BIO 1B Midterm 2

water can be divided into

(1) a frozen component (mountain glaciers and polar ice caps), (2) ground water in aquifers in the earth's crust, (3) surface waters.

The oxygen revolution

(2.7 Ga)

Origin of universe

(~ 13.8 Ga)

Origin of life/ecosystems

(~ 4.0 Ga)

Origin of Earth

(~ 4.6 Ga)

a rain shadow

. On the windward side of the mountain, the warm, moist air rises and cools, dumping rain. As the air mass crests the ridge and descends on the leeward side, the air is compressed and it warms

Formation of Biofilm

1) adsorption to a condition substrate 2 growth of polysaccharide matrix 3) flow of water and matrix's interstices

Population growth models

: Nt+1 = Nt + (B + I) - (D + E).

Primary Succession

A primary succession begins in an area that is devoid of life.

What was the earliest major type of ecosystem on the early Earth when prokaryotes existed?

Biofilms

major determining factor in the distribution of plants and animals and the structure of biomes

Climate

Colonization vs. dispersal

Colonizers must be established

Eukarya

Eukarya includes eukaryotic organisms. These are organisms with cells that contain a nucleus as well as membrane-bound organelles. The kingdoms most associated with Eukarya are the Plantae, Animalia, and Fungi kingdoms.

Eltonian and Hutchinsonian niches

Evelyn Hutchinson, the concept of the niche as an n-dimensional hypervolume, where the axes of the hypervolume represent dimensions in the organism's relationship to the environment. For example, an aquatic organism might have tolerance to salinity on one axis, temperature tolerance on another, diet composition on another, position in the water column on another, and so forth. e ecological niche concept of Charles Elton was based on the role of the organism in the community as a whole, with an accent on the its trophic position (Elton was introduced in the Species Ecology chapter). For Elton and others, the niche was like an organism's job or profession, and its habitat was like its jurisdication or home address. A

Ecological succession

can be defined as the non-seasonal, directional, and continuous pattern of colonization and extinction by species populations. We can distinguish three types of ecological succession: Primary, Secondary, and Degradative. And you can think about three mechanisms of succession, based on the effect that early-successional species have on late-successional species: Facilitation, Inhibition, and Coexistence.​

Bacteria's role in atmospheric dynamics

can effect weather by altering temperature at which water crystallized into snow or ice

Trees do not generally take up water through their aboveground stems and leaves, so how do the redwood trees obtain this fog water?

Most of this fog water simply drips off the leaves and branches and into the soil where it is accessed through the roots (a small amount may be taken up through foliar absorption, perhaps in association with fungal symbionts). In addition, the humidity created by dense fog limits the amount of water that is lost through leaf stomata, compared to the water loss that typically occurs on a dry day with no fog.

Great Oxygenation Event

Most organisms were anaerobic and they would retreat to the seafloor and oxygen free environments... bc they could not stand Oxygen

If a quadrat or transect is used to extrapolate population size across a large area, what assumptions must be made?

Must assume distribution and abundance is similar throughout the population

Parasitoids Parasitism

Parasitoids are species in which the larvae feed on (or in) a single insect host, and the relationship is lethal to the consumed. Parasites benefit from a non-fatal interaction because they are able to continue to feed and find shelter if their host survives.

What is the difference between Photoautotrophs and Photoheterotrophs?

Photoheterotrophs obtain their energy from sunlight and carbon from organic material and not carbon dioxide. Most of the well-recognized phototrophs are autotrophs, also known as photoautotrophs, and can fix carbon.

positive net primary productivity

Plants are expected to produce new biomass when the precipitation line exceeds the temperature line, as long as the temperature is above freezing (> 0ºC).

species richness) species evenness

Species diversity is a function of the total number of species the relative balance of individuals in each species (species evenness).

