Study guide chapters 1-5, Study Guides, Projects, Research of Ecology and Environment

Download Study guide chapters 1-5 and more Study Guides, Projects, Research Ecology and Environment in PDF only on Docsity! Exam 1 study guide Chapter 1 1. Define ecology. Study of interactions between organisms and their environment and between one another · How is this different from environmental science? Environmental science incorporates concepts from natural sciences (including ecology) and the social sciences; it focuses on how people affect the environment and how to address environmental problems · Which is described as a sub- discipline, and which is interdisciplinary? Ecology is a subdiscipline of biology. Environmental science is interdisciplinary. 2. What types of studies do ecologists use (4)? - Observational field studies - Controlled lab experiments - Controlled field experiments - Theoretical models · What would be the benefit of a controlled lab experiment versus an observational field study? The benefit would be specifically testing for the question you wish to answer and controlling the variable factors. Results in the experiment do not have bias. · What are the benefits of using a model? They can be used to represent concepts and systems that are difficult to observe in nature. They make systems easier to interpret and evaluate. 3. What is a spatial scale? Biosphere > Landscapes > Ecosystems > Community > Population > Individual Refers to the spatial extent of ecological processes · Why might an ecologist choose one over another? The choice is dependent on the depth they are observing · For example, given that an ecologist wants to study the interactions between different species, which spatial scale might s/he use? Community · What about when the ecologist then includes interacts between the organisms and their environment? Ecosystem 4. How is this different from a temporal scale? Temporal scale incorporates time · When might temporal scales be important? When looking at population size vs time 5. What kinds of questions do ecologists try to answer? Questions pertaining to patterns, interactions and mechanisms of nature - What is the current and “critical” population size? - What is the size and location of critical habitat? - What other factors may lead to mortality? - When are ecosystem services lost and can they be restored? 6. What characteristics of amphibians make them good “biological indicators?” - Skin is permeable, pollutant molecules can pass through easily - Eggs have no protective shell - They spend part of their life on land and part in water- they are exposed to pollutants and UV in both environments · What does it indicate about the environment when they begin to have deformities and/or die off? All deformed frogs had a parasitic infection and there were more deformed frogs in ponds with pesticides. 7. Define descriptive science. Descriptive science; typically inductive and aims to observe and explore While hypothesis- based science is deductive and begins with a specific question or problem and test for answers or solutions · How does this play a role in hypothesis-based science? Observations from descriptive science can lead ecologists to have questions or find problems that they will then use hypothesis-based science to find an answer/solution. 8. Describe the observational field study that was conducted to investigate if the Ribeiroia parasite causes frog deformities. Describe the hypothesis, methods, results, and conclusion(s). Did this study confirm that Ribeiroia infections lead to frog deformities? Why or why not? (Think about correlation versus causation.) Question: Do multiple factors influence frog deformity? Do the effects of a parasite and pesticides interact in nature? Hypothesis: Methods: Six ponds, all with Ribeiroia, three with pesticide contamination. Wood frog tadpoles were placed in 6 cages in each pond; 3 had a mesh size that allowed parasites to enter. Results: The parasite caused limb deformities in the field. No deformities were found in the cages that parasites could not enter Conclusion: All deformed frogs had a parasitic infection. Parasitic exposure was necessary for deformities to occur. A greater percentage of deformed frogs were found in ponds with pesticide. When exposed to parasites, deformities were common when also exposed to pesticides. Chapter 2 1. Why is it so important in ecology to understand the environment? Ecology is the study of how organisms affect and are affected by other organisms and their environment Explain why it was particularly important in the Salmon Abundance Case Study. It is important in this case study because they hypothesize that abrupt changes in salmon production is due to the climate variation in the marine habitat. What is the Pacific Decadal Oscillation? It is associated with the 20- to 30- year cycles of warm/cool sea surface temperatures and atmospheric pressure in the North Pacific; phases influence marine ecosystems and salmon production. Which