Term
Biological Evolution Delivers
Biodiversity |
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Definition
A species consists of members that can
reproduce sexually and produce viable offspring |
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Term
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Definition
As the environment changes, nature will
only select individuals best fitted to those
changes |
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Term
| Changes Through Mutations |
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Definition
| Mutations are random changes in genes |
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Term
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Definition
Large populations tend to be genetically
stable and slow to evolve:
– Any new variant is quickly swamped by
interbreeding with normal individuals |
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Term
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Definition
Larger population is split into a subpopulation
(peripheral isolate) occupying a different
ecological niche
– Barrier prevents peripheral isolates from
interbreeding with main population
– Mutations and natural selection drive
peripheral isolates along different evolutionary
path from main population
– Peripheral isolates eventually evolve into a new
species |
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Term
Physical and genetic
isolation of one group |
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Definition
from the parent
population can drive that
group (peripheral isolate)
along a different
evolutionary path |
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Term
Genetic divergence could
eventually lead to a |
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Definition
different
species no longer capable of
interbreeding with the
ancestral population |
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Term
| Ecosystems And Biodiversity |
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Definition
Each ecosystem is constantly adjusting to
changing conditions and disturbances |
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Term
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Definition
Inertial stability: The tendency of species
populations to remain stable:
– Examples: Redwood forest, pine forest at
high elevation, and tropical rain forest
– Communities with high inertial stability,
however, may not necessarily recover from a
disaster |
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Term
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Definition
Resilience is the ability of a community to
recover from change |
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Term
Clear-Cutting
Disrupts Stable
Forest
Communities |
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Definition
•Habitats and niches
destroyed
•Soil eroded
•Food sources
diminished
•Dramatic reduction in
biodiversity
•Entire ecosystem
seriously disrupted |
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Term
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Definition
Humans eliminate biodiversity by simplifying
agricultural ecosystems into single crops like
wheat:
– Lack of diversity makes the agricultural ecosystem
vulnerable to failure
– Requires enormous demands for energy, pesticides,
herbicides and fertilizer
– Harvesting and removing biomass interrupts the
cycling of materials into the soil: |
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Term
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Definition
The present loss of biodiversity due to
climatic and human factors is irreversible |
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Term
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Definition
The distribution of plant species is
affected by climate:
– Warm, humid conditions favor tropical rain
forests
– Cold temperatures favor different species of
plants
– Dry, arid climates create desert plants |
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Term
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Definition
| An ecosystem is actually a patchwork of habitats |
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Term
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Definition
Communities with high inertial stability may
persist for long periods of time |
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Term
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Definition
Occurs when more complex communities replace
older, usually simpler, communities of plants and
animals:
– Often requires an initiating disturbance such as
windstorm, flooding, volcanic eruption, that disrupts or
destroys the original ecosystem
– Afterwards, a primary succession takes root
– Primary succession soon followed by other species
– During the non-equilibrium transition, natural
selection will determine which species succeed in the
competitive struggle
– Changes move towards more stable and mature
communities
– There may be several stages involved |
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Term
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Definition
primary succession (lichens, mosses, ferns)
starts in an area of bare rock or soil and marks
the beginning of development of an ecosystem |
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Term
A secondary succession begins if vestiges of a
previously-functioning community are present
after a disturbance |
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Definition
Natural community was destroyed or disturbed, but
the underlying soil remains intact
– Some soils, young trees and plants survive |
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Term
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Definition
| Exhibited by lakes, ponds and oxbows |
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Term
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Definition
A terrestrial ecosystem is a self-regulating
association of plants and animals
characterized by specific plant formations |
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Term
| Earth’s Major Terrestrial Biomes |
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Definition
| Equatorial and Tropical Rain Forest |
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Term
Equatorial and Tropical Rain
Forest |
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Definition
Regions of high insolation and average
annual temperature ~25oC |
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Term
| Deforestation of the Tropics |
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Definition
More than half of Earth’s original rainforest
now gone |
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Term
| Tropical Seasonal Forest and Scrub |
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Definition
| Occur on the margins of the rain forest |
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Term
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Definition
| semiarid tropical steppes and deserts |
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Term
Midlatitude Broadleaf and Mixed
Forest |
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Definition
Moist continental climates of warm- to
hot-summers and cool- to cold-winters |
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Term
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Definition
Lush forests at middle and high latitudes:
– Includes western slopes of Pacific NW in
North America |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
Predominance of grass-like plants:
– Trees limited to streams and other sites |
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Term
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Definition
Deserts cover more than one-third of Earth’s
land area |
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Term
| Limited fauna due to extreme conditions |
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Definition
– Ringtail cat
– Kangaroo rat
– Lizards
– Scorpions
– Snakes |
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Term
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Definition
Desertification (expansion of deserts) now
occurring worldwide |
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Term
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Definition
Occur at high altitudes and latitudes:
– Extreme northern areas of North America and
Russia |
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Term
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Definition
Arctic animals include musk ox, caribou,
reindeer, polar bear, wolf, fox, rabbit,
small rodents and geese |
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Term
| Within a community, which level in the food chain would contain the fewest members? |
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Definition
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Term
| Where do plants with deep roots, spreading root systems, water-holding tissue, and leaves with waxy coatings and fine hair most likely occur? |
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Definition
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Term
| Which of the following processes is NOT part of the carbon cycle? |
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Definition
| use of fertilizers on crops |
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Term
| Which of the following cannot be directly used by plants, but rather must first be coverted into usable compounds by lightening and certain soil bacteria? |
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Definition
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Term
| What happens in allopatric speciation? |
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Definition
| A small group is separated (isolated) from the larger (main) population and eventually evolves into a new species |
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Term
| Which of the following terrestrial biomes occurs at the highest latitudes and highest altitudes? |
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Definition
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Term
0 out of 1 points
The function or occupation of a life form within a community is called a(n) _________ |
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Definition
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Term
| An ecosystem is composed of many communities. |
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Definition
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Term
| Which of the following statements is LEAST consistent with a Mediterranean Shrubland Biome? |
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Definition
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Term
| Which of the following statements regarding biodiversity is correct? |
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Definition
Correctd.
Greater biodiversity in an ecosystem results in greater stability and greater productivity |
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Term
| Which of the following statements about patch dynamics is FALSE? |
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Definition
| Once an individual patch (habitat) arises, it will never fail |
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