Photosynthesis

Split water molecules to oxygen gas

six air cells that characterize the vertical structure of the Earth atmosphere, with three in the northern hemisphere and three in the sout

Start at the equator with the rising hot air columns of the Hadley cells. As this hot, humid air rises, it expands and cools, and the water vapor in these rising columns of air condenses into liquid droplets and falls out as rain: thus, the hot, rainy tropics! Follow the Hadley cells of cold, dry air as they move to about 30º North and South latitude, where they descend. On descending, this cool, dry air is compressed under increased pressure and it captures and holds H20 molecules in a gaseous phase, relasing little precipitation. These air masses then move north and south at low altitude (Ferrel Cells) and rise again at 60º N and 60º S. The same thing happens at 60ºN/60ºS as at the equator: it rains. The difference, of course, is that it is cooler at the higher latitudes, and instead of a tropical climate, the climate is temperate, with a whole lotta rain (think, Seattle, Washington). Finally, the dedescending Polar Cells generate extremely arid conditions in the Arctic and Antarctica, just like at 30ºN and S latitude, but in much colder conditions.

diversity of an area

as a measure of how many different kinds of organisms live in that place, the number of species. more complex measure that also factors in the relative abundance of each species

Three major domains

bacteria archaea eukarya

Grinnellian niche

based on the adaptations of a species to a particular habitat, including all of the behavioral, physiological, morphological, and even psychological connections to that an organism has to its local environment.

When is the non-growing season in Perth, Australia (figure above), and how do you know?

because precipitation is less than temperature

Define Cyanobacteria

blue green algae a clade of photosynthetic bacteria that play a fascinating role in the history of the earth Probably important components to early biofilms as it produced oxygen

Run this thought experiment. Take a temperate rainforest and lower the temperature and reduce the precipitation, what biome do you get?? Consult the climograph and consider this quantitatively.

borreal forest

generates a dense layer of cool, marine fog.

cold California Current interacts with the warm air of the lower latitudes, and the interaction of cold surface water and warm air generates a dense layer of cool, marine fog.

Eucalyptus trees

eucalyptus trees are native to Australia, but they were planted in Berkeley about one hundred years ago in the hope of producing timber, and as wind breaks have a high fire hazard potential.

Tropical Seasonal Forest

istinct seasons of precipitation, rich in species they lack the exceptionally tall trees and overall biomass of a true rainforest

Sympatric carnivores of Israel

same technique as the Stoat: a canine bite to the cervicals anine tooth is known to correlate with average and maximum prey size in these types of carnivores (of animals or plants, especially of related species or populations) occurring within the same geographical area; overlapping in distribution.

Humboldt's geography

scientists returned to Chimborazo and again mapped the distributions of plant species: it was clear that many species had extended their distribution up the mountain side—in some cases, plants had extended their lower limits upward as well—apparently in response to warming temperatures over the past century.

Earth is actually tilted on its axis at about

23.5º.

Origin of Earth

4.6 Ga

Define Biofilm

A community of microorganisms that adheres to a surface rocks on a stream bed soil on a desert floor stromatolites

Amensalism & Commensalism

Ammensalism: no harm to the buffalo, plenty of harm to the lizard! Commensalism: a neutral impact on the buffalo, but a positive impact on the egret. v

What is Photoautotrophs and Chemoautotrophs?

An autotroph is an organism able to make its own food. Autotrophic organisms take inorganic substances into their bodies and transform them into organic nourishment. ... Photoautotrophs use light energy; chemoautotrophs use chemical energy.

Many prokaryotic extremophiles belong to?

Archaea, a distinct clade of prokaryotes that is more closely related to us (Eukarya) than to the bacteria.

First life forms on early during:

Archean Late Hadean Eon 4.0 Ga

Global Temperature: Land and Ocean

As a rule of thumb, land surface temperature declines ~1°C for every 145 kilometers of gain in latitude (or ~1°F for every 50 miles). But topography also plays an important role in determining ambient temperature, and temperature declines ~1°C for every 220 meters of gain in elevation (or ~1°F per 400 feet). Fun facts! The temperature of the oceans is also directly influenced by the amount of solar radiation striking the ocean surface (in relation to latitude) but ocean temperature is also very much a function of ocean currents.

Which is the most accurate description of the three domains (Bacteria, Archaea, Eukarya) in the tree of life? A All three domains are paraphyletic. B Archaea and Bacteria are more closely related to each other because they are both prokaryotes. C Bacteria are on a separate branch of the tree of life relative to Archaea and Eukarya. D Bacteria and Archaea are more closely related to each other than either is to Eukarya.

C Bacteria are on a separate branch of the tree of life relative to Archaea and Eukarya.

Early atmosphere of Earth made up of primarily:

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Nitrogen (N2) Water Vapor Methan3 (Ch4) Ammonia (NH3) Hydrogen Sulfide (SH2)

Based on the means by which you obtain energy and carbon, what is your trophic mode?

Chemoheterotrophic

Endosymbiotic theory

Chloroplasts of plant cells are traced back to once free living cyan-bacteria cells.

