Chapter 20: Communities and Ecosystems

Bioengineering And Life Sciences 101 with Shoemaker at Colorado School of Mines

About this deck

By: Jennifer Brush
Textbook:

Campbell Essential Biology with Physiology (3rd Edition)

Environmental Science: Toward a Sustainable Future
Created: 2011-03-28
Size: 39 flashcards
Views: 80

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Biodiversity

biological diversity

How does the loss of genetic diversity endanger a population?

A population with decreased genetic diversity has less ability to evolve in response to environmental change

Ecosystem Services

functions performed by an ecosystem that directly or indirectly benefits people

Keystone Species

the extinction of one species can have a negative effect on an entire ecosystem

Main causes of declining biodiversity

habitat destruction, fragmentation, invasive species, overexploitation, pollution

Community

an assemblage of species living close enough together for potential interaciton

Interspecific Interactions

interactions between species

Ecological niche

the sume of its use of the biotic and abiotic resources in its environment

Competitive Exclusion Principle

if the ecological niches of two species are too similar, they cannot coexist in the same place

Cryptic Coloration

makes potential prey difficult to spot against its background

Warning Coloration

bright patterns of yellow, red, or orange in combination with black, often marks animals with effective chemical defenses

Herbivory (+/-)

the consumption of plant parts of algae by an animal

Parasite

lives on or in a host from which it obtains nourishment

Trophic Structure

the feeding relationships among the various species in a community

Food Chain

the sequence o food transfer between trophic levles

Producers

the bottom of the food chain

-plants

-phytoplankton

consumers

all organisms in tropic levels above the producers

-heterotroph

Primary consumers

herbivores- eat plants, algae, or phytoplankton

Carnivores

eat the consumers from the level below

secondary consumers

many small mammals such as mice

tertiary consumers

eat what eats consumers

quaternary consumers

eat tertiary consumers

detritus

the dead material left by all trophic levels

how biomagnification goes on

long-lived

mobile

soluble in fats

detrivores

scavengers, consume detritus

decomposers

consisting of prokaryotes, fungi, and protists, secrete enzymes that digest molecules in organic material and convert them to inorganic forms

biological magnification

the accumulation of toxins in the tissues of consumers in a food chain

Omnivores

eat producers as well as consumers

biomass

the amount of living organic material in an ecosystem

primary production

rate at which an ecosystems producers convert solar energy to the chemical energy stored in biomass

Food Webs

elaborate feeding relationships

species diversity

the variety of species that make up the community

species richness

the number of different species in the community

relative abundance

the proportional representation of a species in a community

keystone species

a species whose impact on its community is much larger than its total mass or abundance indicates