Biology Chapter 3,4,5, & 6 test

estuaries

wetlands formed where rivers meet the sea

ecosystem

a collection of all the organisms that live in a particular place, together with their nonliving, or physical, evnironment.

biome

a group of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar dominant communities

species

a group of organisms so similar to one another that they can breed and produce fertile offspring

biome

a particular physical environment that contains a charactersitc assemblage of plants and animals

nutrients

all the chemical substances that an organism requires to live

wetland

an ecosystem in which water either covers the spil or is present at or near the surface of the soil for at least part of the year.

predation

an interaction in which one organism captures and feeds on another organism

symbiosis

any relationship in which two species live closley together

communities

assembaleges of different populations that live together in a defined area

phoytosynthesis

autotrophs use light energy to power chemical reactions that convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and energy-rich carbohydrates such as sugars and starches

nitrogen fixation

baterica, which live in the soil and on the roots of plants called legumes, convert nitrogen gas into ammonia in a process known as...

boreal forest

biome also called taiga. along the northern edge of the temperate zone are dense evergreen forests of coniferous trees. long cold winters, short mild summers, moderate precipiation, high humidity, acidic nutruent poor soils. found in north america, asian and northern europe

temperate woodland and shrubland

biome characterized by a semiarid climate and a mix of shrub communities and open woodlands. hot, dry summers, cool and mosit winers. thin nutrient poor soils. found in western coasts of north and south america, areas around the mediterranean sea, south africa, and australia

tundra

biome characterized by permafrost. strong winds, low precipitation, short and soggy summers, long and cold dark winters, poorly devloped soils. found in northern nort america, asia, and europe

desert

biome ery dry, have less than 25 centimeters of annual rainfall. variable temperatures. found in africa, asia, the middle east, united states, mexico, south america, and australia

tropical dry forest

biome grow where rainfall is highly season rather than year round. generally warm year round, alternating wet and dry seasons. tall decidious trees. in parts of africa, south and central america, mexico, india, australia, and tropical islands

temperate grassland

biome haracterized by a rich miz of grasses and underlaid by some of the world's most fertile soils. warm to hot summers, cold winters, moderate, seasonal precipitation. found in central asia, north america, australia, central europe, and upland plateaus of south america

temperate forest

biome has coniferous trees and deciduous trees. cold to moderate winters, warm summers, and yyear round preciptation. found in eastern united states, south eastern canada, most of europe, and parts of japan, china and australia

tropical rain forest

biome hot and wet year round; thin, nutrient poor soils. tall evergreen trees, ferns, large woody vines found in South and Cenral America, parts of Africa, southern India, and north eastern Australia

Northwestern Coniferous Forest

biome mild, moist air from the pacific ocean provides abundant rainfall to this biome. made up of a variety of conifers ranging from giant redwoods along the coast of northern california to spruce, fure and hemlock farther north. mild temperatures, abundant precipitation during fall, winter and spring, relatively cool dry summer. found on pacific coast of northwestern united states and canada, from northern california to alaska

tropical savanna

biome recieves more fainfall than deserts but less than tropical dry forests. warm temperatures, seasonal rainfall. tall perennial grasses. found in large parts of eastern africa, southern brazil, and northern australia

mutualism

both species benefit

decomposers

breaks down organic matter, ex; bacteria and fungi

mangrove swamps

coastal wetlands that are widespead across tropical regions, including southern florida and hawaii.

polar zones

cold areas where the sun's rays strike earth at a very low angle

biosphere

contains the combined portions of the planet in which all of life exists, uncluding land, water and air or the atmosphere. the highest level of organization that ecologists study

canopy

dense covering on top of trees

ecological pyramid

diagram that shows the relative amounts of energy or matter contained within each trophic level in a food chain or food web

trophic levels

each step in a food chain or food web

biogeochemical cycles

elements, chemcial compunds, and other forms of matter are passed from one organism to another and from one part of the biosphere to another

coastal ocean

extends from the low tide mark to the outer edge of the continental shelf, the relatively shallow border than surrounds the continents

detritivores

feed on plant and animal remains and other dead matter, collectively called detritus. ex; mites, earthworms, snails and crabs

carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and a few other gases

gases that trap hea energy and maintain earth's termparature range

plankton

general term for the tiny, free floating or weakly swimming organisms that live both freshwater and saltwater environments

populations

groups of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area

consumers

heterotrophs are also called this...

inorganic chemical compounds

instead of sun, organisms rely on types of energy stored in....

carbon cycle

involves four different kinds of processes involved in the carbon cycle: biological processes, such as photosynthesis, respiration, and decomposition of plants and animals. geochemical processes, such as the release of carob diozide gas to the atmosphere by volcanoes, mixed biogeochemical processes, such as the burial of carbon rich remains of organisms and their conversaion into coal and pteroleum (fossil fuels) by the pressure of the overlying earth human activity, including mining, the burning of fossil fuels, and the cutting and burning of forests

phosphorus

is essential to living organisms because it forms part of important life-sustaining molecules such as DNA and RNA. it does not enter the atmosphere. it remains mostly on land in rock and soil minerals and in ocean sediments

producers

like autotrophs only these organic molecules combine and recombine to produce living tissue. they are called...

detritus

made p of tiny pieces of organic material that provide food for organisms at the base of the estuary's food web

coral reefs

named for the coral animals whose hard calcium carbonate skeletons make up their primary structure

kelp forests

named for their dominant organsm: a giant brown alae that can gros at extraordinary rates, as much as 50 centimeters a day

tropical zone

near the equator, between 23.5 degrees north and 23.5 degrees south latitudes. receive direct or nearly direct sunligh year round, making the climate almost always warm.