What contributed to the oxygenation of the ancient oceans and atmosphere?

Cyanobacteria

Charles Elton

Ecology is a new name for a very old subject. It simply means scientific natural history importance of quantification and experimentation in the study of organisms under natural conditions.

Chemoautotrophs

Energy Source: Inorganic substances Carbon Source: CO2 Archaea, some Bacteria an organism, typically a bacterium, that derives energy from the oxidation of inorganic compounds.

Type II curve. Type III Type 1

II: human III Tree I: bird

oligotrophicv

In mountain lakes and streams, where runoff from developed soils is limited, nutrients may be in short supply, and the ecosystem e paucity of nutrients in the water column for the visibility

Astrobiology

Investigation of life in the universe

The surface waters may be frozen at ground level as a permafrost, or they may occur in liquid form in lotic or lentic systems.

Lotic aquatic systems are the flowing waters, including springs, streams, and rivers. The he lentic systems are the more stagnant bodies, including swamps, marshes, ponds and lakes.

In order for your population size estimate to accurate, what assumptions must you make about the fish in your study?

No emigration, migration, mixed randomly, no births or deaths.

Birth-death model

Nt+1 = Nt + B - D

How can you explain the global distribution of deserts with reference to global atmospheric circulation cells? What do the Hadley cells have to do with this?

Once the Hadley cells have lost their moisture (making them dry), they will condense down to the Earth bc of atmospheric pressure towards the terrestrial space, where it will retain moisture and take the moisture out of the terrestrial space, leaving a hot, dry, air, desert around 30S and 30N

Chemoheterotrophs

Organic molecules Organic molecules All 3 domains Chemoheterotrophs are chemotrophs that are heterotrophic organisms. They are not capable of fixing carbon to form their own organic compounds. ... Most chemoheterotrophs obtain energy by ingesting organic molecules like glucose. In contrast, chemoautotrophs are autotrophs that use chemical energy to produce carbohydrates. as animals and fungi.

s. The Principle of Allocation

Reseources allocated to: reproduction defense grwoth maintenence

Bacteria can survive deep underground, but how?

Since they have no access to sunlight or oxygen they must rely on something else. Desulforudis, a bacteria, relies on radioactive decay of uranium and it synthesizes organic molecules from water, inorganic carbon, and nitrogen from ammonia. It is a chemoautotrophic thermophile Lives in hot environments Uses chemicals to make its resource to survive.

What were some of the earliest evidence of life on Earth?

Stromatolites Dated to 3.5 Ga

Thermoclines

Summer 20 circulatin/////4 below: . The cold, deeper waters maintain a position at depth, and a thermocline develops that blocks Winter 1 /////4 below: may form that traps the coldest water near the icy surface fall, spring: lake again turns over; flush of nutrients

Photoautotrophs

Sunlight CO2 All 3 domains organisms that carry out photosynthesis. Using energy from sunlight, carbon dioxide and water are converted into organic materials to be used in cellular functions such as biosynthesis and respiration.

​Photoheterotrophs

Sunlight Organic molecules Some bacteria re heterotrophic phototrophs—that is, they are organisms that use light for energy, but cannot use carbon dioxide as their sole carbon source.

NPP % contribution by biome

TROPICAL RAINFOREST the biggest contributors to global productivity among terrestrial ecosytems. the open ocean is unproductive, much like a terrestrial desert, but the open ocean is vast in extent, and it contributes a lot to global productivity such as algal forests and coral reefs, are extremely productive; however, these biomes do not have great spatial extent, and their overall contribution to global productivity is relatively low

telemtry

Telemetry can used to track animals in real time as they move around a landscape.

mutualism.

That would be a relationship in which both participants benefit—the egret gets food, the buffalo gets a warning against predators

e littoral zone

The nearshore of a lake where the water is shallow enough that aquatic plants can remain anchored by roots i he continental shelf may be wide or narrow, and it may slope gradually or steeply.

All of the following statements about the logistic model of population growth are true except: A The carrying capacity is determined by the action of predators B It incorporates the concept of a carrying capacity C It predicts a dynamic equilibrium where birth rates equal death rates D It describes changes in population size over time E It fits an 's' shaped curve

The carrying capacity is determined by the action of predators

Creation of the ozone layer

The photosynthetic activity of these organisms—through the splitting of water (H2O) molecules—flooded the ancient oceans with oxygen gas (O2). These free oxygen molecules combined with atoms of dissolved iron (Fe) and the oceans, in a literal sense, rusted. After saturating the oceans, the oxygen gas bubbled into the atmosphere and rose to the stratosphere, where ultraviolet (UV) rays split some of the O2 molecules. Free oxygen atoms combined with the dioxygen to form ozone (O3), and this new ozone layer shielded the earth surface and from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

How do you interpret these data on the characteristics of plants that dominant early succession (top of the table) and late succession (bottom of the table)?

