DEFINITIONS
The study of the interactions between living and nonliving things
What is ecology?
The Water Cycle
What is the path the water droplet takes when it is warmed by the sun, evaporates and rises, and as it rises it cools, condenses and forms a cloud. It will eventually be precipitated as rain, snow, etc back to the Earth where it will enter a river, lake, or ocean as surface runoff. Or it may seep into the groundwater that is absorbed by plants and released again into the atmosphere through transpiration.
The two main biome categories
What are Terrestrial (or land) biomes & Aquatic (or water biomes)
Two ways Carbon Dioxide enters the air
What are volcanoes, decomposition of organic material, combustion, and cellular respiration?
Parasitism
What is a relationship between two organisms of different species where one benefits and the other is harmed?
The association of living organisms and their physical environment called
What is ecosystem?
The Oxygen Cycle
What is the process by which oxygen is removed from the air and restored to the air? (Organisms use the oxygen from the air as part of their respiration, human fires use up oxygen, rusting of metals uses up a percentage of oxygen, and some oxygen in the atmosphere is converted to ozone that protects the Earth from harmful rays. Luckily, oxygen is restored to the air through photosynthesis of plants on land and phytoplankton in the ocean. p. 105-106
A terrestrial biome that is wet and warm year-round temperatures
What is a tropical rainforest?
Two ways Carbon Dioxide leaves the air
What are photosynthesis and dissolving in the ocean?
These use carbon dioxide and produce oxygen via photosynthesis as they make food for themselves (glucose)
What are Producers (phytoplankton & plants) 🌱?
The measure of the total amount of living tissue of organisms within a trophic level in an ecosystem
What is biomass?
The Nitrogen Cycle
What is it called when atmospheric nitrogen is used by plants and animals (it is an essential part of amino acids, DNA, and RNA). Nitrogen-fixing bacteria living in soil add hydrogen to the nitrogen changing it from N2 to NH3 so that many plants can use the nitrogen/ammonia. Other nitrifying bacteria break down ammonia into nitrates/nitrites. Primary consumers (animals) eat the plants getting their nitrogen from plants. Carnivores eat animals that have eaten the plants to get their nitrogen. Some of the nitrogen is excreted the rest is broken down back into the soil by decomposers after it dies!
How biomes are classified
What are climate, which includes the abiotic factors- temperature range and precipitation level?
The process by which nitrogen gas from the atmosphere is converted into nitrogen-containing molecules
What is Nitrogen Fixation?
These are found anywhere the ocean meets fresh water
What are Estuaries?
The process by which certain gasses (principally water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane) trap heat that would otherwise escape Earth and radiate into space
What is Greenhouse Effect?
The Phosphorus Cycle
What is it called when the Phosphorus found in rocks is released through weathering and erosion. As the rocks erode, water dissolves the phosphorus and carries it to lakes, streams, rivers, and oceans. Once in water, the phosphorous combines with oxygen to form phosphates. Just like in the carbon and nitrogen cycles, phosphorus is passed through the food chain (it is returned through animal waste and decay).
A subarctic biome with below-freezing temperatures for six months of the year
What is Taiga or Boreal Forest?
Two ways oxygen is restored to the air
Littoral Zone
What is the topmost layer of water nearest the shore?
A relationship between two or more organisms of a different species where ALL benefit from the association called
What is mutualism?
Algae in the water grows faster than the ecosystem can handle, using more oxygen in the water and robbing the other marine life of oxygen they need.
What happens when too much phosphorus gets into the water system?
Factors scientists use to divide aquatic biomes into zones
What are water depth and the amount of sunlight available for photosynthesis?
Three ways oxygen is removed from the air
What are respiration, fire, ozone formation, and rusting?
An organism's role in an ecosystem, including it's habitat, physical requirements (such as light, water, food sources), the time of day it's active, its place on the food change, and when and how it reproduces.
What is a species' niche?