BIOLOGY1409- Chapter 18

Biome

- A major terrestrial or aquatic life zone. - Named for major physical or climatic features & for their predominant vegetation.

Ecosystem

- All the organisms in a given area, along with the nonliving (abiotic) factors with which they interact - A biological community & its physical environment.

What is the greenhouse effect? How is the greenhouse effect related to global warming?

- Carbon dioxide & other gases in the atmosphere absorb heat energy radiating from Earth & reflect it back toward Earth. - As the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere increases, more heat is retained, causing global warming.

Biotic factors

- Consists of living components - Like: All living organisms & living material that are a part of an individual's environment

Abiotic component

- Consists of non-living chemical & physical factors that affect the environment - Like: temperature, light, water, minerals, energy source, air, other

Chaparral

- Cool ocean currents circulating off-shore - Mild, rainy winters - Hot, dry summers - Located partly in California & Mediterranean - Inhabit dense, spiny, evergreen shrubs - Inhabit deer, fruit-eating birds, seed-eating rodents, lizards, & snakes - Plants use the periodic lightning fires to their advantage

Effects of climate change on biomes

- Disrupts interactions between species - Wildfires - Shifting biome boundries

Marine biomes

- Distributed into realms: benthic & pelagic - Distributed into zones: photic, aphotic, & intertidal - According to: water depth, degree of light penetration, distance from shore, & open water versus deep- sea bottom. -

Savanna

- Grasslands - Surround tropics - Warm, year-round temperature - Poor soil, lack of moisture - Fire: important abiotic factor caused by humans & lightning - Dramatic seasonal variation - Inhabit largest grazing mammals, their predators, & burrowing animals

Temperate grassland

- Have some of the characteristics of tropical savannas - Tree-less - Low rainfall - Include: bison & pronghorn in N.America, wild horses & sheep in Asian steppes, & kangaroos in Australia. - Dominant plant- eaters are invertebrates, especially grasshoppers & soil- dwelling nematodes.

Abiotic factors in the biosphere

- Includes: availability of sunlight, water, nutrients, & temperature. - In aquatic habitats: dissolved oxygen, salinity, current, & tides. -In terrestrial environments: wind & fire.

Freshwater biomes

- Lakes - Ponds - Rivers - Streams - Wetlands

Name several abiotic factors that might affect the community of organisms living inside a home fish tank.

- Light - Water temperature - Chemicals added

Aphotic

- Marine biome with no light

Tropical forest

- Occur on & near the Equator - Warm temperatures - 11/12 hour days

Place these levels of ecological study in order, from the least to the most comprehensive: community ecology, ecosystem ecology, organismal ecology, population ecology.

- Organismal ecology - Population ecology - Community ecology - Ecosystem ecology

What three abiotic factors account for the rarity of trees in arctic tundra?

- Permafrost - Very cold winters - High winds

Deserts

- Southwestern United States - Sahara - australia - Characterized by low & unpredictable rainfall - Inhabit snakes, lizards, anthropods (scorpions, insects) & seed-eating rodents - Animals/plants have an array of water-retaining mechanisms - Some very cold, others very hot

The geographic distribution of terrestrial biomes is based mainly on regional variations in climate. Climate is largely determined by...

- Uneven distribution of solar energy on Earth - Proximity to large bodies of water - The presence of landforms such as mountains also affect climate.

Place these levels of ecological study in order, from the least to the most comprehensive: community ecology, ecosystem ecology, organismal ecology, population ecology.

...

Types of biomes

1) Tropical forest 2) Savanna 3) Desert 4) Chaparral 5) Temperate grassland 6) Temperate broadleaf forest 7) Coniferous forest 8) Tundra 9) Polar ice

Ways animals adapt to the environment

1) physiological- 2) anatomical- fur 3) behavioral- migration

Population

A group of individuals of the same species & geographical area

The interactions of organisms with their environment leads to...

Adaptation via natural selection

What human activity is responsible for the greatest amount of deforestation?

Agriculture

Biosphere

An environmental patchwork in which abiotic factors affect the distribution & abundance of organisms.

We are on a coastal hillside on a hot, dry summer day among evergreen shrubs that are adapted to fire. We are most likely standing in a ______________ biome.

Chaparral

Population ecology

Concentrates mainly on factors that affect population density & growth

Organismal ecology

Concerned with evolutionary adaptations that enable individual organisms to meet challenges posed by their abiotic environments

Community

Consists of all organisms that inhabit aparticular area

Name a pelagic animal of the aphotic zone

Deep-sea squid

Community ecology

Focuses on how interactions between species (predation, competition, symbiosis), affect community structure & organization

Zones typical to the Desert region in southwestern North America

Lowest to highest: - Desert - Desert grassland - Oak woodland - Pine woodland - Spruce-fir forest

What populations of organisms are most likely to survive climate change via evolutionary adaptation?

Populations of organisms that have high genetic variability & short life spans

Ecology

Scientific study of interactions between organisms & their environment.

Distribution of organisms is limited by...

The abiotic conditions they can tolerate

The recent increase in atmospheric CO 2 concentration is mainly a result of an increase in

The burning of fossil fuels and wood

The formation of goose bumps on your skin in cold weather is an example of a ( an) ______________ response, while seasonal migration is an example of a ( an) ______________ response.

physiological; behavioral