Biomes
What biome has the most biodiversity and why?
Tropical Rain Forest - high temperatures and rain lead to high primary productivity of autotrophs
What is the reservoir for phosphorous?
Rocks
Symbiotic relationship where one organism benefits and the other is harmed.
Parasitism
What is an example of a species that shows clumped dispersion?
EX: Wolves, Dolphins, Schools of Fish, etc.
What factors lead to a population shrinking?
Mortality and Emigration
What is the following biome: it has four distinct seasons and a moderate climate, includes squirrels, rabbits, skunks, and deer in the woods with maple, oak, and hickory trees?
How do plants return water to the environment?
Transpiration
What is the difference between a fundamental niche and a realized niche?
Fundamental - role/habitat that an organism could possibly occupy
Realized - role/habitat that organism ACTUALLY occupies
Define carrying capacity.
Number of individuals that an ecosystem can support
Where is the most available energy found in an ecosystem?
Autotrophs/Producers
What major factor is used to classify biomes?
Climate (Temperature and Rainfall)
What form of nitrogen is best absorbed by plants?
Nitrates
What species appear first in secondary sucession?
small plants and grasses
Give 3 examples of density-dependent factors.
Competition, food supply, disease, predation, parasitism, etc.
Explain what a pyramid of bioaccumulation would look like.
Higher concentration of pollutants at the top of the food chain, lower concentrations at the producer/primary consumer level (upside down pyramid)
Found at the interior of continents, these large biomes are characterized by grasses that support large animals such as kangaroos, antelope, and bison which in turn support large predators such as wolves and lions.
Grassland
List one natural way that carbon returns to the atmosphere and one man-made way.
Cellular Respiration releases carbon. Burning fossil fuels.
This occurs as a result of resource partitioning - Natural Selection of traits that best fit the environment.
Which survivorship curve would this species fall into?
Short-term maternal care, iteroperous, constant rate of death throughout life span
Type 2
What is the difference between a decomposer and detritivore?
Decomposer - breakdown dead material externally through enzyme secretion
Detritivore - consume dead organic matter as food source, breakdown interanally through digestion
Which biome is located between 15-25 degrees latitude has temperature ranges from -4 to 38 degrees Celsius, and receiving less than 25 centimeters of rainfall each year?
Desert
What two nutrients lead to eutrophication?
Nitrogen and Phosphorous
A harmless corn snake is mimicking a harmful snake. What is this an example of?
Batesian Mimicry
What evolutionary strategy does semelparous breeding reflect?
r-strategists
How do you calculate the Net Primary Productivity of an ecosystem?
NPP = GPP - R