The plants that dominate early succession exhibit characteristics of r-selected species while plants that dominate late succession exhibit characteristics of K-selected species.

​Mark-Recapture Technique

The ratio of marked fish in the second sample (x) to the total number of fish caught in the second sample (n), should be equal to the ratio of the number of fish originally marked (m) to the number of fish in the population as a whole (N). In other words, x/n = m/N, or N = mn/x.

Slash and burn Tropical rainforest

The soils of tropical forests are relatively thin, and slash and burn agriculture has a devastating long-term impact, as the thin and depleted soils are washed away by heavy rain

Summer solstice

The summer solstice marks the longest day of the year—with the most hours of sunlight—and the winter solstice marks the shortest day of the year. the distance of the northern hemisphere to the sun is minimized, and that is summer time in the north (and when it is summer in the north, it is winter in the south, with the southern hemisphere tilted away from the sun)

RFID (Radio-frequency identification) or PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder)

These devices are small, and they may be injected under the skin with a syringe.

Associated species to estimate population

This method of population size estimation is far from perfect, but it provides one of the most reliable techniques in the vast steppe where these creatures reside.

How are stromatolites formed?

Through activity of microorganismal films that accrete mineral layers as they grow upward toward their energy source, the sun. They are ancestors or close relative to prokaryotes

Chaparral CA

a dense thicket of shrubs and small trees. plants tend to be small and tough with a thick cuticle, and the leaves remain on the plant throughout the year. dense thickets and many of the plants have thorns to deter herbivores. Chaparral fires tend to sweep through in the fall at the end of the dry season, propelled by warm winds that blow from the valley to the coast.

metapopulation

a group of spatially separated populations that interact through immigration and emigration. a population of subpopulations. Some subpopulations that occupy a suitable habitat patch may go locally extinct, and migration can re-establish that patch at a later date, and migration may also establish entirely new subpopulations in new patches.

Methanogen

a methane-producing bacterium, especially an archaean that reduces carbon dioxide to methane.

species richness,

as a measure of how many different kinds of organisms live in that place, the number of species. used a proxy for diversity,

Heterotrophs are

an organism deriving its nutritional requirements from complex organic substances.

Autotroph

an organism that is able to form nutritional organic substances from simple inorganic substances such as carbon dioxide.

Halophile

an organism, especially a microorganism, that grows in or can tolerate saline conditions.

Which domain is most similar to each other?

archara and eukarya bc they share a more recent common ancestor

Intertidal zone

area between low and high tide lines

Eutrophic

dark and dense with plankton

aphotic zone,

deep water areas below the range of light penetration

Haeckel

defined Ökologie he comprehensive science of the relationship of the organism to the environment.

Hydrothermal vents

depth where tectonic activity generates columns of hot and chemically rich gas that push through the sea floor, and thermophilic chemoautotrophic prokaryotes, tube worms, shrimps, and other organisms tolerate the extreme conditions

trophic

derived from a Greek root meaning nutrient, nourishment, or food.

Define paraphyletic

descended from a common evolutionary ancestor or ancestral group, but not including all the descendant groups.

What causes the intra-annual cyclicity of CO2 concentrations in Earth's atmosphere?

during the summer, plants are able to photosynthesize more, using more CO2

An introduced species is found to have a fundamental niche identical to that of a native species. A possible outcome is: A one of the species is driven to extinction as they compete B evolutionary change causes their niches to diverge C they exhibit distinct, and different, realized niches and they coexist D the introduced species becomes extinct for reasons unrelated to competition E all of the above

e all of the above

Temperate Seasonal Forest

e changing leaf colors is deciduous forest, where the chlorophyll in the leaves of plants breaks down and is resorbed by the stems each year in preparation for the cold winter when solar energy is weak and water is unavailable because it is frozen. accumulation of dead organic matter (DOM) on the forest floor, over the decades and centuries, can build a deep humic layer in these forests.

