of Darwins theory with genetic principles, classification, fossils, ecology and developmental biology. Darwins observations can be explained by mutation of the nucleotide base sequence of a gene or DNA molecule. |
| What are the 3 domains of life? | Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya |
| What are the 6 kingdoms of life? | Monera (Bacteria), Protista (Eukarya), Plantae (Eukarya), Animalia (Eukarya), Fungi (Eukarya), Archaea (Archaea) |
| What is an ecological niche? | The role of an organism within the structure and function of an ecosystem. It includes all the physical, biological and chemical conditions a species needs to live and reproduce in an ecosystem |
| What is a fundamental niche? | The potential role that an organism can perform is called the organism’s fundamental niche. |
| What is a realised niche? | The actual niche that an organism is occupying,the life style an organism actually pursues and the resources it actually uses makes up the realised niche. |
| What is the competitive exclusion principle? | When two species are very similar to each other, they cannot occupy identical niches forever. Eventually, one species will either be excluded or else both their niches will be reduced. |
| What is a keystone species? | A species often a predator, that exerts a profound influence on a community in excess of that expected by its relative abundance.Species indispensable to the community or the ecosystem. |
| What is symbiosis? | Any intimate relationship or association between members of two or more species;includes mutualism, commensalism and parasitism. the Result of coevolution |
| What is co-evolution? | Symbiosis is the result of co-evolution. The interdependent evolution of two interacting species. eg.flowering plants and animal pollinators.Plants evolve with specialised nectar for one animal, eg bees or birds. |
| What is Mutualism? | A symbiotic relationship in which both partners benefit, eg, mycorrhizae, fungi which grows around roots of plants, gets food from the photosynthesis of the plant and provides the roots of the plants with phosphorus from the surround soils. |
| What is Commensalism? | Symbiosis in which one organism benefits and the other is unaffected. Eg, Epiphytes (smaller plants) that grow on trees allow themselves to be positioned to gain sunlight and the larger trees are unaffected. |
| What is parasitism? | A symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits and the other is adversely harmed.Eg. Tick in a dogs fur, provides the tick with a host and nutrients, however the dog is made ill by this. |
| What is Predation? | The consumption of one species- the prey, by another-the predator. |
| Define ecological succession | The process of community development over time, which involves species in one stage being replaced by different species. |
| Define the term climax community | A stable and persistent community that has developed after succession. Not the favored view anymore, it is now thought perhaps that succession is ongoing, even in areas such as mature forests. |
| Define the term Primary Succession | The change in species composition over time in a previously uninhabited environment.From an area with no soil only rock to lichen pioneers, mosses and eventual soils with grasses and dwarf trees and shrubs to larger trees-eventually forests. |
| Define Secondary Succession | The change in species composition that takes place after some disturbance destroys the existing vegetation;soil is already present.For example a clear cut forest or forest fire. |
| Define carrying capacity | The number of individuals that can be sustained indefinitely in an area |
| What factors influence a population's biotic potential (intrinsic rate of increase)? | The age at which reproduction begins, the fraction of the life span during which an individual can reproduce, the number of reproductive periods per life time ad the number of offspring produced during each period of production. |
| What does a J shaped curve indicate? | An exponential rate of growth, ie for a population. The larger the population gets the faster it grows. |
| Explain how environmental resistance prevents a population from growing exponentially indefinitely. | Environmental resistence includes such unfavorable conditions as limited resources, food, shelter, water, which leads to competition and other limits such a disease and predation. |
| What does an S shaped population graph indicate? | A logistic population growth that starts off growing exponentially, but as environmental resistance kicks in, the population stabilizes, usually dropping below the carrying capacity. |
| What is an r strategist? | A population that has traits that contribute to a high population growth rate, eg mice. remembering that r=growth rate |
