APES 1 Questions

what characteristic defines a wetlands?

bimes that are submerged in water but are shallow enogh to have emergant plants

how does saltwater intrusion occur?

Ocean water moves into freshwater aquifers before they can recharge

how much stronger is a 5.0 earthquake than a 2.0? why do you think 2.0 earthquakes are abundant but 5.0+ are rare?

a 5.0 is 1000 tiems stronger than 2.0 and it is more rare because it requires greater exerted force

how do the age structures of poor, developing countries contrasts with wealthy, developed oens? why?

developing countries have a wide base trainlg. develped coutnries have a rectangualr base or inverted triangle.

how does the annual growth rate of developing countires differ from developed ones? why?

developing countries have high growth rates. developed countries ahve lwo growth rates

what are the advantages and disadvantages of each toher the two main desalination techniques?

distillation is not cost or energy effiecien, but reverse osmosis creates a brine that is bad

what are drawbacks of constructing dams on river?

drawbacks of dams is that is can kill many fish by clocking thier path upstream

what occurs during radioactive decay? include reference to how the half-life is determined.

during radioactive decay, material is released from the nucleus to form a new element. heal- life is the time it takes for half the element to decay.

which household activites have the biggest impact on water consumption?

flushing the toilet takes the most amount of water of the household activiteis

are niche generalists or specialists more likely survive rapid enironmental change?

niche generalists are mroe likelyt osurvive change cause they av emany alternative habitats

could humanity survive without earth's ecosystem services? explain.

no because it is not able to provide goods and the ecosystem is unhealthy

are all disturbances bad in an ecosystem? explain.

no, intermediate disturbances are beneficial and create greater biological diversity

what is the difference between renewable and non-renewable resources? which are more sustainable?

non-renewable resources are finite while renewable resources can be reproduced so they are more sustainable

the sulfur cycle and phosphorus cycle operate similarly. what general processes and characteristics make them alike?

the sulfur cycle is similar to the phosphorus cycle because it mainly exists as a solid and a liquid.

how do r and k secetion indluece survirship curves?

type I species are k selected species. type III species are r selected species

what causes tectonic plates to move, and what evidence do we ahve they they have doen so?

convection currents in the mantle cause tectonic movement as seen by the slpitting of pangea theorized by wegner

why do conditions vary so drastically on the windward and leeward sides of a mountain creating a rain shadow?

creation of clouds leasd to latent heat release and precipitaion of the windward side, and cold dry arre goes to leeward side

how do dams alter the ecology of the rivers they block?

dams turn one side into a reservior and the other side becomes more dried up

how do density-dependent and ensity-independent factos affect a population's size? provide exampels of each.

a density-dependent factor is food. a density-independent factor is a natural dissater.

how could an ecologist indintify an keystone species in any given ecosystem?

a keystone species can be indentifies by seeing te impact on an ecosystem that thye have been taken out of

why does air pressure decrease as you move higher int he atomosphere?

air pressure decreas becuase it is father away from earth and experiences less pull of gravity

what is the relationship between a country's economic development and resource consumption?

as a country's economic development increases, resource consumption also increases

which 2 macronutrients most frequently serve as limiting nutrients in ecosystems? do terrestrial and aquatic ones differ?

both phosphorus and nitrogen are limiting nutrients and are commonly used as fertilizers.

what types of plants dominate subtropical deserts, and why are they so vulnerable to disruption?

cacti, euphorbs, and succulents adapted to litle rainfall by having little to no leaves

how does the water cycle help facilitate other cycles?

carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus can all be stored in water

how is global climate change expected to affect species distributions? how could scientists determine the likely effect on a particular species?

climate change can either kill a species, lead the species toa dapt, or force the species tomore

suppose ecosystem a experiences few disruptions, ecosystem b experiences an intermediate level of disturbances, and ecosystem c experiences many disruptions, but all 3 have roughly equivalent npp and stored biomass. which ecosystem would you expect to have the highest resistance? which would have the highest resiliency? why?

ecosystem c would have the highest resistance because it is used to having many disturbances and it would have high resilliense

gene flow and the founder effect both involve random evolution through migration of individuals. how do they differ?

gene flwo combines two puplation and increases biodicvsity. founder effect separates a poulationand decreases biodiversity

where are genetic drift and bottleneck effects more likely to happen - large poulations or small oens? explain why.

genetic drift and bottleneck effect are more liely to ccure in smaller population and lead to elass diodiversity

why are high levels of genetic diversity and species diversity considered important environmental indicators? how are they beneficial?

genetic: increases chance of adaptablility and survivial, species: more likely to recover from problem

what types of strategies hav eprey animals evolved to resist predation?

hiding, reduced movement, comoplauge, and defense mechanisms can rsist predation

how does the mix of species found in ecosystems vary with their frequency of disturbance? why?

if there are few disturbances or high disturbances, there is a low mix of species because they never had to adapt or they all got killed

in artificial selection, humans are doing the selecting to shape evolution. how is selection done in natural selection?

in antural section, induviduals are selected ades ont ehir ablilty to survive and repreduce

what effects does enso have on humans?

