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Definition
| the study of interactions between organisms and the enviroment |
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Term
| what do ecology and evolutionary biology have to do with one another? |
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Definition
| interactions between organisms and their enviroments occur with in ecological time. the cumulative effects of these interactions are realized on the scale of evolutionary time. |
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Definition
| nonliving chemical and physical factors in the enviroment |
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Definition
| all the organisms in the enviroment |
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Term
| what do organisms and the enviroment have to do with eachother? |
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Definition
| organisms are affected by/ and affect abiotic and biotic components of the enviroment. So, ecologists try to determine what enviromental factors limit the geographic range (distribution) and the abundance of species. |
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Definition
| considers the responses and adaptions of an organism to its enviroment. it may include disciplines of behavioral, physiological and evolutionary ecology |
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Definition
| groups of individuals of a species occupying a particular area. |
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Definition
| its concerned with the factors that control the size of populations |
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Definition
| includes all the populations of organisms in an area |
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Definition
| looks at interactions such as predation and competition |
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Definition
includes abiotic factors as well as the biological community
a system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their environment |
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Definition
addresses topics like the flow of energy and chemical cycling
This science examines how ecosystems work and relates this to their components |
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Definition
| landscape is the arrangement of several ecosystems in a geographic region. landscape ecology looks at the flow of energy, materials, and organisms among different ecosystem. a characteristic of landscapes is patchiness ( a mosaic of different enviroments or ecosystems) |
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Definition
| all of earth's ecosystems |
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Definition
The precautionary principle is a moral and political principle which states that if an action or policy might cause severe or irreversible harm to the public, in the absence of a scientific consensus that harm would not ensue, the burden of proof falls on those who would advocate taking the action
(for enviromental issues) |
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Term
| dispersal and distribution |
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Definition
| some species extend its range because of dispersal. by transplanting species, we can determine whether dispersal limits distribution. successful transplants show that the potential range is larger then the actual range. but introduced species often disrupt their new ecosystem |
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Term
| behavior and habitat selection |
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Definition
| the behavior of organisms in habitat selection keep them from occupying their potential range- it may limit their distribution |
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Term
| biotic factors affect distribution? |
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Definition
| if an organism is inable to survive and reproduce. it may be dure to predation, disease, parasitism, competition or lack of mutual symbiosis |
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Term
| abiotic factors affect distribution |
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Definition
geographic distributions are influenced by abiotic factors such as temperature, rainfall and light.
temperaturee is impt because it effects metabolism and enzyme activity. also organisms can't maintain body temps far from the real temp.
organisms must maintain water balance.
light energy drives almost all ecosystems. the intensity and quality of the light are limiting factors.
winds affects plant morphology and water loss and rate of heat in organisms.
soils affect distribution of plants which eventually leads to the distribution of animals. |
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Term
| what determines climate (give def.) |
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Definition
climate is a prevailing weather condition of a locailty.
its determined by temperature, water, sunlight and wind. |
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Term
| what determines climate (give def.) |
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Definition
climate is a prevailing weather condition of a locailty.
its determined by temperature, water, sunlight and wind. |
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Term
| what determines climate (give def.) |
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Definition
climate is a prevailing weather condition of a locailty.
its determined by temperature, water, sunlight and wind. |
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Term
| the diff. between macroclimate and microclimate |
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Definition
macroclimate: the climatic pattern on a local to global level
microclimate: the fine variations within a habitat patch. |
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Term
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Definition
| receive the greatest amount of and least variation in solar radiation. |
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Definition
| semiannual turnover of waters- since the seasonal temperatures chnage, a turnover happens when in lakes, the oxygen water is brought to the bottom and the nutrient rich water comes to the surface. |
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Definition
| major types of ecological groupings that are found in broad geograhic regions of land or water |
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Term
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Definition
salt concentration in freshwater= less than 1% vs in marine biomes- average of 3%
since 3/4 of the earth is covered by oceans, it influences global rainfall, climate and wind patterns.
a large portion of the world's oxygen is produced by marine algae and photosynthetic bacteria (they also consume an enormous amount of CO2)
*** many aquatic biomes are stratified in the availability of light and temp. |
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Term
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Definition
| receives suffiecient light for photosynthesis |
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Definition
| part of the ocean found beneath the photic zone where light does not penetrate sufficiently for photosynthesis to occur |
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Definition
the bottom surfaces of aquatic enviroments
benthos are the organisms found in this zone |
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Definition
| dead organic material... benoths feed on detritus |
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Term
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Definition
| open water zone in both lake and marine enviorments |
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Term
| littoral and limnetic zones |
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Definition
aquatic enviroments are also classified based on distance from shore and water depth.
littoral: the shallow, well- lit waters of a lake close to shore
limnetic:the well-lit open surface waters farther from the shore |
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Term
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Definition
| in the ocean and many lakes a thermocline exists to seperate warmer surfaces from the cold bottom layer |
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Definition
| deep, nutrient poor, fairly nonproductive and oxygen rich |
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Definition
| shallower, nutrient rich waters. they supprt large productive phytoplankton communities |
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Definition
| areas covered with water often enough to support aquatic plants. they are of the most productive biomes |
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Definition
where freshwater river meets the ocean
they serve as feeding and breeding areas |
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Definition
| the shallow zone of the ocean where land meets water |
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Definition
highly diverse and productive biome. the structure is produced by the calsium carbonate skeletons
coral animals are nourished by symbiotic unicellular algae |
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Term
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Definition
most off the ocean's waters far from shore, constantly mixed with the oceans currents
seasonal mixing of temps stimulates phytoplankton growth |
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Term
| neritiv benthic communities |
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Definition
| receive sunlight and are very diverse and productive |
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Term
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Definition
| the very deep benthic communities near the bottom of the ocean, this region is characterized by continuous cold, extremely high water pressure, low nutrients, and near or total absence of light |
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Term
| deep-sea hydrothermal vents |
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Definition
| a dark, hot, oxygen deficient enviroment associated with volcanic activity, the food producers are chemoautotrophic prokaryotes |
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