78 percent

nitrogen makes up this percent of the earth's atmosphere

carnivores

obtain energy by eating animals. ex; snakes, dogs, and owls

herbivores

obtain energy by eating only plants. ex; cows, caterpillars, and deer

exponential growth

occurs when the indiiduals in a population reprodcue at a constant rate. on a graph forms a J shape.

COMMENSALISM

one member of the association benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed

parasitism

one organism lives on or inside another organism and harms it

aphotic zone

only in this relatively thin surface layer, typically down to a depth of about 200 meters, can algae and other producers grow. permanetly dark.

heterotrophs

organisms that rely on other organisms for their energy and food supply

photic zone

photosynthesis is limited to this well lit upper layer

cyanobacteria

photosynthetic bacteria that are important in certain wet ecosystems such as tidal flats and salt marshes

abiotic factors

physical, or nonliving, factors that shape ecosystems

zooplankton

planktonic animals, feed on the phytoplankton

autotrophs

plants, some algae, and certain bacteria can capture energy from sunlight or chemicals and use that energu to produce food. they are called...

lichen

primary species on volcanic rocks. made up of afungus and an alga and can grow on bare rock. they break up rocks.

matter

recycled within and between ecosystems, unlike the one way flow of energy

biomass pyramid

represents the amount of living organic matter at each trophic level

understory

second layer of shorter trees and vines

energy pyramid

shows the relative amount of energy available at each trophic level

pyramid of numbers

shows the relative number of individual organisms at each trophic level

phytoplankton

single celled alae are supported by nutrients in the water and form the base of many aquatic food webs.

temperate zones

sit between the polar zones and the tropics. temperature ranges from hot to cold

denitrification

soil bacteria convert nitrates into nitrogen gas in a process called...

competitive exlcusion principle

states that no two species can occupy the same niche in the same habitat at the same time

primary succession

succession that occurs on surfaces where no soil exists

salt marshes

temperate zone stuaries dominated by salt tolerant grasses above the low tide line and by seagrasses under water

10 percent

the amount of energu that is transferred to each organisms at the next trophic level

climate

the average, year after year conditions of temperature and precipitation in a particular region

biotic factors

the biological influence on organisms within an ecosystem

microclimate

the climate within a small area that differs significantly from the climate around it

weather

the day to day condition of earth's atmosphere at a particular time and place

food chain

the energy stored by producers can be passed through an ecosystem

pioneer species

the first species to populate the area

niche

the full range of physical and biological conditions in which an organism lives and the way in which the organism uses those conditions

sunlight

the main energy source for life on earth

immigration

the movement of individuals into an area is another factor that can cause a poplation to grow

emigrration

the movement of individuals out of a population can cause a population to decrease in size

greenhouse effect

the natural situation in which heat is retained by this layer of greenhouse gasses

population denisty

the number of individuals per unit area

benthos

the ocean floor contains organisms that live attacted to or near the bottom such as sea stars, anemones, and marine worms, sicentists refers to these organisms as...

evaporation

the process by which water changes from a liquid form to an atmospheric gas

zonation

the prominent horizontal banding of organisms that live in a particular habitat

primary productivity

the rate at which organic matter is created by producers

polar, temperate, and tropical zones

the result of differences in latitude and thus the angle of heating, earth has three main climate zones

ecology

the scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their enviornment, or surroundings

ecological succession

the series of predictable changes that occur in a community

observing, experimenting, and modeling

the three basic approaches a scientist uses to conduct modern ecological resarch

biomas

the toal amount of living tissue within a given trophic level

the number of births, the number of deaths, and the number of individuals that enter or leave the population

three factors can affect population size

geographic distribution, density, and growth rate

three imprtant charactersistics of a population are...

trasnpiration

water can also enter the atmosphere by evaporating from the leaves of plants in the process of...

algal bloom

when an aquatic ecosystem receives a large input of a limiting nutruent, for example, runoff from heavily fertilized fields, that result is often an immdeiate increase in the amount of algae and other producers

limiting nutrient

when an ecosystem is limited by a single nutrient that is scare or cycles verly slowly, this substance is called a...

chemosynthesis

when organisms use chemical energy to produce carbohydrates

food web

when the feeding relationships among the various organisms in an ecoysystem form a network of complex interactions ecologists describe the se relationships as...

secondary succession

whena disturbance of some kind changes an existing community without removing the soil. ex; forest fire