​Facilitation

e effect on one species is positive, and on the other it is neutral. Saltmarsh Rus

watershed

e precipitation collection area that, as a result of gravity, gathers rainfall and snowmelt into a coherent system of interconnected waterways. catchment or drainage basin follows the contours of the land; the water may dive belowground or stay on the surface and accumulate in increasingly larger streams.

Natural history

e study of natural phenomena based on observation and description

photic or euphotic zone

e upper waters with adequate light for photosynthesis

Large water bodies have a big effect on air temperature

ecause of water's high specific heat capacity, a measure of the amount of heat necessary to raise the temperature of a substance. Large water bodies heat up and cool down more slowly than land masses; as a result, large water bodies dampen the seasonal fluctuations of temperature in adjacent land areas Walter climate diagrams of San Francisco and Sacramento

evapotranspiratio

encapsulates water and temperature in a single variable, and when plotted against tree species richness in North America, the relationship described above for NPP holds: species richness increases with evapotranspiration to a point, but declines in systems with exceedingly high values.

Population dispersion .Three major patterns may be distinguished: ​

ers to the spatial relationship among the members of a population on a surface or in a volume of air or water. random, uniform, and clumped.

survivorship curve

flects the death rate of a species population over an average individual lifespan.

​Desert

getting drier cactuses and massive lizard blazing hot day turns into a blisteringly cold night

Temperate rainforest

great density of biomass with abundant epiphytes and dynamic microbial and fungal action The soils are heavier than in the tropical forest because of reduced rates of decomposition in the cooler climate. . Conifer trees can dominate both the canopy and subcanopy of this biome, and ferns and bryophytes thrive at ground level.

​A guild

group of species that exploit the same class of environmental resources in a similar way.

Hydrological Cycle

he amount of water that evaporates off the ocean exceeds the amount that falls into the ocean as precipitation This atmospheric excess of water is ported over the continents where a majority falls as rain and snow

the physical factors that are responsible for the determination of climate

he circulation of ocean water—global ocean currents—have a major impact on terrestrial climate, particularly in coastal regions.

Wallace's zoogeographic divisions of the terrestrial world form the basis for our categorization of the major biogeographic realms

he distinguished six major zoogeographic regions: the Nearctic and Neotropical in the New World; the Ethiopian region south of the Sahara (usually referred to as the Afrotropics); the Palearctic region of Eurasia and the Middle East plus North Africa; the Oriental region of the Indian subcontinent and southeastern Asia including the Phillipines and the Indonesian archipelago west of the Lombok Strait; the Indomalayan region including the Indonesian islands east of the Lombok Strait plus New Guinea; and the Australian region with Australia and New Zealand.

extrapolate Quadrats and transects

he ecologist extrapolates from this subsample to estimate the size of the population overall.

​How do ecologists estimate population abundance?

he measurement of the size of a population (N) relative estimate of population size is sufficient: it might be enough to know that the population of wolves in one park is larger than the population in another park, without knowing any exact numbers. In other cases, however, absolute estimates of population size are required Direct estimates of N involve counting actual organism Indirect estimates: Many animals leave signs and indications of their activity, crawfish chimney

Climate

he pattern of variation in local or regional weather conditions over a long time period. statistical average of weather patterns over an extended time and area.

to determine local and regional precipitation patterns

he topography of the physical landscape interacts with atmospheric air circulation

advection fog

high temperatures inland generate rising columns of air that form a sort of vacuum—a suction—at the ground level. The air that flows in to fill this void does not come from the east (where it is blocked by the Sierra Nevada), rather it comes from the open ocean to the west, and that is a cool marine layer, often with heavy fog

Hurricanes and currents

how warm equatorial currents flow through the Carribean and along the southeastern United States in the form of the Gulf Stream. These warm water systems in the Atlantic contribute moisture and energy to the massive storms and hurricanes that have hit the Gulf of Mexico and the eastern seabord in recent years, including hurricanes Katrina, Harvey, and Florence

Humans are...

humans are chemoheterotrophs

​Savanna

increased rainfall, . Fires race through the tall grass in the dry season Vultures

Orography

is the branch of physical geography that deals with the formation, structure, and influence of hills and mountains, and orographic effects are extremely important in determining local climate and weather patterns.

The physiognomy of an ecosystem

its external appearance on a landscape scale. he shape or morphology of the whole landscape can be described in terms of the visible plants—standing trees, small shrubs, or lichens, mosses, grasses, forbs, and flowers

wetland

land area that is perennially or seasonally inundated such that it supports vegetation with aquatic adaptations.

deep water benthic zone

level of the substrate that is inhabited by a distinctive biota (the benthos) biota: the animal and plant life of a particular region, habitat, or geological period.

