Unit 1 Biology and Field Ecology

Be able to describe/ diagram how the greenhouse effect works.

1: Solar radiation reaches the Earth's atmosphere - some of this is reflected back into space. 2:The rest of the sun's energy is absorbed by the land and the oceans, heating the Earth. 3:Heat radiates from Earth towards space. 4: Some of this heat is trapped by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, keeping the Earth warm enough to sustain life.

When did plants move onto land?

435 mya

Know what a food pyramid shows. What does a food pyramid show that is not shown by a food chain?

A food pyramid shows the trophic levels and the biomass in the trophic level

What is an umbrella species? Know an example.

A species whose conservation and protection helps other species Example: spotted owl protection protects the redwood forest

What is a keystone species?

A species whose existence in an ecosystem has a drastic effect on the other species in that ecosystem

What percentage of introduced species go on to become problematic invasives?

About 10% of non-native species introduced to North America become invasive, of these about 1 out of 10 become seriously problematic.

What is an adaptation? Be able to give examples of adaptations, particularly from your Lindsay Wildlife Lab

An adaptation is traits that have been subjected to natural selection Beak adaptation to accommodate to different food sources Raptos like eagles or owls have a shredder shaped beak to rip and tear meat and flesh off their prey claw/talong adaptations Eye adaptations: forward facing eyes, third eyelid and no eye muscles

What is an indicator species? What are lichen good indicators of?

An indicator species serves as an indicator of ecosystem health, usually a sensitive species. Lichen are good indicators of air pollution because they are particularly sensitive to air pollutants

What is the difference between an introduced or exotic species and an invasive species?

An introduced species has predators/competition that keep it under control while an invasive species lacks predators/ competition thus taking all the resources and becoming problematic for a habitat.

What is an analogous structure? A homologous structure? Be able to give or identify an Example.

Analogous Structure: similarity due to convergent evolution, NOT common ancestor. Ex: bird wings and butterfly wings. Homologous Structure: similarity due to common or shared ancestor. Ex: humans and whales.

Know the four types of reproductive isolating mechanisms that we talked about and be able to give or identify examples of each.

Behavioral Isolation- change in behavior that reproductively isolated one group or organisms from others. Ex: Change in courtship dances between birds. Temporal Isolation: Change in time of mating, either different times of year or even just time of day. Mechanical Isolation: Change of body form/shape that prevents reproduction with the rest of the population/species. Ex: black sage Habitat Isolation: species occupy different habitats in the same geographical range, Ex: a body of water split into two.

What is bioaccumulation? What is biomagnification? Be able to explain how toxins biomagnify up the food chain. What characteristics do chemicals need to bioaccumulate?

Bioaccumulation: accumulation of chemicals in an organism and occurs when an organism absorbs a toxic substance at a rate greater than that at which the substance is lost. Biomagnification: the increasing concentration of a substance, such as a toxic chemical, in the tissues of organisms at successively higher levels in a food chain. Toxins biomagnify up the food chain because a consumer in a higher trophic levels needs to consume much more smaller organisms to meet its nutritional needs. It eats more smaller organisms that already have toxic chemicals in them. Chemicals that are fat soluble bioaccumulate

What is the biological species concept? What organisms does it work well for? What organisms does it not work for? What are the problems with the BSC? What is replacing the biological species concept?

Biological species concept: Populations or organisms belong to the same species if they can reproduce. Works well for organisms that can mate and reproduce and produce fertile offspring. Does not work for organisms that reproduce asexually and hybrid species (donkey). The issue with BSC is it's impractical and difficult to test. It is being replaced with genetic comparison of DNA to tell how evolutionary different or similar organisms are.

Know the major greenhouse gasses that human activities have added to the atmosphere and some general sources of each.

Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and CFC's have been added to the atmosphere due to human activity Carbon dioxide source: released when solid waste, fosil fuels, wood or biomass are burned Methane: in production and transportation of coal, gas, and oil, results from decomposition, produced by grazing livestock Nitrous oxide: emitted during ag. And industrial activities, during combustion of solid waste and fossil fuels CFC: Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are nontoxic, non flammable chemicals containing atoms of carbon, chlorine, and fluorine. Used in the manufacture of aerosol sprays, blowing agents for foams, packing materials, as solvents & refrigerants.

Since the industrial revolution, by what percentage have the following gg's increased: carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxides?

Carbon dioxide: 40% Methane: more than doubled Nitrous oxide: 15%

What are the four ways in which introduced plants can disrupt an ecosystem? Be able to describe an example to illustrate each of these 4 ways

Change food sources. Alter soil chemistry or soil moisture Change fire frequency Change insect pollination

What are decomposers and why are they important?

Decomposers turn food chains into food cycle by feeding on dead producers and consumers and recycle nutrients back into the ecosystem.

Understand natural selection: what are the 4 conditions necessary for natural selection? Be able to give examples of each of these conditions or apply these conditions to different adaptations.