| What is a K strategist? | A population with traits that maximise the chance of surviving in an environment where the number of individuals is near the carrying capacity. Long life spans and slow development, red wood trees. Remembering that K= Carrying Capacity. |
| What is Latitude? | Latitude is the angular distance measured in degrees, it tells how far from the equator any place happens to be. (Nth or Sth from the equator) these angular divisions are called parallels of latitude. |
| What is Longitude? | Longitude is the angular distance measured in degrees. It tells how far from Greenwich (East or West) England any place happens to be.Or from the prime meridian. |
| Without the ___ there would be no life on earth. | SUN, more specifically solar radiation. |
| What factors influence climate? | Latitude, Altitude, Ocean currents, Prevailing winds, topography and distance from large bodies of water. |
| Why does latitude have such an effect on the earth's climate? | More solar radiation is received at the equator than at the poles. This occurs primarily for two reasons at higher latitudes (poles) solar radiation passes through a greater thickness of atmosphere and the radiation is spread over a larger surface area. |
| What produces seasons? | The inclination of the earth's axis relative to the sun.(23.5 degrees tilt) During half of the year the northern hemisphere tilts towards the sun (march 21- Sep 22) and during the other half the Southern hem tilts towards the sun (Sep 22- March 21). |
| In what layer of the atmosphere does weather occur? | Troposphere |
| In what layer of the atmosphere is the ozone layer? | Stratosphere |
| Air distributes heat energy through vertical movements called ___ and horizontal movements ______. | Currents and Winds. |
| Describe the Coriolis force | The influence of the earth's rotation, which tends to turn fluids (air and water)toward the right in the northern hem and to the left in the southern hem. Not only that but movement on earth also, ie jets or merry go round experiment. |
| In what layer of the atmosphere do Auroras occur? | Thermosphere |
| What are low pressure belts caused by? | Rising air (at the equator and latitude 60°) |
| What are high pressure belts caused by? | Descending air (at latitudes 30° and 90°) |
| In which pressure belt does precipitation occur, why? | In the low pressure belts, due to the air moving over the earth's surface it becomes laden with water vapour. |
| What typically occurs in high pressure zones? | Dry, arid, deserts. |
| What are prevailing winds? | Major surface winds that blow, more or less continually. |
| What direction does the earth rotate? | West to east, or towards the east. |
| If it were not for the convection of air which makes up the atmosphere of the Earth, what would happen to the equatorial regions and the poles? | Equator would continue to get warmer and warmer as they received increasing amounts of solar energy.Poles would get colder and colder. |
| What parallel of latitude lies at 23.5 degrees north? | The tropic of cancer |
| What are biogeographical macrovariables? | Variables affecting globals and regional patterns, such at atmospheric circulation, latitude and ocean currents |
| What are biogeographical microvariables? | Variables affecting local variation, topography, altitude and soils. |
| Define the term Albedo | The reflectance of solar energy off the earth's surface. Forests and oceans reflect very little solar radiation because they absorb it, whereas ice reflects a high percentage of solar radiation |
| Explain to Self/Caleb, using diagrams what happens specifically in atmospheric circulation. | See notes. |
| Describe a high pressure system | Cooler dense air is pulled into a high pressure system as it is descending, then pushed out towards a low pressure system. anticlockwise in southern. |
| Describe a low pressure system | Hot air is pushed out of low pressure system as it rises and as it cools it is pulled back into a high pressure system. clockwise in southern. |
| What are winds ? | Winds are horizontal air movements across the earths surface. Caused in part by pressures caused by the global circulation of air. |
| What produces winds? | Partly caused by atmospheric circulatation and by the coriolis force.The earths rotation west to east which causes the east-west movement of surface winds to deflect from their straight line paths. |
| What produces winds cont | The moving air swerves to the right in the nth hem and to the left in the south hem, with the greats effect being at the poles, the effect is negligible at the equator. |
| Winds blow from _____ to _______ pressure? | Winds blows from HIGH to LOW pressure. |
| What pressure systems occur at 0 degrees, 30 degrees, 60 degrees and 90 degrees? | Low , high, low, high pressure systems. |
| What are the 3 atmospheric circulation cells? | Hadley, Ferrel and Polar. |
| Air rises at the ____ pressures and descends at the ____ pressures | Air rises at the low pressures and descends at the high pressures |
