Ecological Succession
Explain TWO factors that differentiate primary succession from secondary succession.
What are: no soil and takes longer to reach a climax community?
List 2 examples of a provisioning ecosystem service.
What are: food, medicine, lumber, freshwater?
According to the theory of island biogeography, what type of island (small or large, close or far from mainland) would have the fewest number of different species?
What are far from the mainland and small in size?
Definition of an adaptation
What is... a trait that by random chance gives an individual a survival advantage in a specific environment. Over time, this trait will become more prevalent in the population as a whole.
Setting aside land or wildlife areas to protect species and ecosystems is called this.
What is conservation?
Propose a way in which a scientist could determine if an ecosystem was approaching a climax community.
What is record the amount of biodiversity? (there are many ways to do this)
List the 4 types of ecosystem services.
What are provisioning, cultural, supporting, and regulating services?
Provide an example of the following AND explain what they are.
1) invasive species
2) keystone species
What are:
1) a non-native organism that is introduced to an ecosystem (examples include spotted lanternfly, zebra mussels, kudzu, etc)
2) a species that helps to hold an ecosystem together (examples include sea urchins, beavers, wolves, etc)
What are THREE abiotic factors that a species might experience a range of tolerance for?
What are pH, sunlight, and temperature?
Growing a single crop over a large area year after year can deplete soil nutrients and increase pest problems. This practice is called...
What is monocropping?
Identify TWO examples of primary succession AND TWO examples of secondary succession.
What are:
Primary - glacial retreat and volcanic eruption
Secondary - forest fire and abandoned agricultural field
(other examples also acceptable)
Two examples of cultural services that a freshwater lake ecosystem could provide
What are recreation, tourism, mental health, spiritual health?
Ecosystem A has 5 different species with the following abundances: A - 20%, B - 15%, C - 20%, D - 20%, and E 15%
Ecosystem B has 5 different species with the following abundances: A - 5% B - 25% C - 25%, D - 35%, and E 10%
Which has the higher biodiversity and why?
What is Ecosystem A?
species richness is the same, but A has a more even distribution of each
Describe habitat fragmentation and how humans cause it.
What is when a habitat is broken into pieces? Examples include deforestation, construction of homes and roads.
This approach tries to reduce the negative effects of human activities before they occur, such as planting buffer zones along rivers or installing pollution controls.
What is mitigation?
Describe how the introduction of different plant species impacts the formation of soil during primary succession.
What is... lichens create soil from breaking down rock, the decay of mosses creates a thin layer of soil with few nutrients. As grasses and flowers are introduced and decay more nutrients are added and soil eventually becomes thick enough to support trees.
Name 2 regulating services that a forest ecosystem provides
What are climate regulation (absorbs carbon from the atmosphere), and soil formation?
Identify 2 factors that are used to measure species biodiversity.
What are species richness and species evenness (or relative abundance)?
Describe the difference between a generalist and a specialist species.
What is...
A generalist can survive a wide range of environmental conditions or eat a variety of food. A specialist can only survive in a very narrow range of conditions or only eats one type of food.
A polluted wetland is cleaned of toxins and replanted with native vegetation to restore wildlife habitat and ecosystem functions. Which two strategies are being combined, and why is this approach more effective than using only one?
What are remediation and restoration? Combining them removes pollutants and rebuilds ecosystem structure and function, making recovery faster and more complete.
Identify the correlation between biomass, primary productivity, biodiversity and ecological succession AND explain why.
What is... as succession progresses, all 3 increase
Increased species of plants (especially those larger in size) are more productive. This also supports more species of animals that can find habitats so the biodiversity and biomass go up as well.
Wetlands filter pollutants, store floodwaters, and support fish populations. Loss of these functions illustrates the decline of this ecosystem service type, which can cause both environmental and economic consequences.
What is a regulating service?
After a hurricane, one coral reef barely changes while another recovers quickly. Identify which reef shows resistance and which shows resilience, and explain how biodiversity supports both.
What is the first reef shows resistance and the second shows resilience, and biodiversity increases both by helping ecosystems avoid major damage and recover after disturbances?
Species in harsh environments often evolve traits like drought-resistant leaves or nocturnal activity. Explain how these adaptations can influence ecosystem stability and resilience after a disturbance.
What are adaptations that increase survival, helping populations persist (stability) and recover faster after disturbances (resilience), which maintains ecosystem function?
A farm rotates crops, avoids monocropping, maintains buffer strips, and protects pollinators. How does this approach address multiple human impacts and promote long-term sustainability?
It uses conservation (protecting biodiversity), mitigation (reducing soil and water damage), and sustainable practices (crop rotation, buffers) to maintain ecosystem services and ecosystem resilience over time.