bio 20- unit B

  1. the transition area between ecosystems
    • ecotones
    • these areas contain greater biodiversity
  2. the role that an organism has to play within their ecosystem
    • ecological niche
    • includes everything it does to survive and reproduce
  3. the natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism
    habiat
  4. a change or the process of change by which an organism or species becomes better suited to its environment
    adaptation
  5. An introduced, alien, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its native distributional range, which has arrived there by human activity, either deliberate or accidental
    exotic species
  6. have a major dominant species and contains many different ecosystems each defined by local biotic and abiotic factors
    • biomes
    • Canada has 4 major terrestrial biomes- tundra, taiga, temperate deciduous forest, grassland
    • Canada has contact with 2 aquatic biomes- marine/saltwater and freshwater
  7. the sometimes swampy coniferous forest of high northern latitudes, especially that between the tundra and steppes of Siberia and North America
    • taiga 
    • found throughout Northern Alberta and along the Rockies
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  8. areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses, however sedge and rush families can also be found. They occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica and are found in most ecoregions of the Earth
    • grasslands
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  9. the coldest of all the biomes. It is noted for its frost-molded landscapes, extremely low temperatures, little precipitation, poor nutrients, and short growing seasons.
    tundra
  10. a North American swamp or bog consisting of a mixture of water and partly dead vegetation, frequently covered by a layer of sphagnum or other mosses
    • muskeg
    • peat and permafrost occur
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  11. this temperate biome is characterized by its leaf-shedding trees and its seasons. This biome experiences all four seasons - winter, spring, summer, and fall
    • deciduous forest
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  12. trees with needles
    coniferous
  13. the organic component of soil, formed by the decomposition of leaves and other plant material by soil microorganisms
    humus
  14. terrestrial ecosystems in Alberta
    taiga, grasslands
  15. canopy, understory, forest floor
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  16. lake ecosystem
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  17. this zone extends from the shore to the point where you can no longer find plants rooted to the bottom of the lake
    • littoral zone
    • most productive part of the lake
  18. this zone is open lake where there is enough light for photosynthesis to occur
    • limnetic zone
    • plankton is the most common organism here
  19. the small and microscopic organisms drifting or floating in the sea or fresh wate
    • plankton
    • heterotrophic plankton (invertebrate animals) feed on autotrophic plankton (tiny plants and algae)
  20. this zone begins where not enough light penetrates the water for photosynthesis to occur
    profundal zone
  21. non-living particulate organic material (as opposed to dissolved organic material). It typically includes the bodies or fragments of dead organisms as well as fecal material.
    detritus
  22. rainfall made sufficiently acidic by atmospheric pollution that it causes environmental harm, typically to forests and lakes. The main cause is the industrial burning of coal and other fossil fuels, the waste gases from which contain sulfur and nitrogen oxides, which combine with atmospheric water to form acids
    • acid rain
    • low pH
  23. the first/upper layer composed of partially decomposed leaves or grasses which acts to moderate temperature variations of the soild and reducing evaporation
    litter
  24. the second layer consisting of small particles of rock mixed with humus which contains many of the minerals and nutrients that plants require
    topsoil
  25. the third layer contains more rock with less humus which makes it lighter in color. it contains large amounts of minerals
    subsoil
  26. the last layer marks the end of the soil, and it is a solid rock layer
    bedrock
  27. soil layers
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  28. a microorganism, especially a bacterium causing disease or fermentation
    microbe
  29. the upper layer of water in a stratified lake
    epilimnion
  30. the lower layer of water in a stratified lake, typically cooler than the water above and relatively stagnant
    hypolimnion
  31. a steep temperature gradient in a body of water such as a lake, marked by a layer above and below which the water is at different temperatures (middle transition layer)
    thermocline
  32. winter
    • if the ice is wind blown and transparent, light can penetrate allowing for photosynthesis to occur
    • thick or snow covered ice blocks sunlight and creates problems for the organisms of the ecosystem
  33. cold surface water warms to 4oC and begins to sink taking dissolved oxygen with it
    spring turnover
  34. summer
    • once the surface water warms above 4oC it will no longer sink and spring turnover is over
    • there is little movement of water during this time so that the water can be divided into layers
  35. heaviest water, most dense
    4oC
  36. cold water holds
    more oxygen
  37. warm water holds
    less oxygne
  38. when surface water cools back to 4oC in sinks, renewing oxygen levels in the lower levels of the water, and breaks the summer thermal layers
    fall turnover
  39. movement of water
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  40. the max number of offspring a species could produce if resources were unlimited
    • biotic potential
    • this is determined by birth potential, capacity for survival, breeding frequency and the length of the species reproductive life
  41. the max number of one species that can be supported by an ecosystem
    carrying capacity
  42. growth and development of plants and animals are determined by the availability of that essential nutrientwhich is present in the smallest amount
    law of the minimum
  43. A law stating that the abundance or distribution of an organism can be controlled by certain factors where levels of these exceed the maximum or minimum limits of tolerance of that organism
