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
