Natural Changes to Ecosystems
What type of limiting factor are natural disasters?
Density-Independent Limiting Factor
Fertilizer runoff from farming facilities is an example of...
pollution (specifically agriculture pollution)
______________ is when water transitions from liquid to gas while ______________ is when water transitions from gas to liquid.
- Evaporation
- Condensation
This type of succession occurs in an area where no soil exists.
Primary Succession
This group of organisms turns dead matter into ammonium.
Decomposers
Define "erosion".
earth materials are worn away by natural forces such as wind & water
Name 2+ ways humans pollute the environment.
- disposing of chemicals into waterways
- burning fossil fuels
- using gas powered machinery (including driving cars & motorcyles)
etc.
Plants take in _______ and put out ______ during photosynthesis.
After a forest fire, the ecosystem usually goes through ___________ succession.
Secondary
This process releases carbon dioxide from plants, animals, and decomposers.
Cellular respiration
Competition increases when ___________ increases in an ecosystem.
population size / population density
Burning fossil fuels adds this gas to the atmosphere.
carbon / carbon dioxide
This process turns atmospheric nitrogen into ammonium using bacteria.
Atmospheric nitrogen --> concentration in soil
Nitrogen fixation
Primary - starts with bare rock, no soil formed
Secondary - starts with soil
What term describes an ecosystem that has returned to stability with plants and animals?
An overgrowth of aquatic plants on a lake can reduce __________ (an abiotic factor) below the surface.
Sunlight
Fertilizers that run into lakes often contain these two nutrients. (name at least 1)
nitrogen and phosphorus
This process returns nitrogen gas back to the atmosphere.
Denitrification
The 1980 eruption of Mount. St. Helen is a famous real-world example of _________ succession.
Primary
What are the first organisms to return an ecosystem after a disturbance?
Pioneer species -- small plants such as mosses or lichens
What are 2 possible negative effects of invaise species?
- increased food competition (loss of food, loss of prey)
- increased habitat competition (loss of habitat)
- changes to other trophic levels
- overproduction of predators
- loss of lower trophic levels
Excess nutrients cause rapid growth of this organism in water.
Algae
What organisms are responsible for fixing nitrogen?
Bacteria & plant roots
Long-term process of how ecosystems change over time, typically following a significant ecological disturbance.
Carbon can be stored long-term in the ground as these energy resources.
Fossil fuels