    • law of tolerance (shelford's)
    • too much of a nutrient is also harmful
  44. factors that affect populations regardless of their size
    • density independent
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  45. factors that only affect populations because of their size
    • density dependant
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  46. the most commonly used clearing technique used in tropical areas. it is the complete clearing of a forest by felling and burning trees
    slash and burn
  47. the removal of all trees in an area for use in timber and pulp
    clear cutting
  48. involves cutting only certain trees, leaving others to regenerate the area
    selective cutting
  49. fires that are intentionally set in areas to help maintain the diversity of vegetation
    prescribed burns
  50. deep and cold
    oligotrophic
  51. shallow and warm
    eutrophic
  52. the evolution of a lake from oligotrophic to eutrophic to land may take hundreds or thousands of years
    eutrophication
  53. the contamination of water bodies occurs when pollutants are directly or indirectly discharged into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds
    water pollution
  54. 5 categories of water pollution
    • - organic solid waste
    • - disease causing organisms
    • - inorganic solids and dissolved minerals
    • - thermal energy
    • -organic compounds
  55. indicators of water quality
    • bacteria: - presence of coliform bacteria indicates that animal wastes are polluting a lake
    • dissolved oxygen: healthy trout indicate high oxygen levels (good) and carp and catfish indicate low levels (bad)
    • Biological Oxygen Demand: the BOD indicates the amount of available organic matter in a water sample. More organic matter= the greater the BOD thus reducing the amount of dissolved oxygen, making it harder for certain organisms to survive
    • changes in Alberta lakes: shoreline plants act as a filtering system by slowing the movement of potentially harful chemicals into the lake. they also provide shade which keeps the water cooler allowing for a higher concentration of dissolved oxygen. if they're removed, more chemicals and seepage of sewage from outhouses can enter the lakes faster
  56. the branch of science concerned with classification, especially of organisms
    taxonomy
  57. Carl Linnaues proposed a system that's based on an organism's physical and structural feautres
    • Genus, species
    • first name is capitalized
  58. 7 levels in order. "King Philip Came Over For Gay Sex"
    • Kingdom
    • Phylum
    • Class
    • Order
    • Family
    • Genus
    • Species
  59. a sexual prokaryotes that can be autotrophic or heterotrophic and live meraly everywhere. ex. cyanobacteria
    eubacteria
  60. heterotrophic prokaryotes that live in salt lakes, hot springs and animal guts. ex. methanogens
    archaebacteria
  61. usually single cells but some are eukaryotes. can be heterotrophic or autotrophic and sexyal or asexual and live in aquatic or moist environments. ex. algae
    prostia
  62. terrestrial multicellular autotrophs that reproduce sexually and asexually ex. mushrooms
    fungi
  63. mostly terrestrial multicellular autotrophs that reproduce sexually and asexually. ex. ferns
    plantae
  64. multicellular heterotrophs that usually reproduce sexually. ex. sponges
    animalia
  65. the history of evolution
    phylogeny
  66. a group of organisms whose cells lack a membrane-bound nucleus
    prokaryotes
  67. the system of nomenclature in which two terms are used to denote a species of living organism, the first one indicating the genus and the second the specific epithet
    binomial nomenclature
  68. a diagram that depicts the lines of evolutionary descent of different species, organisms, or genes from a common ancestor
    phylogenetic tree
  69. a two part key used to identify living things
    dichotomous key (di = 2)
  70. the branch of science concerned with fossil animals and plants
    palaeontology
  71. a method of dating geological or archeological specimens by determining the relative proportions of particular radioactive isotopes present in a sample
    radiometric dating
  72. the branch of biology that deals with the geographical distribution of plants and animals
    biogeography
  73. the gradual movement of the continents across the earth's surface through geological time
    continental drift
  74. Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation, county or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere
    endemic
  75. things that share similar bone arrangements but perform very different functions
    homologous features
  76. have similar appearance and function but evolved independently
    analogous features
  77. rudimentary structures that serve no useful function and are usually taken as very compelling evidence for evolution
    • vestigial features 
    • ex. appendix
  78. The breeding of plants and animals to produce desirable traits. humans choose
    artificial selection
  79. the supposed production of living organisms from nonliving matter, as inferred from the apparent appearance of life in some supposedly sterile environments
    • spontaneous generation
    • Lamarck's theory
  80. the theory of evolution through natural selection
    Darwin's theory
  81. random changes in DNA that provide a continuous supply of new genetic information
    mutation
  82. the formation of new and distinct species in the course of evolution
    speciation
  83. allopatric speciation
    • physical barrier separates a single interbreeding population
    • natural selection works on the separated groups individually
    • physical/behavioural differences accumulate over time until they are no longer sexually compatible
  84. individuals with double or more the number of chromosomes
    polyploids
  85. changes occurring in a slow and steady pace
    gradualism
  86. the hypothesis that evolutionary development is marked by isolated episodes of rapid speciation between long periods of little or no change
    • punctuated eqyullibrium
    • 1972 Niles Eldridge and Stephen Jay Gould proposed the theory
  87. when species rapidly evolved into many different species during the early Cambrian period
    divergent evolution
Author
aleahmurphy
ID
277145
Card Set
bio 20- unit B
Description
bio20unitB
Updated