Chapter 18: General Principles of Ecology

Biomass

A measure of the total dry mass of organisms within a particular region

carbon sink

A natural environment that absorbs and stores more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it releases, which offsets greenhouse gas emissions.

1/3

About (what percentage) of incoming solar radiation is reflected back to space by the atmosphere and Earth's surface.

Greenhouse gases

Carbon dioxide (CO2), Water vapor (H2O), Methane (CH4), Nitrous Oxide (N2O)

higher

Carbon dioxide levels are (higher/lower) than any other time during the last 420,000 years.

Photosynthesis

Plants use the sun's energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into sugars and release oxygen back into the air.

Water percolation into soil

Precipitation absorbed into the ground, moving downward by gravity into the soil, until it reaches the water table.

carbon source

Releases more carbon into the atmosphere than it takes in

Runoff

Water doesn't just sit there and wait to be evaporated by the sun or lapped up by the local wildlife—it begins to move (due to gravity). Some of it seeps into the ground to refresh groundwater, but most of it flows down gradient

Groundwater flow

Water moves underground downward and sideways, in great quantities, due to gravity and pressure.

bubbles

CO2 concentrations are measured in ice air ________.

Fire

Amazon rainforest is becoming more vulnerable to this because of its drier climate due to climate change

100 year drought

An extreme drought that should theoretically only occur once every 100 years. In 2005, the Amazon rainforest experienced one that destroyed over 30,00 square miles of rainforest.

global warming

An increase in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere (especially a sustained increase that causes climatic changes)

decreases

Burning trees (increases/decreases) the amount of water returning back to the atmosphere from the soil.

Condensation

Condensation is the process by which water vapor in the air is changed into liquid water. Condensation is crucial to the water cycle because it is responsible for the formation of clouds. Opposite of evaporation

Biosphere

Consists of all life on Earth and all parts of the Earth in which life exists, including land, water, and the atmosphere.

Biotic

Describes living factors in the environment.

Jennifer Balch

Ecologist at University of Colorado Boulder. Experimenting to see what happens when the Amazon Rainforest burns

trap

Greenhouse gases __________ heat in the atmosphere rather than letting it pass back into space.

58

How many years has Mauna Loa Observatory been recording CO2 levels?

25

Logging and burning of forests is responsible for _______% CO2 yearly increase.

greenhouse effect

Natural situation in which heat is retained in Earth's atmosphere by carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and other gases

Abiotic

Non-living things in the environment

toward

Northern hemisphere experiences summer when the earth is tilted (away from/toward) the sun.

faster

People have been using resources (faster/slower) than they can be replenished.

Carbon

Plants release _______ back into the air when they are burned.

equator

Sunlight strikes Earth most directly at the _______.

control plot

The 0.5 square kilometer plot of the rainforest that never burned in Jennifer Balch's study. All other plots were compared to this one

Evaporation

The change of state from a liquid to a gas

hydrologic cycle

The cycle through which water in the hydrosphere moves; includes such processes as evaporation, precipitation, and surface and groundwater runoff

fossil fuels

The increase in CO2 levels is linked to the burning of ____________. This is responsible for 75% increase in yearly CO2.

Earth equivalents

The number of planet Earths needed to provide the resources we use and absorb the wastes we produce.

Respiration

The process by which cells use oxygen to break down simple food molecules to release the energy they contain.

deforestation

The removal of trees faster than forests can replace themselves.

Sustainability

The use of Earth's renewable and nonrenewable natural resources in ways that do not constrain resource use in the future.

temperature

There is an almost perfect correlation between CO2 levels and earth's surface _______

d0

Wildfires (do/do not) push the Amazon toward a drier, grassier savanna-like ecosystem.

goods-and-services footprint

Your use of everything from home appliances to paper products.

Trees

__________ act as a layer connecting the atmosphere above them and the ground beneath them, absorbing water from the ground and releasing O2 into the air.

climate change

a change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels.

carbon dioxide

a colorless, odorless gas produced by burning carbon and organic compounds and by respiration. It is naturally present in air (about 0.03 percent) and is absorbed by plants in photosynthesis. Greenhouse gas.

Savanna

a grassy plain in tropical and subtropical regions, with few trees. Rainforest could convert to this and climate could be severely altered.

firebreak

an obstacle to the spread of fire, such as a strip of open space in a forest.

Precipitation

any liquid or frozen water that forms in the atmosphere and falls back to the Earth.

Built-up land footprint

infrastructures to support one's lifestyle

food footprint

land, energy, and water needed to produce the food one needs

Transpiration

loss of water from a plant through its leaves

Ecology

the branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings.

ecological footprint

the impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources.

weather

the meteorological conditions: temperature and wind and clouds and precipitation over a short duration in a limited geographical space.

carbon cycle

the movement of carbon from the nonliving environment into living things and back

carbon footprint

the total carbon dioxide emissions produced by an individual, group, or location

climate

the weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period (30+ years).

Convection Cells

warm, moist air rises and cool, dry air sinks, generating relatively consistent wind patterns. These, in combination with the angle of sunlight hitting the earth, play large role in creation of regional environments.