in peru fish poluations decine whiche hurts fisherman and also mroe floods occur in peru

what is the importance of studying systems in es, rather than isolated events or individual actors?

isolated event do not show the full effects on the environment, so look at the whole system

why is the ecological footprint the tool of choice for most measures of lifestyle impact on the environment?

it measures how much land is needed to support someone and shows if it is sustainable

The 2nd law of thermodynamics says all systems become increasingly random over time, yet life has evolved and become very complex. how has life been able to persist so well?

life persist so well because organisms are willing to use energy to restore order in life.

what soil texture is considered ideal for agriculture? why do you think this mix of sand, silt, and clay is best?

loam is ideal becasue it has water retention, nuturients, and allows for filtration

how does most energy originally enter ecosystems, and what types of energy conversion happen to it?

most energy comes from the sun and gets absorbed by autotrophs that convert it into glucose

where is msot of earth's total water found? where is most of its accessible fresh water found?

most water is found in oceans, but more freshw ater is found in glacies

are mutations harmful or helpful for a species? explain.

mutation are usually bad, but sometimes they can be good and create genetic diversity

use thermodynamics and the concept of energy quality to explain why we can only burn a gallon of oil as fuel once.

once the oil is converted into energy, it cannot go back, and heat also wastes some of the energy

what negative consequences can occur if water from quifers is overdrawn?

one thing that can happen is a cone of depression that forms when the water is taken away too fast

why are overproduction of offspring and differential reproductive success crucial for natural selection to occur?

overprduction fo offspring occurs becue many fo the offsping die because they do nto have triats to succedd

are positive feedbacks always good? are negative feedbacks always bad? what's the difference between them?

positive feedback loops amplify change while negative feedback loops resist change

which types of species are better able to survive environmental chage r or k selected? explain

r selected species becuase they repreduce faster, sot hey can adapt within generations fster

why is resource partitioning advantageous for species tha twould toherwise compete for the same realized niche?

resource partitioning allows species to adapt to use differnet resources so that they are not competing for them

how does secondary succession differ from primary succession?

secondary succesion occurs after a natural disaster, and teh soil is mainly intact

suppose solution a has a ph of 3, solution b has a ph of 7, and solution c has a ph of 10. if solution b contains 10,000,000 h+ ions in a given volume, how many ions will each of solution a and solution c have in equal volumes?

solution b would have 1000 H+ ions and 1000 H-ions. solution c would have 1 H+ ion and 1000000 H- ions.

can an ecosystem have high species richness and low species eveness, or vice versa? explain.

species richness and species eveness are independent of eahc other, so they can be high or low

which ecosystems are most productive? what traits do they share? what do the least productive share?

swamps and marshes, tropical rainforest, coral reef. desert scrub, extreme desert, open ocean.

why are tropical forest soils are poor in nutrients, despite high biodiversity? and how has this affected farming?

teh vegtation tkes up nutrient sso the soil is not fetile for long, so farmers usually ahd to mvoe to different aresas

why does the angle at which sunlight strikes a location on earth influence its temperature? apply this to polar regions.

the earth's tilti casues the sun's rays to hit the earth at different angles which makes it warmer or colder at different times the year

what is itcz, and why does it move over the year?

the itcz is the area with most intense sunlight and ahs many thunderstoms and it moves due to the tilt of earth

where are the majority of producers in a lake located?

the majority of prducers in alake are located in the ittoral zone whre it is shallow

which irrigation practices are most efficient, and which ones are least-efficient?

the most efficient is drip irrigation, but the least efficient is furrow irrigation

what two abiotic factors primarily determine which species of plants and animals can live in an area?

the most influential abiotic factors are heat from the suna nd availbablitly of water

what is happening to the ogallal aquifer in the untied states?

the ogalla aquifer is being drained faster than it can recharge

how do scientists determine the positions of species on a phylogenetic tree?

the posittions of species on phylogenetic trees is based on how closely related they are to each other

why is only 10% of energy stored in biomass at each trophic level transferred up to the next level? where is the rest?

the rest of the energy was converted to heat and does not pass to the next trophic level

what occurs during an el nino event? compare and contrast to normal conditions

trade winds weaken, so warm water stays by peru which decreases upwilling and eos nto bring nutrients

how do oceanic currents affect the temperature and precipitation patterns of nearby landmasses?

warmer wter is moved to colder locations which makes those places warmer and vice versa

what happened to the aral sea, and what can we learn from it?

water diversion led to the quick draining of the aral sea and it is almsot all taken up

why do scientists often select watersheds as an area to study energy and matter flows in ecosystems?

watersheds is land that drains into a body of water and are sued as smaller scales to study ecosystem processes

what is the difference between weather and climate? why do we predict weather on tv?

weather is temmprary, but climt is long term, so eaaterh is predicted on tv to see what will come nect

why are wetlands so ecologically productive, and what valuable ecosystem services do they provide to humans?

wetlands are ecologically productive because they are flood resistant and filter pollutants from water

what types of conditions are found where air in a circulation cell returns to earth from up high?

when ari sinks, pressure increases whihc makes it warmer

how did early homo sapiens impact their environment when they entered a new area? what does this show?

when they enter a new area, they quickly adapt and begin hunting big animals for food