Differential reproduction: not all organisms will survive/ reproduce equally Organisms vary in many ways and much of this variation is heritable (passed down in genetic code from parents Heritable traits will affect an organism's fitness Fitness=survival and reproduction (an organism's contribution to genetic information passed down to offsprings) Traits that increase an organism's fitness will tend to be passed onto future generations more than those that decrease an organism's fitness

What is the problem with only measuring species richness?

Does not accurately represent the proportion of species in an area

What are some diseases that have been introduced to North America?

Dutch elm: disease wiped out elm trees on the East Coast Chestnut Bright: fungus which arrived in NYC in the late 19th century from Asia, spread in less than 50 yrs over 225 mill. acres of the eastern US, destroying nearly every chestnut tree. Sudden Oak death: currently threatening numerous CA native trees and shrubs.

What are some reasons that it is important to protect biodiversity?

Economically (natural resources), medicine, ecosystem functioning, emotional/ethical values (other species have a right to exist)

Understand energy transfer and energy loss through food chains: what is the direction of energy movement and how much energy is lost between each level of a food chain?

Energy flows in one direction from the sun Only about 10% of energy is transferred between each level moving up the food chain. Most is lost as heat

Understand the difference between sexual selection and environmental selection- be able to give examples of each.

Environmental selection is based on external pressures from ecosystem like predators, diseases, food sources, and climate

What organisms did plants evolve from?

Eukarya // Plants originated from green algae in oceans

What is GWP? Know the relative GWP of CO2, methane, nitrous oxides & CFC's

GWP(global warming potential): reflects 1) how long it remains in the atmosphere, on average and 2) how strongly it absorbs energy CO2<methane<nitrous oxides<CFCs

What are the 3 types of biodiversity that scientists are typically concerned with? Understand what each type is.

Genetic diversity: the variety of different versions of the same genes within species Species diversity: the number of different species within a community at a certain place and time (most commonly talked about) ecological/habitat diversity: the richness of ecosystems (number of different habitats, trophic levels, etc)

What are the 4 major causes of the current mass extinction? Know their order of severity. *IN ORDER OF SEVERITY*

Habitat Destruction, Fragmentation and Degradation: Leading cause of extinction. Includes- conversion of land for agriculture, housing, industry and roads. Invasive Species: Introduction of foreign species into a new ecosystem. Chemical Pollution: human-produced pollutants infiltrate ecosystems and cause health issues in many wild species. Overexploitation: many species become endangered or even extinct because of deliberate efforts to eradicate, control, to collect them. Grizzly bears in CA American Bison in the 1800's Sea otters

What are the advantages that seeds have over spores?

Have a seed coat that holds in water Have endosperm (lunch box): to help them survive until conditions allow them to grow

know several different ways through which invasive species get to a new area

Human relocation Escaped from private gardens Imported with goods Released pets Brought in for a purpose

How did the change from dependence on water to depending on wind/insect/birds for fertilization influence diversity and evolution in plants?

Increases genetic variation because a plant is not just producing offspring with its neighbor, it is able to travel further and cross pollinate.

Do individual organisms evolve? Do populations evolve?

Individuals can be subjected to natural selection, but they do not evolve. Evolution acts on a population

What is an introduced species? What is an invasive species? Introduced Species: a species that has been brought into a new habitat.

Invasive Species: a species not originated from a habitat that takes over / thrives.

What is the Endangered Species Act? What does it do?

Lists species as endangered or threatened and seeks to protect species from extinction Regulates fishing, hunting, shooting, killing, capturing, harassing Purpose is to protect and recover imperiled species and the ecosystems upon which they depend

What is fitness? How is it measured?

Measured by amount of offspring and genetic code passed on

What is the morphological species concept? What are its limitations?

Morphological species concept: grouping species based on what they look like Limitations: organisms that look similar could be unrelated versus species that look different could be related.

Why do mosses need to live in wet areas while oaks are able live in places where it is drier?

Mosses do not have vascular systems which means they do not have a system to pull water out of the soil, they need to be small and close to the ground to collect water. Oaks have vascular systems and deep roots that can reach water deep down.

Abiotic

Non-living

Why are ferns called the "amphibians of the plant world"?

One phase is non-vascular, one phase is vascular

What must Fish & Wildlife Service do once a species is listed as threatened or endangered?

Prepare and write up a recovery plan

What are some of the major problems presented by introduced producers vs. herbivores vs. carnivores?

Producers: because producers are at the bottom of the food chain when they are altered it changes the rest of chain overall. Herbivores: they feed on native vegetation / seeds and this can drastically reduce or disrupt native plant population. Carnivores: since they are in a new environment with fewer/ no enemies plus native species don't have evolved defenses they can wipe out their prey.

Characteristics of living things

Respiration Metabolism response to environment Reproduction Grows and develops Regulation

How many species on the planet have scientists described? How many might there might be?

