| variant on human population growth (population size, how resources are used, meeting necessities, valuation of ecological services, lack of knowledge) | supply and demand |
| maximal rate a population can increase when there are no limits on its rate of growth (unlimited resources = unlimited growth) | biotic potential |
| limiting factors that act together to limit growth of a population | environmental resistance |
| carrying capacity = maximum population size that a specific environment can handle/carry | K |
| consume/use more to keep up, an unsustainable addiction | affluenza |
| anything we get from the living or nonliving environment to meet wants and needs | resources |
| not to run out within human time scale (ex. direct solar energy) | perpetual resources |
| renewed fairly rapidly by the sun directly or indirectly | potentially renewable resources |
| rate a potentially renewable resource can be used indefinitely without reducing supply (ex. forest, fresh h2o, fresh air, fertile soil) | sustainable yield |
| exhaustible resources | nonrenewable resources |
| exceed renewable resource replacement rate (potentially renewable resources changed to nonrenewable or unusable) | environmental degradation |
| everything is a sum of its parts (do not completely understand function of species in a system) | reductionist view |
| based on limited knowledge (uncertainties) | quotas, harvests, etc. |
| has inputs but no outputs (high salt and mineral deposits) | terminal lake |
| single interconnected system, connected by matter and energy | earth |
| anything that has mass and takes up space | matter |
| how useful a matter resource is, based on availability and concentration | matter quality |
| organized, concentrated, dilute, near surface | high quality matter |
| disorganized, dilute or dispersed | low quality matter |
| capacity to do work and transfer heat | energy |
| measurement of usefulness of energy to do work | energy quality |
| organized, concentrated, great ability to perform useful work | high quality energy |
| disorganized, dispersed, little ability to do useful work | low quality energy |
| matter can neither be created nor destroyed by natural physical and chemical changes, but transferred/changed from one form to another | law of conservation of matter |
| energy can neither be created nor destroyed, energy input = energy output
**does not apply to nuclear charges | law of conservation of energy (1st law of thermodynamics) |
| energy quality is lost when converted from one form to another | second law of energy (2nd law of thermodynamics) |
| autotrophs, first trophic level | producers |
| trophic levels greater than first (2-4/5 maximum) | consumers |
| decomposers/detritus feeders (recyclers) | detritivores |
| sequence of who eats or decomposes whom in a system, determines how energy moves through the system | food web/chain |
| transfer of chemical energy (creates biomass) | the currency of life |
| truest representation of energy available in an ecosystem | pyramid of energy |
| rate @ which producers convert solar energy into chemical energy as biomass (rate of solar to chemical energy) | gross primary productivity (GPP) |
| rate @ which energy made by producers is available for use by consumers (rate energy is created for consumers)
**carrying capacity | net primary productivity (NPP) |
| based on function and complexity (1.biosphere. 2.ecosystem, 3.community, 4.population, 5.organism) | organizing matter |
| terrestrial and aquatic | biosphere division |
| distinct species and climates, large terrestrial regions characterized by similar climate, soil, plants, and animals | biomes |
| average temperature and precipitation | climate |
| made up of interacting ecosystems | biosphere |
| nonliving components | abiotic |
| living components | biotic |
| zones of transition between 2 adjacent habitats | transition zones |
| flow of matter and energy between zons | cycling |
| any chemical element or compound an organism must have to live, grow, and reproduce | nutrient |
| goods humans use directly (ex. food, lumber, medical plants) | provisions |
| natural processes necessary to maintain other ecosystem services | support services |
| steps of converting something from one form to another | process |
| control, adjust, manage | regulate |
| dependent on diversity (insurance of continuance of ecosystem services) | resilience |
| aesthetic beauty | cultural services |
| crucial for maintaining community, determine structure and function of ecosystems | keystone species |
| absence, presence, or abundance tells about environmental conditions | indicator species |
| native to area, help protect biodiversity by protecting habitat | endemic species |
| deliberate or accidental introduction, harmful to environment | exotic/invasive species |
| range of physical and chemical environment a species can exist in | species tolerance |
| evolution through natural selection | adaptation |
| through process of natural selection (allopatric and sympatric) | speciation |
| geographic and reproductive isolation | allopatric speciation |
| mutation or behavioural change (less common) | sympatric speciation |
| low level species disappearance, change in local conditions | background extinction |
| catastrophic and widespread | mass extinction |
| higher than background but limited | mass depletion |
| things species do to survive that contribute to reproductive success (subject to natural selection) | behavioural adaptation |
| change (removal of biomass), occurs over space and time
**anthropogenic (human) or natural (environment) | disturbance |
| ecosystems experiencing intermediate levels of disturbance are more diverse than those with high or low levels of disturbance (necessary to maintain species diversity) | intermediate disturbance hypothesis |
