Ch 2: Ecology

• Ecology: "oikos" (home) describes how humans interact
• Biome: area of habitat defined by its major vegetation
• Tropical: around the equator and stable temperatures
• Temperate: shifts in temperature
• Subtropical desert: low rain, temperate-tropical climate
• Temperate grassland: medium and consistent rain, temperate climate
• Temperate forest: temperate climate, moderate rain and high variation
• Boreal forest (taiga): low rain, very low temperature, more rain than tundra
• Tundra: low rain and low temperature
• Climate and location cause differences in temperatuure and precipitation
• Solar radiation: The energy from the sun that is absorbed by the earth's surface.
• Seasonal variation: if the Earth did not tilt on its axis (23.5) there would be no seasons, equator faces sun directly
• There is more rain in the tropics because of higher levels of pressure
• Whittaker diagram shows vegetation structure, temperature, and precipitation
• Climate change impacts can shift ecosystems, not everything can shift at the same level like plants can't travel quickly
• Rain shadow: changing moisture levels as you go up, air rises over mountains and cools causing rain to fall, the moisture full air blows onshore from the Pacific Ocean
• A lake starts when light can't penetrate otherwise it's a pond
• Aquatic zone: Littoral (litter) leaf zone
• Aquatic zone: Limnetic (lake) further from the shoreline
• Aquatic zone: Aphotic (no light) without light
• Aquatic zone: photic (light) light zone
• Aquatic zone: Benthic (bottom)
• Intensity of light declines with water depth do light penetrates further in freshwater than saltwater
• Marine Zone: Intertidal zone, adapted to surf-attachment structures, able to deal with no moisture risk
• Marine Zone: Neritic zone contains the coral reef and kelp forest
• Coral reefs: warm-water areas, structure defined by coral, critical habitat
• Kelp forest: cold-water area, structure defined by kelp, sea otters are a keystone species
• Marine Zone: Oceanic zone, no structure, most life near surface, phytoplankton, nekton
• Estuary: where freshwater meets saltwater, changing salinity, nutrient rich, salt tolerant vegetation, nursery areas, bordered by coastal wetlands
• Lakes (lentic)= no movement
• Streams and Rivers (lotic) = moving water