ESS DP1 Final

• Species


  A group of organism that share common characteristics and that interbreed to produce fertile offspring
• Habitat


  The environment in which a species normally lives
• Niche


  The particular set of abiotic and biotic conditions and resources to which an organism or population responds
• Fundamental niche


  The full range of conditions and resources in which a species could survive and respond
• Realized niche


  The actual conditions and resources in which a species exists due to biotic interactions
• Abiotic factors


  • Temperature
  • Sunlight
  • pH
  • Salinity
  • Precipitation
• Biotic factors


  • Predation
  • Herbivory
  • Parasitism
  • Mutualism
  • Disease
  • Competition
• Population


  A group of organisms of the same species living in the same area at the same time, which are capable of interbreeding
• S and J population curves


  • Describe a generalized response of populations to a particular set of conditions (abiotic and biotic factors)
• Limiting factors


  Will slow population growth as it approaches the carrying capacity of a system
• Community


  A group of populations living and interacting with each other in a common habitat
• Ecosystem


  A community and the physical environment with which it interacts
• Respiration


  Conversion of organic matter into carbon dioxide and water in all living organisms, releasing energy
• Photosynthesis


  Carbon dioxide + water → glucose + oxygen
• Trophic level


  The position that an organism occupies in a food chain or the position of a group of organisms in a community that occupy the same position in food chains
• Feeding relationships


  • Producers
  • Consumers
  • Decomposers
• Ecological pyramids


  Quantitative models that are usually measured for a given area and time
• Types of ecological pyramids

  • Pyramids of numbers
  • Biomass
  • Productivity
• Bioaccumulation


  The buildup of persistent or non biodegradable pollutants within an organisms or trophic level because they cannot be broken down
• Biomagnification


  The increase in concentration of persistent or non biodegradable pollutants along a food chain
• Conversion of light energy to chemical energy


  1. Transfer of chemical energy from one trophic level to another with varying efficiencies

  2. Overall conversion of ultraviolet (UV) and visible light to heat energy by an ecosystem

  3. Re-radiation of heat energy to the atmosphere
• Net primary productivity (NPP)


  Calculated by subtracting respiratory losses (R) from gross primary productivity (GPP)
• Gross secondary productivity (GSP)


  The total energy or biomass assimilated by consumers and is calculated by subtracting the mass of fecal loss from the mass of food consumed
• Net secondary productivity (NSP)


  Calculated by subtracting respiratory losses (R) from GSP
• Storages in the carbon cycle


  • Organisms and forests (both organic)
  • Atmosphere, soil, fossil fuels, oceans (all inorganic)
• Flows in the carbon cycle


  • Consumption (feeding)
  • Death and decomposition
  • Photosynthesis
  • Respiration
  • Dissolving and fossilization
• Storages in the nitrogen cycle


  • Organisms (organic)
  • Soil, fossil fuels, atmosphere, water bodies (all inorganic)
• Flows in the nitrogen cycle


  • Nitrogen fixation by bacteria and lightning
  • Absorption
  • Assimilation
  • Consumption (feeding)
  • Excretion
  • Death and decomposition
  • Denitrification by bacteria in water-logged soils
• Human activities impacting energy flows and cycles


  • Burning fossil fuels
  • Deforestation
  • Urbanization
  • Agriculture
• Ecosystem study


  Requires that it be named and located
• Organism identification tools


  • Keys
  • Comparison to herbarium or specimen collections
  • Technologies and scientific expertise
• Sampling strategies


  Used to measure biotic and abiotic factors and their change in space, along an environmental gradient, over time, through succession, or before and after a human impact
• Methods for estimating biomass and energy of trophic levels


  • Measurement of dry mass
  • Controlled combustion
  • Extrapolation from samples
• Methods for estimating abundance of non-motile organisms


  • Use of quadrats for making actual counts
  • Measuring population density
  • Percentage cover and percentage frequency
• Direct methods for estimating abundance of motile organisms


  • Actual counts
  • Sampling
• Indirect methods for estimating abundance of motile organisms


  • Capture-mark-recapture with the application of the Lincoln Index
• Species richness


  The number of species in a community and is useful a comparative measure
• Species diversity


  A function of the number of species and their relative abundance and can be compared using an index
• Simpson diversity index


  D = N(N-1) / Σn(n-1), where D is the simpson diversity index, N is the total number of organisms of all species found, and n is the number of individuals of a particular species
• The first law of thermodynamics is the principle of conservation of energy, which states that energy in an isolated system can be transformed but cannot be created or destroyed