type of study was used in the salmon abundance case study? Observational Field Study 2. How are catadromous and anadromous organisms different? Anadromous: spend most of their life at sea and come to fresh water to spawn Catadromous: spend most of their life in freshwater and go to salty water to spawn Which is more common? Anadromous: salty water fish but freshwater spawning 3. What is the most fundamental component of the physical environment? Why? Climate because it can change the circumstances of a physical environment causing the community living their to vary. 4. What is weather? How is this related to climate? Weather is current conditions and climate is the long term description of weather based on averages and variations measured over decades (>30 years); has cycles or long term trends. 5. How does energy drive climate? Global climate system is driven by energy which is derived from solar radiation. About what percentage of energy is reflected and absorbed by the earth? ⅓ energy is reflected and ⅕ energy is absorbed by the ozone and 49% is absorbed by earth. What type of energy is this? Outgoing energy: sensible heat, latent heat, long wave radiation (emitted by surface and re-radiated to Earth by greenhouse gases) 6. How does the earth lose heat? Outgoing heat What type of radiation is this? Infrared raditation What is latent heat? Heat needed to raise the temp of a system What is sensible heat? Heat required to vaporize something How is the most energy lost from the earth? Long wave radiation What re-radiates a large portion of that heat back? Greenhouse gases 7. Why is the Greenhouse Effect important? Without it Earth’s climate would be about 33 degrees celsius cooler What are some greenhouse gasses? Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, water vapor, ozone, chlorofluorocarbons What are some human activities that lead to increased concentrations of these gases? Industrial products, fossil fuel burning, land conversion 8. Describe why solar radiation is more intense at the equator. Towards the poles the sun’s rays are spread oer a larger area and take a longer path through the atmosphere whereas near the equator, the sun’s rays strike Earth’s surface perpendicularly. How does this radiation spread over the planet? Winds and ocean currents result in differences in solar radiation across Earth’s surface. Latitudinal differences in solar radiation at Earth’s surface drive atmospheric and oceanic circulation. What does this differential heating cause? Varying atmospheric pressure 9. Hot air (sinks/rises), while cold air (sinks/rises). Cool air holds less water vapor than warm air How does this relate to the circulation of air cells on Earth? Uplift: Warm air is less dense than cool air, so the air above the warm surface rises. As the warm air rises, it expands and cools. As the air cools, water vapor condenses to form clouds. 10. Low pressure air corresponds with (moist/dry) air, while high pressure air corresponds to (moist/dry) air. How does this explain excessive rainfall in tropical climates? Receive the most solar radiation and the most precipitation. Uplift of the air in the tropics results in low atmospheric pressure zone. Which regions correspond to low and high pressure areas? Low pressure: *warm rising air; condenses to form clouds - Tropical rainforests: 0 degrees - Temperate forests: 60 degrees High pressure: *dry, cool, falling air - Deserts: 30 degrees - Tundra: 90 degrees High=heavy ; low=light High pressure: heavy falling air Low pressure: light rising air 11. Winds flow from areas of (high/low) pressure to areas of (high/low) pressure, which are called winds. Why do these winds appear deflected? Due to the rotation of the earth: Coriolis effect 12. What is the major driver of ocean surface currents? Driven by surface winds What also affects the route of surface currents? Modified by the presence land masses 13. What happens during downwelling? Warm tropical surface currents reach polar areas, the water cools, ice forms, the water becomes more saline and more dense therefore sinking Warm surface water → cold deep water How is this different from upwelling? Upwelling occurs where deep ocean water rises the the surface Deep cold water → warm surface water Why does deeper water tend to be nutrient-rich, and why do upwellings lead to higher local productivity? Deeper water tends to be nutrient rich because of the decomposition of sinking organic matter. Upwelling influences local coastal climates, brings nutrients from deeper waters up towards the surface. 14. What drives deep ocean circulation? Density (temp and salinity) driven rather than wind driven How does temperature and salinity change with depth? Temperature gets colder and the water gets saltier the deeper you go and the water gets denser. 