| Explain/draw what happens in a Hadley cell | Equator- moist warm air rises to top of troposphere (forms huge clouds lots of rain)air mass reaches tropopause and moves poleward as it cools and dries it sinks at 30 lat. As air moves poleward its deflected by the coriolis force. |
| Explain/draw what happens in a Hadley cell cont | Right in Nth hem and left in South hem. This means that poleward moving air in both hems become westerly winds (come FROM west). |
| Where do winds from the north east and winds from the south east converge? | Near the equator along a boundary called the intertropical convergence zone. The converging air is forced to rise and thus continues the cycle of moving air in the tropics and subtropics. |
| Explain what happens in the ferrell cell. | Ferrell cells exist between 30 and 60 degrees, air from Hadley cells fall and some moves poleward to form the Ferrellcell. again the Coriolis force caused westerly surface winds. |
| Explain what happens in the ferrell cell.cont | Some of the air returns to the subtropics back towards 30lat but the rest of it travels to 60lat where it meets cold dense air from the poles, storms then develop. |
| Explain the polar cell | Cold dense air from 90lat decsends and moves towards the equator, closer to the earths surface.Theair meets the warm air from the ferrell cell-storms. |
| What is the polar front | The position where ever the air from the ferrell cell and the polar cell's temperature gradient is the greatest. |
| What are Jet Streams? | Polar and Subtropical jet streams. Fast currents of air circumnavigating the globe. The occur when high and low pressures mix. Ie. Subtropical occurs between the Hadley and Ferrel cell, and Polar btwn the Ferrell and Polar Cell. |
| Whats the difference between winds and currents? | Currents are sir movement above the ground. |
| What type of winds do we have in Australia? | We are dominated by dry sinking air of the subtropical high pressure belt.High pres syst move nth during winter, southern aust comes under influence of westerly winds and rain-bearing cold fronts. |
| What causes ocean currents? | Atmospheric circulation which also causes surface winds, surface winds effect the ocean circulation, the rotation of the earth;coriolis force and the continental borders. Current gyres go clockwise in nth hem and anticlockwise in south hem. |
| What is a thermocline? | Temp barrier between, Surface of water is warm, the colder water is more dense and is underneath.This is responsible for the ocean conveyor. |
| What is El Nino | In Elnino years the normal cold water flow along the south american coast an in the eastern pacific weakens or many even vanish completely and the central and eastern pacific may become almost as warm as the western pacific. |
| Causes for the Elnino | Slowing of the tradewinds that blow towards the west. |
| What sea breezes do we get during the day? | Air over large bodies of water is cooler than over the adjacent lad,hotter air over land will rise, rising air is replaced by sir from over the water, resulting in on shore breezes. |
| What sea breezes do we get during the night? | Air over land cools down more quickly than the air over the water, hotter air over water will rise, resulting in off shore breeze. |
| What is a slope wind? | Elevated areas receive more sun than valleys, under sunny conditions hotter air rises from the top of the slope,coooler air moves up the slope. At night, the valley cools more slowly and the air move down the slope. |
| What are Fohn winds? | If onshore breezes are forced upward by mountain ranges near the coast, the moisture they have accumlated will be deposited on the windward side of the mountain.rain shadow A dry warm wind moves down the leeward side, creating warmer and drier conditions. |
| The effects of increasing altitude are paralleled to the effects of what else? | Increasing latitude. The temp of the troposphere decreases 6 degrees C for every km. |
| Difference between weather and climate? | Weather is the conditions in the atmophere at a given place and time, temp, precipitation clouds. Climate is the average weather conditions that occur in a place over a period of years, temp, precipitation are most important to climate. |
| What is a tornado? | (Twister)powerful funnel of air associated with severe thunderstorm,they form due to strong updraft of spinning air forms as mass of cool dry air with warm humid air, the spinning funnel becomes a tornado when it descends from cloud. |
| What is a tropical cyclone and what is their role? | giant rotating tropical storms. They dissipate excess energy that accumulates in tropical regions due to increases absorption of solar radiation near the equator. |
| What is a rain shadow? | low rainfall on the leeward side of a mountain |
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TLC1819
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