Ms Dugan Ecology Study Guide Chapter 52 Definitions a Ecology the scientific study of the interactions between organisms and the environment b Population A group of individuals of the same species living in an area c Community Group of populations of different species in an area d Ecosystem Community of organisms in an area and the physical factors with which they in teract e Landscape Mosaic of connected ecosystems f Biosphere Global ecosystems sum of all the earths ecosystems g Dispersal Movement of individuals away from centers of high population density or from their area of origin h Biomes Major life zones characterized by vegetation type terrestrial biomes or physical en vironment aquatic biomes i Benthos Communities of organisms in the benthic zone j Detritus Dead organic matter important source of food k Thermocline Temperature boundary separates the warmer upper layer from the colder deeper water l Phytoplankton Autotrophic plankton microalgae Dominant in Ocean Pelagic Zone m Zooplankton Drifting heterotrophs that graze on phytoplankton dominant in Ocean Pelagic Zone Includes protists worms copepods krills jellies and Invertebrate larvae n Ecotone transition area between two biomes where two communities meet and integrate o Permafrost Permanently frozen layer of soil The Role Of Climate a Macroclimate Patterns on the global regional and landscape level b Microclimate Very fine patterns such as those encountered by the community of organisms underneath a fallen log c Patterns Determined largely by solar energy and the planet s movement in space d Latitudinal Variations caused by the warming affect angle at which the sunlight hits effects intensity amount of heat and light per unit of surface area e Global air circulation Precipitation patterns Play major roles in determining climate pat terns cooling trade winds blow from east to west in the tropics prevailing westerlies blow from west to east in the temperate zones f Local effects on climate by seasonality large bodies of water mountains mostly affects the poles more than equators bodies of water affect the climate by adding moisture to the air or re ducing it Mountains affect amount of sunlight reaching an area g Global climate change Can profoundly affect biosphere species could be restricted to smaller ranges and could become extinct study previous changes to predict future ones Biomes a The nature of a biome is affected by the pattern of temperature and precipitation through the year Multitude of in sects spiders and other an thropods Snakes lizards scorpi ons ants bee tles rodents migratory birds and nocturnal creatures Amphibians birds and other reptiles in sects small and browsing mammals Large grazers and small bur rowers b Terrestrial biomes general characteristics Distribution Precipitation Temperature Plants Animals Tropical For est Equatorial and sub equatorial Constant Rain fall or Seasonal High Tempera ture Year round Vertically lay ered Desert Band near 30 degrees N and S Low and highly variable Hot or Cold Plants adapted for heat Savannah Equatorial and sub equatorial Seasonal Grasses and forbs insects and mammals Chaparral Midlatitude coastal regions Rainy winters and dry sum mers shrubs small trees grasses and herbs Warm year round but more seasonally vari able than trop ics Hot summer while fall win ter and spring are cool Temperate Grassland Found on many continents Highly sea sonal Grasses and forbs Cold and dry winters while summers are hot and wet Northern Coniferous Forest N North Amer ica and Eurasia Temperate Broadleaf For est Midlatitudes in N Hemisphere Periodic droughts and wet near coasts Significant amounts of precipitation during all sea sons as snow and rain Winters are long and cold while summers may be hot Conifers such as pine spruce fir and hemlock migratory and residential birds and large mammals Winters aver age while sum mers are hot and humid Deciduous trees in N Hemisphere and evergreen eucalyptus in Australia Mammals birds and in sect mammals hibernate in winter Tundra Arctic areas Low in arctic Winters are Vegetation is birds grazers Distribution Precipitation Temperature Plants Animals and high moun taintops tundra and high in alpine tundra herbaceous and predators migratory birds long and cold while summers are relatively cool d General Characteristics of Aquatic biomes i Open Ocean 75 of earth surface greatest total primary productivity ii Photic Zone sufficient light for photosynthesis Aphotic Zone receives little light Pelagic Zone Photic zone and Aphotic zone make up this zone Abyssal Zone Aphotic zone 2 000 to 6 000 m down Benthic zone organic and inor the bottom of all aquatic zones Deep in ganic sediment at e Specific Aquatic Zones Physical Envi ronment Chemical En vironment Geological Features Photosynthetic Organisms Hetertrophs Lakes Small ponds to large lakes No rooted plants Invertebrates and fish Zooplankton Nutrient Rich and oxygen poor or visa versa Wetlands Streams And Rivers Estuaries Inundated by water at least some of the time high organic production and decomposition low dissolved oxygen Shallow basins flooded river banks coasts of large lakes and seas Lillies cattails sedges tama rack and black spruce birds otters frogs and alli gators Current Oxygen rich Rocky or silty bottom and of ten wide Phytoplankton or rooted aquatic plants Diversity of fishes and in vertebrates Transition area between river and sea Salinity varies depending on tides nutrient rich saltmarch grasses ad al gae marine inverte brates fish waterfowl ma rine mammals Intertidal Zones Periodically submerged and exposed by the tides high oxygen and nutrient levels sea grass al gae and at tached algae worms clams crustaceans sponges small fishes sea anemones and echinoderms complex net work of tidal channels is lands natural leaves and mudflats Substrate varies from rocky and sandy Physical Envi ronment Chemical En vironment Geological Features Photosynthetic Organisms Hetertrophs Ocean Pelagic Wind driven oceanic cur rents High oxygen levels Covers 70 of earths surface Coral Reefs High oxygen levels Formed by cal cium carbonate skeletons of corals Marine Ben thic Seafloor below surface waters Cold and high water pressure Goes from fringing reef to a barrier reef and coral atoll Mainly soft sediments some rocky ar eas Phytoplankton Zooplankton squids fishes sea turtles ma rine mammals unicellular al gae Diverse popu lation of fish and inverte brates invertebrates and fish Seaweeds and
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