Scientists have described about 1.8 million species There might be 10-50 million total

What effects of climate change have been measured for Sea surface temperatures Sea levels Ocean pH levels Arctic sea ice Sea levels

Sea surface temperatures: increased Sea levels: increased Ocean pH levels: decreased and becoming more acidic Arctic sea ice: melting Sea levels: rising

What processes lead to the variation we see among organisms?

Sexual reproduction: mixes alleles from 2 parents Mutations: creation of new gene forms (random)

Know what sources vs. sinks are and examples of each.

Sources: produce greenhouse gases (example: auto emissions) Sinks: reservoirs that uptake greenhouse gasses (example: trees, plants, oceans)

Speciation

Speciation: the divergence of one species into two or more species. Speciation begins as gene flow ends between populations.

How do we typically measure biodiversity?

Species richness: number of species that occur in a given area Species evenness: how evenly each species are represented

What can be done to prevent further problems with invasive species?

Strict import import and export regulations for biological materials. Early monitoring and eradication Avoid using invasive species in gardens

Be able to apply these ideas to calculate how much biomass is needed to support the various levels of the food chain if given the biomass of a different level.

Tertiary Consumer→ Owl 8 lbs Secondary Consumer→ Shrew 80 lbs Primary Consumer→ Insect 800 lbs Primary Producer→ Grass 8,000 lbs

Where does most of the energy that fuels our planet come from?

The Sun

What important change was made to the ESA in 1995?

The habitat (public or private) essential for the survival of a listed species must also be protected

What group makes up the majority of described species? What group/groups likely make up the majority of undescribed species?

The majority of described species are vertebrates and larger organisms (easy to find and see). The majority of undescribed species are probably insects and microorganisms because they are very small to see and difficult to identify.

How does ocean acidification work? What acid increases with increased CO2? What are some important consequences of ocean acidification?

The ocean absorbs about 30% of CO2 in the atmosphere. When this happens, a chemical reaction occurs, increasing the concentration of hydrogen ion and causing carbonate ions to decrease. H+ ions lower the pH of the ocean, making it more acidic. Carbonic acid Consequences: shallow-water creatures that use carbonate ions to build shells are vulnerable

What is the role of the flower in a plant? How can you tell if a plant is wind vs. insect or bird pollinated?

The role of the flower in a plant is to attract pollinators such as birds or insects. If a plant is wind pollinated the structure is conducive to being taken via air travel i.e gliders/parachutes. While insect / bird pollinated plant structures have pollen that sticks so it can hitchhike or the plant adapted to attract its pollinators.

What is biodiversity?

The variety and variability among living organisms and the ecological complexes in which they occur.

How does the current rate of extinction compared to background extinction rates?

There have been six major extinctions, the current one is 1,000x the background rates.

Why were seed-bearing plants able to disperse farther and more rapidly that ferns and mosses?

They do not rely on water for reproduction. Seeds are also carried by insects, birds, animals, etc

What is the difference between a threatened and endangered species?

Threatened species are species that are likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future Endangered species are those that are considered to be in danger of extinction

Know nonvascular vs. vascular plants, xylem and phloem.

Vascular system: water piping system to pull water from the soil up through plants Xylem: carries water and nutrients from roots to leaves Phloem: carries glucose from leaves and distributes to rest of plant

Know the major changes that occurred in plants to enable them to move away from water (the chart!)

Water inhabiting → land dwelling nonvascular→ vascular Dependent on water for reproduction → independent No cuticle → cuticle Majority of life haploid → majority of life diploid

Is the California sea otter a keystone species? What happened in the otter's ecosystem when the otter population declined?

Yes. The sea otter population dropped, increasing the sea urchin population, which decreased the kelp forest, and then all species dependent on the kelp forest

Population

a group of interacting organisms of the same species at one place and time.

Community

all different species interacting together at one place and time.

Organism

an individual in a species.

Reproductive isolation: what is it? What is the connection between

any heritable feature of body plan, function or behavior that prevents mating between populations. The connection between the two is because of reproductive isolation it can lead to species. NOT vise versa.

Microevolution

change in allele frequencies over time

Ecology

ecology the study of how organisms interact with each other and their environment.

What makes up a scientific name?

genus and species

is the greenhouse effect is good or bad for life on this planet? Why?

good because it keeps Earth hospitable and temps would be much lower than they are now (not suitable for life) bad because human activities have increased their greenhouse gasses trapping more heat in the earth contributing to global warming.

What four things make an introduced species a problematic invasive species?

iIntroduced plants Introduced herbivores Introduced Diseases Introduced predators

Biotic

living things

autotrophs/producers:

make their own food with the energy from the sun; self-feeding They either perform photosynthesis OR chemosynthesis. 6co2+6h20+light energy = c6H1206+6o2 Photoautotrophs do photosynthesis- i.e. plants, algae, photosynthetic bacteria.

heterotrophs/consumers

organisms that get their energy by eating other living

Ecosystem

the community with the non-living factors.

how do plants work to combat global warming?

they act as a carbon sink by absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere