Bio Sci Final

the study of the interactions of organisms with their environments

composed of living communities and nonliving physical and chemical factors

defined as fresh water and marine

categorized by climate and plant life

• organism
• population
• community
• ecosystem

• biosphere
• sume of all the Earth's ecosystems
• most complex level in ecology

• living
• includes all organisms

• nonliving
• include atmospheric gases, energy, nutrients, and water

• one of the first to percieve the global dangers of pesticide abuse
• concerns documented in Silent Spring in 1962

• solar energy
• temperature
• water
• nutrients
• other aquatic factors
• other terrestrial factors

often determines the distribution of communities

input of solar energy and the planet's movement in space

23.5 Degrees

rain and winds

• have a profound effect on regional climates by warming or cooling coastal areas
• created by winds, planet rotation, unequal heating of surface waters, and location and shapes of continents

• ocean bottom
• supports a variety of organisms based upon water depth and light penetration

• open ocean
• supports highly motile animals such as fish, squids, and marine animals

• vast, dark region of the ocean
• most extensive part of the biosphere

• portion of the ocean which light penetrates
• photosynthesis occurs here

• flooded by high tides and left dry during low tides
• wetland at the edge of an estuary or ocean, where water meets land
• salt marshes, sand, rocky beaches, and tide pools

• productive areas where rivers meet the ocean
• provide nursery areas for oysters, crabs, and many fishes
• often bordered by extensive coastal wetlands

• pollution
• native and introduced predators
• human souvenir hunters

• lakes
• ponds
• rivers
• streams
• wetlands

predominant vegetation

• occur in the warm, moist belt along the equator
• most diverse ecosystem on Earth

drier, tropical areasl and some nontropical areas

• driest of all terrestrial biomes
• characterized by low and unpredictable rainfall

significant environmental problem

• shrubland with cool, rainy winters and dry, hot summers
• vegetation is adapted to periodic fires

• found in interiors of the contients, where winters are cold
• drought, fires, and grazing animals prevent trees from growing

grow where there is sufficient moisture to support the growth of large trees

• largest terrestrial biome on Earth
• characterized by long, cold winters and short, wet summers

• lies between taiga and permentantly frozen polar regions
• extreme cold, wind, and permafrost (continously frozen soil)

• changes in population size
• factors that regulate populations over time
• how and why populations change

a group of individuals of a single species that occupy the same general area

• rely on the same resources
• influenced by the same environmental factors
• are likely to interact and breed with one another (exchange of gene flow)

the interaction between biotic and abiotic factors

• A population increases through birth and immigration
• Death and emigration out of an area decrease the population

number of individuals of a species per unit area or volume

the way the individuals of a population are spaced within their area

• refers to the way individuals are spaced within their area
• can be: clumped, uniform, or random

individuals are grouped in patches

individuals are equally spaced in the environment

individuals in a population are spaced in an unpredictable way

track survivorship over the life span of individuals in a population

plot the proportion of individuals alive at each age

• few offspring
• low mortality until they get old

in the middle of I and III

• many small offspring
• high mortality rates

• rate of population increases under ideal conditions (growth under ideal conditions)
• G=rN

• takes into account limiting factors
• limiting factors are environmental factors that restrict population growth - food availability, access to mates in population
• Includes K - carrying capacity - the maximum population a particular environment can sustain

• food shortages
• predator-prey interactions

Harvest should be done in a way that produces a consistent yield without forcing a population decline

reveals a population's growth trends

• helps understand resource avaliability and usage
• US has big ecological footprint

• goal-oriented science
• seeks to counter the Biodiversity crisis
• can focus on one species or protect many species by preserving habitats and ecosystems
• touches all levels of ecology from a single tiger to the forest where it roams

Ecologists point out that the "services" provided by the biodiversity of ecosystems

• genetic diversity
• species diversity
• ecosystem diversity - directly related to biodiversity overall

• in danger o fextinciton throughout all of a significant portion of its range
• protected by thte Endangered Species Act

• likely to become endangered in the forseeable future
• not too much funding provided for threatened species

• poses the greatest threat to biodiversity
• caused by: agriculture, urban development, forestry, mining, environmental pollution

• rank behind habitat destruction as a threat to biodiversity
• compete with native species
• prey on native species
• parasitize native species

• third major threat to biodiversity
• overhavesting threatened: rare trees, fish, and bison

• can be caused by pollutants in the food chain
• concentration of pollutant increases as you go up the food chain

• in artic from:
• shrinking sea ice
• thinning ice sheets
• melthing permafrost

• altering phenotype in response to environmental conditions
• within the normal range of genetic expression
• can involve genetic shifts that change a species
• prevents extinction from some species

• a harmful effect of habitat loss
• splitting and isolation of portions of populations
• can lead to extinctions

• Past Efforts: saving individual species
• Today: biodiversity of ecosystems

dynamics of a collection of ecosystems

• have large number of endangered and threatened species
• have a concentration of endemic species
• hot spot designation favors the most noticable organisms

• extensive region of land with one or more areas undisturbed by humans
• contribures to sustainable development

• long-term prosperity of human societies and the ecosystem
• provide an economic base for people living there

• uses ecological principles to restore environments
• replanting native vegetation
• repairing waterways and wetlands
• bioremediation: using organisms to detoxify polluted ecosystems