Transpiration

loss of water molecules through the pores (stomata) of leaves, and this can occur in great quantities in terrestrial ecosystems.

Latitudes

low latitude sites (near the equator) are generally warmer than high latitude sites, all else being equal. t solar energy most directly strikes the middle of the earth (near the equator). The sun's rays strike the Earth more obliquely at high latitudes, and this results in less energy concentrated per unit area toward the poles. This is referred to as the cosine law of solar radiation, and it relates to why you want your solar panels to face the sun directly rather than at a steep angle.

proper abyssal zone

mainly for oceans not lakes

biome

major regional or global biotic community characterized by convergences in vegetation physiognomy and organismal adaptations based largely on similarity of climate.

ecotone

mixed community that exists between two distinct, adjacent communities.

cohort

ohort is a group of individuals in a sample, usually from the same generation

open water component

pelagic zone in the oceans limnetic zone in lakes

​Tundra

perennially or at least seasonally frozen soils where the roots of trees fail to support above-ground growth in the short growing season. Lichens and mosses and tenacious forbs may flourish, many grazers

Evaporation

process by which water changes phase from a liquid to a gas, and evaporation rates are higher when it is hot.

estuary

re the mineral salts of the marine environment may mix with the fresh river water to form brackish conditions.

Deltas

slowing of a river, often as it arrives with high energy onto flat terrain, or upon joining the sea on a gradually sloping coastal plain.

Tropical rainforests

soaking wet for more days of the year than is true for any other biome. Microbial activity is hyperdynamic, and dead organic matter is quickly decomposed and recycled. e soils of tropical forests are relatively thin, and slash and burn agriculture has a devastating long-term impact, as the thin and depleted soils are washed away by heavy rain ungs of the earth f solar energy to primary biomass

zoogeographic divisions

spatial distribution of organisms—animals in particular great way to get to know global geography is through zoogeography!

ecological community

species that live in sympatry and interact

Walter Climate Diagram.

summarize the climate of a region relies on a double-y-axis plot of temperature (ºC) and precipitation (mm) in relation to time. Each interval of 10ºC in temperature is set equal to an interval of 20mm in precipitation, and time is measured in months, usually starting with January (see below used to assess the expected growing conditions of a location at a glance.

climograph

summarizes the distribution of terrestrial biomes on the basis of temperature and precipitation.

density dependent factors

t affect population growth and population size are biotic factors, such as competition, ​waste production, parasites/pathogens, and predation.

Weather

the atmospheric conditions over short time scales, such as the expected temperature and precipitation tomorrow (i.e., tomorrow's weather)

Struggle for existance

the battle to survive and reproduce.

range of a species

to the limits of its distribution in space

Gulf of Alaska and California Current

upwelling of cool subsurface water in the Gulf of Alaska contributes to the California Current, influencing the temperature of that water (the ribbon that reaches California is shown in red, but make no mistake, it is pretty darn cold). Note that upwelling currents are not only cold, they also bring nutrient-rich waters to the surface and contribute to the explosion of biomass in areas such as the Gulf of Alaska and along the Pacific northwest coast, particularly in the warmer summer months.

Temperate Grassland and Steppe

warmer, but not much wetter. fires race through the dry grasses sparked by lightning strikes. n temperate grasslands with decent rainfall are prized areas for agriculture because of their rich soils and expansize plains.

Boreal Forest (Taiga)

warms and dries = increased fire arbon atoms in the atmosphere dips markedly each year when the great conifer forests of the taiga enter the growing season and conduct photosynthesis

What type of vegetation would you expect on the windward and leeward sides of a mountain, respectively?

windward: green, rich, dense leeward: dry, arid

shrubland or heathland or scrubland Mediterranean climate

woody shrubs and small trees, with larger trees growing in the protected ravines and along watercourses. (1) the California coast and central valley, (2) the western tip of South Africa, (3) central Chile, (4) the coast of southwestern Australia, and (5) the Mediterranean region warm (or temperate) wet winter alternates with a hot (or warm) dry summer.

Are you comfortable with the fact that eukaryotes such as ourselves are teeming with other organisms? Or is this, in a word, gross?

yes

Extremophiles

​Prokaryotes that live in extreme environmental conditions—such as in a hot thermal vent, in the acidic gut of an animal, or in a highly saline aquatic system