15. How do ocean currents affect land climate? Average annual temps become progressively cooler from the equator towards the poles. This pattern is altered by ocean currents, continental topography and the distribution of land and water masses. What other factor affects land climate? Lapse rate: temp decreases with elevation Air pressure and density decrease with elevation Wind speed also increase at high elevations due to less friction with the ground surface. Atmosphere: 3. What is the zone of life on Earth? What two layers of Earth is this found between? Describe where this zone is. 4. What is a biome? What characterizes a biome? 5. What is a growth form? What determines a plant’s growth form? Do plants have to be closely related to share a growth form? (Hint: Are mangroves all closely related?) 6. Which factors affect the dominant plant growth associated with a biome (2)? Are these based on averages or extremes? 7. What is having the largest effect on natural systems and species extinction? How much of the planet has been altered by humans? 8. Where are tropical rainforests found? How much annual rain does a tropical rainforest receive? Is there seasonality? Why? 9. Describe the vegetation in a tropical rainforest. Is the vegetation thick? Are there many epiphytes? Given this, what is the limiting factor for plant growth in this system? 10. Where are tropical seasonal forests and savannas found? Is there seasonality in rain or temperature? How does this affect the vegetation? When do the trees lose their leaves? 11. When a tree drops its leaves during stressful times, what is it described to be? 12. What factors maintain a savanna and keep it from turning into a forest? 13. Where are hot deserts located? Is this an area of high or low pressure? Describe the biodiversity of the animals and plants. Describe the abundance of these species. What is the limiting factor? How do plants respond to this pressure? What are they called? 14. How do humans commonly use deserts (2)? What negative effects can these have the desert system (2)? 15. Where are temperate grasslands found? Describe their summers and winters. What is the dominant vegetation type? What natural processes maintain this system? Does this system commonly experience a water deficit? 16. What characteristics of grasses allow them to better survive in this system? Why is this type of biome so fertile? Why are they the most human-influenced biome on Earth? 17. Where are temperate shrublands and woodlands found? Are they evergreen or deciduous trees/shrubs? What are their winters and summers like? What helps maintain this system? 18. Where are temperate deciduous forests found? Are they found in the southern hemisphere? What stressor causes this system to be deciduous? How is this different from the tropical deciduous forests? 19. Compare the diversity of a temperate deciduous forest to that of a tropical rainforest. 20. Where are temperate evergreen forests found? Compare their fertility and diversity to that of a temperate deciduous forest. How are these systems most commonly used by humans? 21. Where are boreal forests found? Are they found in the southern hemisphere? What is a defining characteristic of boreal forests? What is the defining growth form? 22. What is permafrost? What is the required time that the soil must be frozen to be considered permafrost? How does this affect soil drainage and decomposition? Why do some soil fires burn for years in this system? 23. Where is the tundra biome found? What signals the transition between a boreal forest and a tundra system? What types of vegetation are found in this system? 24. Why is low-growing vegetation found in the tundra biome versus trees? How does the amount of precipitation change as you move north? Is this an area of high or low pressure? 25. Describe the polygonal shapes found in permafrost soils. How do these form? 26. Explain why changes in mountain biological zones are comparable to biomes changing over latitude? Are these systems the same though? Why or why not? What is the general change in growth forms as elevation increases? 27. How are freshwater biological zones characterized? How is this different from terrestrial biomes? 28. How much water on earth is fresh? Where is the majority of this water found? 29. What connects terrestrial and marine systems? 46. Where are coral reefs mostly found? What is unique about how corals acquire energy? What can happen when water gets too warm or there are too many nutrients in the water? Describe what is so unique about coral diversity. How are they ecosystem engineers? 