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Definition
| The scientific study of how organisms affect and are affected by other organisms and their environment |
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Definition
| An experimental group is compared to a control group |
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Definition
| An interdisciplinary field that incorporates concepts from the natural sciences and the social sciences. |
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Term
| What are the eight ecological maxims? |
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Definition
1. You can never do just one thing.
2. Everything goes somewhere.
3. No population can increase in size forever.
4. There is no free lunch.
5. Evolution matters.
6. Time matters.
7. Space matters.
8. Life would be impossible without species interactions. |
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| What are the eight ecological maxims? |
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Definition
1. You can never do just one thing.
2. Everything goes somewhere.
3. No population can increase in size forever.
4. There is no free lunch.
5. Evolution matters.
6. Time matters.
7. Space matters.
8. Life would be impossible without species interactions. |
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Term
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Definition
| a group of individuals or a single species that live in a particular area and interact with one another |
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Definition
| an association of interacting populations of different species that live in the same area, can cover large or small areas |
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Definition
| a community of organisms plus the physical environment in which they live |
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| areas that vary substantially from one place to another, typically including multiple ecosystems |
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| consists of all living organisms on Earth plus the environments in which they live |
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Definition
1. a change in the genetic characteristics of a population over time
2. the descent with modification |
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Definition
| a characteristic of an organism that improves its ability to survive or reproduce within its environment |
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| Producer, Primary Producer, or Autotroph |
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Definition
| an organism that can produce its own food from an external energy source without having to eat other organisms or their remains |
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Definition
| an organism that obtains its energy by eating other organisms or their remains |
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Definition
| the amount of energy that producers capture by photosynthesis or other means, minus the amount they lose as heat in cellular respiration |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| Energy in a system moves in a ______ direction and cannot be _______. |
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Definition
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Term
| Nutrients can be _________. |
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Definition
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| Ecologists evaluate competing hypotheses about natural systems with ______, ______, and ________. |
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Definition
| observations, experiments, and models |
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Term
| Events in the world are _________. |
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Definition
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| Climate is the most _________ component of the __________environment. |
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Definition
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Term
| What results from differences in solar radiation? |
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Definition
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Term
| What do large scale atmospheric and oceanic circulation patterns establish? |
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Definition
| global patterns of temperature and precipitation |
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Term
| What are seasonal and long-term climatic variations associated with? |
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Definition
| Changes in the Earth's position relative to the sun |
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Term
| What are three major determinants of the chemical environment? |
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Definition
| Salinity, acidity, and oxygen concentration |
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| The physical environment determines what three things? |
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Definition
1. Where an organism can live
2. the resources available to them
3. the rate at which their populations can grow |
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Term
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Definition
| the current temperature, humidity, precipitation, wind, and cloud cover |
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Term
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Definition
| long-term description of weather as a given location over decades |
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Definition
| heat loss due to evaporation |
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Term
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Definition
| energy tranferred through the exchange of kinetic energy by molecules in direct contact with one another |
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Term
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Definition
| energy transfer through water or air |
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Term
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Definition
| Energy transfer from the warm air immediately above Earth's surface to the cooler atmosphere by convection and conduction |
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Term
| What are the greenhouse gases? |
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Definition
| Water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide |
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Term
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Definition
| warm air rising above cool air |
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Term
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Definition
| results from the force exerted on a packet of air by the air molecules above it, so it decreases with increasing altitude. |
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Definition
| once the air reaches a temperature similar to that of the surrounding atmosphere, it descends toward Earth's surface |
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Definition
| A large-scale pattern of atmospheric circulation in each hemisphere caused by the tropical uplift |
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Term
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Definition
| Cold, dense air subsides at the poles and moves toward the equator when it reaches Earth's surface.The descending air is replaced by air moving through the upper atmosphere from lower latitudes creating |
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Term
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Definition
| Exists at mid-latitudes between Hadley and polar cells. Driven by the movement of the Hadley and polar cells and by exchange of energy between tropical and polar air masses |
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Term
| What are the three climate zones? |
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Definition
| Tropical, temperate, polar |
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Term
| What are the latitude designations for the three climate zones? |
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Definition
Tropical - 30 N and S
Temperate - btw 30 and 60 N and S
Polar - above 60 N and S |
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Term
| Wind flows from areas of _______ pressure to areas of _______ pressure. |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| Winds in the Northern Hemisphere deflect clockwise (right) and winds in the Southern hemisphere deflect counterclockwise (left) because of the rotation of Earth on its axis. |
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Term
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Definition
| where deep ocean water rises to the surface |
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Term
| Where do upwellings occur? |
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Definition
| where prevailing winds blow nearly parallel to a coastline |
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Term
| What three factors influence and alter the global patterns? |
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Definition
| ocean currents, the distribution of land and water, and elevation |
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Term
| Why is it colder in mountains and highlands that in surrounding lowlands? |
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Definition
1. atmospheric pressure and the density of air decreases with increasing elevation and absorbs less infared radiation
2. highlands exchange air more effectively with cooler air in teh surrounding atmosphere |
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Term
| What are maritime climates characterized by? |
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Definition
| by little variation in daily and seasonal temperatures, and higher humidity |
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Term
| What are continental climates characterized by? |
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Definition
| variations in daily and seasonal temperatures |
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Term
| _________ to oceans influences regional _________. |
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Definition
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Term
| ________ influence wind patterns and gradients in _________ and _________. |
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Definition
| Mountains, temperature and precipitation |
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Term
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Definition
| lower precipitation and soil moisture on the slopes facing away from the prevailing wind and higher precipitation and soil moisture on the windward slope |
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| __________ affects climate via surface energy exchange. |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| the capacity of a land surface to reflect solar radiation |
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Term
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Definition
| the sum of water loss through transpiration and evaporation, this increases with the area of leaves per unit of ground surface area |
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Term
| What results from the annual orbit of the earth around the sun? |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| Intertropical Convergence Zone |
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Term
| What is the Intertropical Convergence Zone? |
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Definition
| the area between the Northern and Southern hemispheres as Earth orbits the sun where seasonal changes in precipitation are associated with teh movement of the zone of maximum solar radiation |
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Term
| Seasonal changes in the aquatic environment are associated with changes in what? |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
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| What does stratification determine? |
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Definition
| the movement of nutrients and oxygen |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| the zone of rapid temperature decline |
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Term
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Definition
| stable layer of the densest, coldest water |
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Term
| What is El Nino associated with? |
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Definition
| an oscillation in the positions of high-pressure and low-pressure cells over teh equatorial Pacific which leads to a weakening of teh easterly trade winds. |
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Term
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Definition
| El Nino Southern Oscilation |
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Term
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Definition
| stronger than average phases of the normal pattern with high pressure off the coast of South American and low pressure in teh wetern Pacific |
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Term
| What does the PDO affect? |
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Definition
| affects climate similar to ENSO and can moderate or intensify the effects of ENSO |
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Term
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Definition
| Pacific Decadal Oscillation |
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Term
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Definition
| a combination of regular changes in the shape of Earth's orbit and the tilt of its axis clanged the intensity of solar radiation at high latitudes |
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Term
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Definition
| the concentration of dissolved salts in water |
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Term
| Oxygen concentrations vary with what three factors? |
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Definition
| elevation, diffusion, and consumption |
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