weather
day-to-day condition of the Earth's atmosphere at a particular time and place.
climate
average, year-after-year conditions of temperature and percipitation in a particular region.
Earth's temperature range
maintained by carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor and a few other atmospheric gases that trap heat energy and maintain Earth's temperature range.
greenhouse effect
natural situation in which gases trap the heat energy of sunlight inside the Earth's atmosphere.
Earth's three main climate zones
resulting from differences in lattitude and the angle of heating, the Earth's three main climate zones are polar, temperate and tropical.
polar zone
cold areas where sun's ray strike the Earth at very low angles: North and South poles between 66.5 and 90 degrees North and South latitudes
tropic zone
near the equator between 23.5 North and South latitudes. Receive direct and nearly direct sunlight year round.
temperate zone
located between the polar zone and the tropic zone. climate ranges from hot to cold, depending on the season. most affected by the changing angle of the sun.
biotic factors
biological influences of an organism in an ecosystem.
abiotic factors
physical or non-living factors that shape ecosystems . For example in climate the abiotic factors are temperature, percipitation and humidity. Other abiotic factors are wind, nutient availability, soil type and sunlight. Bullfrogs is affected by abiotic f
Biotic and abiotic factors
determine the survival and growth of an organism and the productivity of the ecosystem in which the organism lives.
habitat and niche
organism's habitat is its address and niche is its occupation
niche
full range of physical and biological conditions in which an organism lices and the way the organism uses the conditions. For example, part of an organism's niche is ist place in the food web, the range of temperatures it needs to survive, the type of foo
Community interactios
competition, predation and various forms of symbiosis can affect an ecosystem.
competition
occurs when organisms of the same or different species use an ecological resource in the same place at the same time.
resource
any necessity of life - water, nutrient, light, food, etc.
competitive exclusion principle
No two species can occupy the same niche in the same habitat at the same time. The warblers (birds) are a good example.
predation
an interaction in which one organism captures and feeds on another organism. Organism that does the killing is the predator. The food organism is the prey.
symbiosis
any relationship in which two species live closely together.
Three main classes of symbiotic relationships
mutualism, commnsalism and parasitism
mutualism
both species benefit from the relationship. One example: flowere provide nectar and pollen than the bees and insects eat. In turn the insects spread the pollen and help the flowers reproduce.
commensalism
one member benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed. Example: barnacles attach to a whale's skin and provide no benefit or harm to the whale but he whale's movement brings food to the barnacles.
parasitism
one organism lives on or inside another organism and harms it. The parasite obtains all or part of its nutritional needs from the other organism called the "host". Tapeworms are parasites that live in the intestines of mammals. Fleas ticks and lice are pa
Ecological Succession
The series of predictable change in a comunity. As an ecosystem changes, older inhabitants die out and new organisms move in.
primary succession
Succession that occurs on land where no soil exists. Example: lava from volcanic eruption build new islands or cover the land with lava or volcanic ash. The same is true of bare rock that is exposed when glaciers melt.
pioneer species
In primary succession, it is the first species to populate an area.
secondary succession
a disturbance of changes in an existing community without removing the soil. Example: land cleared for farming or fire burns woodland.
microclimate
the climate in a small area that differs significantly from the climate around it. In San Francisco some streets are very cold and full of fog while streets a short distance away are sunny.
The Major Biomes
Defined by a unique set of abiotic factors the biomes are: Tropical rain forest, tropical dry forest, savana, deser, temperate grassland, temperate woodland and shrubland, temperate forest, northwestern coniferous forest, boreal forest and tundra.
The Major Biomes
On a map the boundary between biomes may appear sharp but on land they are large transitional areas between biomes.
Major Biome: Tropical Rainforest
Abiotic Factor: hot and wet year-round and nutrient poor soils; Dominant Plants: broad-leaved evergreen, vines, orchids; Dominant wildlife: sloths, jaguars, toucans, piranhas, repties; Geographic Distribution: parts of South and Central America, Southeast
Aquatic Ecosystems
determined by the depth of the water, distance from the shore, flow, temperature and chemistry of the overlying water. The abiotic factor of latitude create distinctive characteristics in polar, temperate and tropical ecosystems.
Freshwater Ecosystems
Flowing-water and Standing-water ecosystems
Flowing-water Ecosystems
Rivers, streams, creeks and brooks are freshwater ecosystems that flow over the land. Flowing water ecosystems originate in moutains or hills often from an underground water source. Near this source there is little plant life but as the water flwos dowhil
Standing-water Ecosystems
Lakes and ponds have relatively still water that provide habitat for many organisms including plankton.
plankton
tiny, free-flowing organisims that live in freshwater and salt water environments.
phytoplankton
single-cell algae are supported by nutrients in the water and form the base of many aquatic food webs.
zooplankton
feed on phytoplankton
wetland
an ecosystem in which wate either covers the soil or in present near the surface of the soil for a portion of the year.
Estuaries
wetlands formed where rivers meet the sea. Contain a mix of fresh and salt water. Many are shallow so sunlight reaches the bottom and powers photsynthesis.
detritus
tiny pieces of organic mateiral that provide food for organisms at the base of the estuary. Clams, worms and sponges feed on detritus.
salt marshes
temperate zone estuaries dominated by salt-tolerant grasses above the low-tide line and seagrasses below.
mangrove swamps
coastal wetlandsin tropical regions. Many are found in Florida and Hawaii
Marine Ecosystems
Ocean divided into two zones: photic zone and aphotic zone
Photic Zone
well-lit upper zone of the ocean to about 200 meters.
Aphotic Zone
Below the Photic zone where no light penetrates.
Ocean zones based on depth and distance from the shore
Intertidal zone, coastal ocean and the open ocean.
Intertidal zone
It is the closest to the land and is exposed to regular and extreme changes in their surrounding.
Zonation
resulting from competition among organisms sones are formed on a vertical scale. Example: black algae grows at the highest high-tide lien, follwed by barnacles. Lower down mussels might be found.
Coastal Ocean
from low-tide mark to the outer edge of the continental shelf which is the shallow border that surrounds the continents.
kelp forests
giant brown fast growing algae found in teh coastal ocean community
coral reefs
coral animals with hard, calcium carbonate skeletons. Related to jelly fish they are the size of a fingernail. They live in symbiosis with algae. Algae, however, need light and can't grow on coral that is below 40 meters since not enough light penetrates
Open ocean
begins at the edge of the continental shelf and extends outward. 500 meters deep to 11,000 meters at the deepest ocean trench. All sorts of fish populate the open ocean including swordfish and octupus.
Benthic Zone
the ocean floor and habitat to benthos.
Benthos
organisms that live on or near the ocean floor (sea stars, anemones and marine worms). They do not move much and depend on organisms that grow in the photic zone.
nitrogen fixation
Bacteria in soil and plant roots convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia. Other soil bacteria then convert the ammonia to nitrates and nitrites, which are taken in by producers. Decomposers convert the nitrogen in animal watstes and dead organisms into
evaporation
the process where water changes from liquid form into an atmospheric gas.
biogeochemical cycles
biological, chemical, geological aspects of the biosphere. The way that elements, chemical compounds and other forms of matter are passed from one organism to another and from one part of the biosphere to another.
transpiration
water entering the atmosphere by evaporating from the leaves of plants.