47. What happens to each of these characteristic as ocean depth increases: a. Temperature b. Pressure c. Light d. Food resources e. Diversity 48. As depth increases beyond the photic zone, where does energy come from? Random (potentially the same) Questions from previous years Chapter 1 What is ecology? How does ecology differ from environmental science? How do ecologists ask and answer questions? What does the scientific method begin with? List these spatial scales from large to small Individual Biosphere Cell Landscape Population Ecosystem Community Define landscape Define community What determines the spatial and temporal scale an ecologist will work in? Why do amphibians serve as good biological indicators? In an experiment, what is the experimental group? What is the control group and what purpose does it serve? What do ecologists use to analyze the results of their experiments? How can your actions in your front yard effect a nearby lake? How can your actions in your front yard effect the ocean? Define evolution. What is an adaptation? What must a trait be in order for natural selection to act upon it? Give an example of a producer and a consumer. Chapter 2 What determines where an organism can live? What is the most fundamental component of the physical environment? How does climate differ from weather? What drives the climate on Earth? Where does the energy on Earth come from? Incoming radiation from the sun is wave, outgoing radiation is wave. Greenhouse gases are responsible for keeping Earth degrees C_________ Wind and ocean currents result from differences in ___________ ___________ across Earth’s surface. Major deserts on Earth occur at latitudes ____________ N and S, due to _________. The Hadley cell forms due to the of ____________air. The Ferrell cell is driven by the _____ and _____________cells. At Earth’s poles, cold air and creates an area of pressure. Wind flows from areas of pressure to _______________ pressure.This pattern of movement is called the . Water has a ____________heat capacity than land. This causes maritime cities to have ________ temperatures when compared to cities inland. Ocean surface currents are driven by and modified by . Deep ocean circulation is driven by _________ and ____________. Areas of upwelling have ____________ nutrient availability. Temperature and air pressure ___________ with increasing elevation. How does the shallow ocean differ from the pelagic zone? Which has a higher biodiversity and why? Name a community you’d find in the shallow ocean and describe it. What are nekton? As you go deeper in the ocean light , temperature , and pressure__________ Chapter 4 1. How do organisms deal with environmental variation (2)? · What types of organisms tend to tolerate variation and which use avoidance? · The study of physiological responses to environmental variation is called? 2. What are some dangers involved when an organism freezes (3)? What effect does the ice formation have on the organism’s cells? What is desiccation? How did the frogs in the case study get around these problems? 3. What determines the geographic range of an organism? An organism’s geographic range is determined by the physical environment. Why is the potential distribution of an organism different from its actual distribution? The potential distribution of an organism is different from its actual distribution because of factors that will limit an organisms ability to actually survive in a given geographic range. Such factors include ability to find resources/food, competition, and extreme environmental conditions (weather). How do the characteristics of an environment affect an organism’s success in that environment? The characteristics of an environment affect an organism’s success in that environment by affecting the organism’s ability to obtain energy/resources to maintain metabolic functions and grow to eventually reproduce. Why are extreme conditions an important factor in determining an organism’s range? Extreme conditions are an important factor in determining an organism’s range because if the conditions exceed what the organism can handle/tolerate, then the organism will die. 4. Why are plants a good indicator of the physical environment? Plants are a good indicator of the physical environment because of their immobility. They have to tolerate the conditions they evolved to grow in, as they have no other option that allows them to avoid the physical environment. 5. What causes stress? · What affect does stress have on an organism’s physiological processes? · How can this be detrimental to an organism even if the stress doesn’t kill it? 6. Acclimatization is a (short-term/long-term), (irreversible/reversible) process. What ways can an organism acclimatize to survive in an environment? Give an example of acclimatization. 7. How is adaption different from acclimatization? (Hint: Why do organisms evolve? · Are environmental stresses the same as selective pressures in evolutionary biology? (Hint Hint: Yes.)) 8. True or false. Acclimatization occurs in the individual during their lifetime and adaption develops in a population over multiple generations. 9. Name the environmental characteristics that can have the largest impact on an organism’s survival (2). Why is water a determining characteristic of an organism’s range? Why is temperature so important? How is this related to an organism’s energy balance and physiological processes? 