life on land
What is ecology?
-The study of biotic and abiotic interactions between organisms
Why is soil something important to consider when looking at biomes?
Because its an indicator of which is the dominant plant
What physical and chemical factors do we use to classify aquatic biomes?
Light, oxygen, temperature, water movement, salinity, and oxygen.
What is a functional trait?
characteristics of an organism that affect how it responds to its environment
What is Aestivation?
When animals reduce their metabolic
activity and conserve water by minimizing their movement, breathing, and other physiological functions to conserve water loss in a dry environment
what determines what biotic and abiotic factors determine which biome from which?
-Plants
-temperature
-availability
what does the red shading on the months of a climate graph indicate
When the climate is above freezing temperatures
Why is upwelling good for biodiversity?
Because the cold nutrient rich water rises to the surface to support organisms
How come desert plants do not decrease their heat via evaporation?
Because water is already limited
How does microclimate effect root development?
plants in dry sites grow deeper roots than at moist sites.
What causes the Coriolis effect?
The earth's rotation axial tilt
What biome has low temps long winters and moderate precipitation? Its soils are acidic and low in fertility and has a thick permafrost. Its dominant plants are spruce and fir. This biome occurs typically in North America Europe and Asia.
Boreal forest (taiga)
Which aquatic biome is defined by stratified salinity, and low biodiversity? It has both high and low o2 levels and experience complex currents due to ocean tides and river flow.
Estuaries
What are two things that desert plants do to decrease heat gain by radiation?
the leaves position themselves parallel to the sun's rays and they are reflective.
Are most fresh water fish hyper or hypo osmotic?
hyperomotic
Briefly describe the rainshadow effect and what the result of this effect is.
-The rainshadow effect explains why one side of a mountain is very dry with not many plants and the other gets lots of precipitation and lots of plants.
Which biome has vegetation is usually supported by deep soil water reservoirs, and makes up 42% of total of tropical and subtropical forest area.
Tropical dry forest
In the limnetic zone on a lake where would the water be the coldest and is the darkest in light penetration?
Hypolimnion
How does color influence heat loss/gain?
dark colors absorb heat, light colors reflect it
Where is water potential lowest in plants?
at the top because thats where evaporation is happening.
How come the earth's seasons are different depending on which hemisphere you are in?
because the earth's axil is tilted on an angle one half of the hemisphere is directed more towards the sun than the other half
which biome has cool and moist climates in the fall, winter and spring but hot and dry summers. (Hint: we live in this biome)
Mediterranean Woodland
What three things do Salt marshes, and Mangrove Forests have in common?
water movement is effected by tidal current
Shows wide fluctuation in salinity
o2 May reach extreme high or low
levels
what is the difference between adaptation and acclimation.
Acclimation is reversible and involves physiological adjustment, not genetic changes
How is vapor pressure deficit measured?
Water vapor pressure-Saturation water vapor pressure