Community ecology
What is a community?
Group of interacting populations of different species living together in the same area
What is an ecosystem?
a more-or-less defined area that included all the organisms and physical factors.
What is the biosphere?
the sum total of all places where living organisms can be found
What is the global human population sitting at?
8 billion
What are the two consequences of greenhouse gasses?
Climate change and Global Warming
What two terms go into defining species diversity?
Species richness and Species relative abundance
Define the Cycling of Nutrients
Nutrients for living organisms are found on earth, stay on earth and are cycled between living and non-living components
What is a biome?
Large-scale geographic region w/ characteristic climate
What is Biocapacity
The carrying capacity at a global level
How high can the Rüppell’s Vulture fly?
11,300 meters
What is an example of a keystone species that was talked about in class?
Bees
What are the trophic levels?
First level – primary producers
Second – primary consumers
Third – secondary consumers
Fourth – tertiary consumers
How long is the growing season in the tundra?
1 month
What is conservation biology?
A branch of ecology that seeks to investigate and reverse the loss of biodiversity.
Giant sequoias, redwoods, and Sitka spruces are all found in what biome?
Temperate rainforest
How are bees a keystone species?
They are pollinators and 85% of plants depend on them to be fertilized. Without bees the whole ecosystem would collapse.
Which one is more complex? Food web or food chain
Food web because it shows how other animals/plants can eat or be prey to more than one animal.
What causes plant decay in the taiga/boreal forest?
The acidic soil
What are the three Conservation Techniques?
1. Habitat preservation
2. Metapopulations
3. Landscape dynamics
It occurs after a disturbance that kills much of the life in an area but leaves the soil intact
A pistil is found on what type of plant?
Female plant
What is nitrogen fixation?
N2 to ammonium (NH4) and then a usable form for plants
What are some examples of tropical biomes?
Savannahs and tropical rainforests
What is the edge effect?
The preservation of a parcel of land does not preserve the entire area as critical habitat due to edge effects
What is restoration ecology?
A new subdiscipline of conservation that seeks to understand principles and techniques for habitat restoration