10. Do you think an organism used to a stable environment could easily acclimatize if the temperature changed rapidly? What physiological problems could an organism experience if this were to happen? (Hint: Look at Questions 5 and 9) 11. What are three ways that energy can be exchanged in an environment? · What is the difference between convection and conduction? (Hint: You may want to search the internet to help with this one.) Which type of energy exchange is directly involved with a phase change? 12. When looking at the energy exchange of a plant, which values are always positive? Which are always negative? Which can be positive and negative? What is the difference between solar radiation and infrared energy? 13. What part of the plant is most important for temperature control? What is the most common way a plant manages its temperature? What is pubescence and what purpose does it serve? What is the tradeoff associate with pubescence? Does a smooth leaf or a rough leaf lose more energy via convection? 14. What is an ectotherm? What are some advantages of being an ectotherm? How do they control their body temperature, and explain why their body size is constrained by this method? 15. What is an endotherm? What are the main benefits to being an endotherm? Is this an anabolic or catabolic reaction? 8. What are four environmental constraints placed on photosynthesis? 9. Describe a light response curve. What is the light compensation point? Before this point, is there a net gain or loss of CO2? What is the light saturation point? What happens if the light level continues to increase beyond this intensity? 10. What are some short-term morphological responses that a plant may use to regulate its light intake (2)? What are the costs and benefits of these methods? How does the thickness of a leaf regulate light input? How do certain photosynthetic enzymes differ across species? Why? 11. Why does the rate of photosynthesis decrease after a certain threshold temperature? How is it that photorespiration can occur even after the stomata are closed? 12. Which two reactions does RuBisCo catalyze? Why is this a problem? 13. If photorespiration competes with photosynthesis, why don’t plants evolve a new photosynthetic enzyme to reduce competition with photorespiration? 14. What does a positive CO2net uptake indicate in plants? (Hint: Think about the equation for photosynthesis.) 15. What is a C3 plant? 16. Describe C4 photosynthesis. Where is RuBisCo located in the plant, and how does this help reduce the rate of photorespiration? Where does the Calvin cycle take place in C4 plants? What is PEPCase, and how does it different from RuBisCO? 17. What kinds of plants are normally CAM synthesizing? When does the plant take up CO2? Are the stomata opened or closed during the day? Why do these types of plants sometimes taste acidic? 18. What is a facultative CAM plant? Why is this more advantageous than being an obligate CAM plant? Give some examples of facultative CAM plants. 19. CAM is used to prevent in ____________environments. 20. C4 uses a ______________(temporal/special) separation while CAM uses a (temporal/special) separation. 21. What are the cons to using C4 and CAM photosynthesis? 22. What did the first heterotrophs most likely eat? How do they get energy from what they consume? How does the amount of energy required to obtain food affect the energy gained by consuming the food? (Hint: Think of the effort a cheetah must invest to catch an antelope compared to a grazing cow. Which has more energy? Which takes more energy to obtain?) 23. What are some strategies that heterotrophs use to obtain food? 24. Why is it important for an organism’s digestive system to be specialized to the food that it eats? What would happen to the net intake of energy of a heterotroph if the system was inefficient? Generally, how is an herbivore’s digestive system different from a meat eater’s? Additional Questions related to topics covered in Chapters 4 and 5 What options do organisms have for coping with environmental variation? What determines the potential distribution of a species? How does the actual distribution of a species differ from its potential distribution? What is stress? How is acclimatization different from adaptation? What about Individuals and Populations, do they adapt or acclimatize? Individuals_____________; Populations . Temperature of an organism is determined by___________of energy with the external environment. Why is temperature and water balance important for biological organisms? What are the mechanisms of energy transfer? What is conduction? How does conduction differ from convection? What is latent heat? What energy inputs do plants receive from their environment? In what forms of energy do plants lose heat? How does heat exchange in a plant differ from that of an animal? What are ectotherms? How is being an ectotherm beneficial? How are ectotherms constrained? What are endotherms? What are the drawbacks of being an endotherm? In endotherms, as temperature drops below the lower critical temperature, metabolism____________ What is torpor? What is hibernation? Water balance is intrinsically tied to balance.