Biodiversity

• Biosphere: the regions of the surface and atmosphere of the earth or another planet occupied by living organisms.
• Ecosystem: all the interacting organisms and their physical environment within a given area
• biome: a large naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat, e.g. forest or tundra.

  
• community: a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.
• population species: a group of individuals of the same species that live in the same geographic area that interbreed with each other
• current threats to biodiversity: habitat loss, invasive species, pollution, over-exploitation
• How is biodiversity be useful to humans: Creates medicine, materials, food, fuel, etc
• Describe what biodiversity is ? The variety of different species of organisms in an ecosystem.
• Why is biodiversity important? plays a crucial role in maintaining the balance of ecosystems, providing essential ecosystem services, such as clean air and water, nutrient cycling, and climate regulation. supports human well-being by providing food, medicine, and other resources,
• How to Calculate population density: Population density = Number of organisms / Area of habitat

  
• Death rate (d): number of deaths per unit time
• Birth rate (b): number of newborns per unit time
• List and describe the three main population dispersion patterns: clumped, random, and uniform
• Random distribution - individuals are spread out evenly throughout the area with no pattern
• Clumped distribution - individuals are grouped together in patches or clusters
• Uniform distribution - individuals are distributed evenly across the entire area without any clustering or gaps
• examples of competition are trees growing taller to compete for sunlight and two birds fighting over a worm
• concept of carrying capacity is the maximum population size of a biological species that can be sustained by that specific environment

  
• exponential growth

  
• logistical growth

  
• the logistic equation describes how populations grow when resources become limited, with an initial exponential increase followed by a slowing down as resources run out.
• In the logistic model, K represents the maximum number of organisms that can survive in a given habitat under ideal conditions.
• how much energy can transfer in trophic levels: 10 percent 
• where does “lost” energy go? - energy is transferred to the surroundings
• food web

  
• food chain

  
• Energy pyramid

  
• What are density dependent limiting factors? Competition, predation, parasitism.
• What are density independent limiting factors? Weather, natural disasters
• biotic factors of ecosystems: predators, herbivores, pathogens, parasites, competition
• Abiotic factors of ecosystems: Light intensity Temperature Precipitation moisture availability
• symbiotic relationships are a close, prolonged association between two or more different biological species.
• Mutualism: Both species benefit

  
• Parasitism: one benefits at the expense of another
• Commensalism: One benefits the other is unaffected