| high competition and dominance (lowers diversity within a system) | rare disturbance |
| weedy species - high growth rate, tend to dominate (lowers species diversity) | frequent disturbance |
| rate @ which an ecosystem returns to its original state after a disturbance/change in flow of energy and matter cycling | resilience |
| fast to return to original state | high resilience |
| slow to return to original state | low resilience |
| how disturbance is responded to (dependent on structure, function, and functional/structural redundancy) | stability |
| species diversity, population sizes, physical/geographical factors, species interactions | structure |
| rate of matter cycling and energy flow | function |
| many species perform same structure and function within an ecosystem | functional and structural redundancy |
| change in species composition in area, diversity, trophic structure, matter cycling, and energy flow | succession |
| all biota are wiped out (complete loss) | primary succession |
| biota and sediments remain, has starting point/has soil | secondary succession |
| human intervention to assist in succession | restoration |
| local area's short-term conditions such as temperature and precipitation (short term conditions, predict patterns) | weather |
| long-term conditions, average precipitation and temperature | climate |
| regulates climate and distributes nutrients | ocean currents (water circulation) |
| drive surface currents | prevailing winds |
| driven by thermohaline circulation (temperature and salinity differences) | great ocean conveyor belt |
| atmosphere closest to earth's surface | troposphere |
| regulates global climate | natural greenhouse effect |
| features of earth's surface | topography |
| effect on local climate as a result of human interference | urban heat island effect |
| distinct texture and composition that differs with soil types | soil horizons |
| top layer, organic nutrients that fall on earth's surface | O horizon |
| already has organic material beginning to breakdown (typically from O horizon) | A horizon |
| organic material already beginning to be broken down | humus |
| organic material broken down even more, has rock and parent material (greater composition of parent vs organic material) | B horizon |
| parent material (bedrock soil has been built in) | C horizon |
| relatively large O layer, well developed A horizon (seasons input organic material) | deciduous forest soil |
| most productive in NPP, not much A horizon (high rainfall leaches nutrients out of soil, lack of seasons) | tropical rain forest soil |
| limited O/A horizons (hard for vegetation to grow, harsh/extreme conditions, vegetation does not drop/shed any part to retain nutrients and h2o) | desert soil |
| lots of organic input | grassland soil |
| bedrock is much larger, less O/A than deciduous (evergreens: needles are hard to breakdown, needles: high acidity, slower rate of decomposition) | coniferous forest soil |
| evaporation exceeds precipitation (little precipitation and vegetation) | desert biomes |
| wind and limited vegetation, topography changes quite frequently due to lack of vegetation holding it in place | tropical desert |
| more rain therefore more vegetation (vegetation is drought-resistant physiologically/structurally) | temperate desert |
| precipitation often as snow, cold temperatures limit vegetation | polar desert |
| shed parts or die, leave behind dormant long-lived seeds/eggs | expire (adaptation) |
| move to less stressful location, change timing of activity | evade (adaptation) |
| lack of h2o = store, conserve, tolerate | endure (adaptation) |
| requires some precipitation, endures seasonal drought and withstands fire, grazing by large herbivores | grassland biomes |
| warm year round w/ distinct wet/dry seasons, scattered vegetation w/ herds of hoofed grazers and browsers | tropical (savanna) grasslands |
| cold winters and hot summers with moderate rainfall, dominated by drought-tolerant and fire-adapted grasses, ideal for growing crops | temperate grasslands |
| bitterly cold with frigid winds, mostly covered in snow/ice, vegetation is scarce | polar (arctic tundra) grasslands |
| coastal regions that border deserts, desirable area to live in but high chance of forest fires | chaparral (temperate shrubland) |
| undisturbed, moderate to high precipitation to support trees, vegetation is varied | forest biomes |
| equatorial, little temperature variation, rain almost daily | tropical rainforest |
| how needs are met for food, shelter, and reproduction | stratified niches |
| seasonal moderate temperatures with evenly spread abundant precipitation, warm summers and cold winters, mature community of few tree species, diverse ground level vegetation | temperate deciduous forests |
| long dry cold winters and moderate to warm summers, dominated by few cone-bearing trees, low diversity | evergreen coniferous forest (boreal) |
| found in temperate coastal areas, fog and rainfall common, huge cone-bearing evergreen trees, mosses, and ferns | coastal coniferous forest (temperate rainforest) |
| dramatic changes in altitude, climate, soil, and vegetation over short distance, regulates earth's climate and hydrologic cycle | mountain biomes |
| l --> g (h2o-->vapor) | evaporation |
| plants absorb h2o through roots, give off h2o vapor through pores in leaves | transpiration |
| g --> l (more dense-->less dense) | condensation |
| h2o falls from sky | precipitation |
| h2o from top of soil surface into soil | infiltration |
| h2o moves through soil | percolation |
| involves elevation | runoff |
