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Ecology Exam III
Terrestrial Ecosystems, Streams, Wetlands, Lakes, and Saltwater Ecosystems
55
Environmental Studies
Undergraduate 2
04/21/2009

Additional Environmental Studies Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Grassland
Definition

Grass (Few Trees)

10-30 inches Rain

Rolling/Flat

Warm Summers and Cold Winters

 

Vegetation

Grasses and Forbs

 

Greatests Productivity per Unity Standing Crop

High Root/Shoot Ratio

 

Term
Types of Grasslands
Definition

1.  Cultivated

2.  Successional

3.  North American Grasslands

4.  Eurasian Steppes

5.  South American Pampas

6.  South African Veldt

7.  Australian Grassland

Term
Types of North American Grasslands
Definition

Tall-grass pairie - Big Bluestem, Needlegrass, legumes, composites, squirrels, gophers

Mixed-grass pairie - Needlegrass-grama, bison, pronghorn, antelope

Short-grass prairie - blue grama, buffalo grass, prairie dogs

Desert grassland - SW US, N Mexico, Bunchgrasses

Annual grassland - San Joaquin Valley, CA

Palosue Prairie - b/n Rocky Mtns and Cascades, cool season bunchgrasses, sagebrush

Term
Savanna
Definition

Grass with Scattered Woody Vegetation

 

Wet/Dry Seasons

Tropics/Subtropics

Central and Southern Africa

 

Mammals

Wildebeest, Leopard, Lion, Zebra, Giraffe, Elephants, Cheetah, Rhino, Hyaena, Termites, Bunchgrasses

Term
Shrubland
Definition

Arid/Semi-Arid Regions

 

Types of Shrubland

Mediterranean - Hot dry summers, cool wet winters, sclerophyllous Vegetation

 

North American Chaparral - thicket of Shrubby Evergreen Oak, Active in Winter, Dormant in Summer, Scrub ak, Chamise

 

Northern Desert Scrub - Cold Desert of Great Basin, Sagebrush

 

Heathlands - Heath-like plants, sclerophyllous vegetation, Arctic Regions, NW Europe

 

Successional - Sumac, Alder, and Willow

Term
Fauna
Definition

Animals of a Given Region or Area

 

Jackrabbit, coyotes

Found in Chaparral and Desert Shrubs

Term
Deserts
Definition

< 10 Inches of Rain

 

Hot Summers

 

Poor Soil

 

Low Productivity

Term
Types of Desert
Definition

North America

    Great Basin - Cold Desert, Sagebrush

 

    SW US - CAM Plants, Cactus (Giant Saguaro),        Yucca, Ephemeral Species, Lizards, Snakes,            Coyotes, Spadefoot Toda, Rodents (Kangaroo         Rat)

Term
Tundra
Definition

Treeless, Cold, Short Growing Season

 

Arctic - permafrost, dwarf shrub and heaths, lichen, moss, chusion plants, grass, and sedge

 

Alpine - no permafrost, wetter than Arctic

Term
Types of Alpine Tundra
Definition

Western Mountains - Cushion, mat-forming plants, Marmots, Mountain Goats, Bighorn Sheep, and Pika

 

Appalachian - heaths and sedge meadows

 

Tropical - Rosette Plants

Term
Types of Coniferous Forests
Definition
  1. Taiga
  2. Montane
  3. Southern Pine
  4. Temperate Rainforest
Term
Taiga
Definition

Boreal Forest

 

Not very productive

(little plant biomass produced each year)

Not very Diverse

 

Vegetation

Spruce, Fir, Larch, Pine, Birch, Aspen, Lichen, and Moss

 

Term
Boreal
Definition
Of, or related to, Northern Biotic Region
Term
Taiga Fauna
Definition
Caribou, Moose, Snowshoe hare, and Lynx
Term
Montane
Definition

Central Europe - Norway Spruce, Scots Pine

 

Rocky Mountains - Engelmann Spruce, Subalpine Fir, Douglas-fir, Ponderosa & Lodgepole Pines

 

Sierra Nevada & Cascades - Red Fir, Lodgepole Pine, Giant Sequoia, Sugar Pine, Ponderosa

Term
Southern Pine
Definition

Coastal Plains - Pine

    Pine Barrens (NJ) - Dwarf Pine: pitch pine, dwarf blackjack oak

 

Southeastern Mixed - Oak and Pine

Term
Temperate Rainforest
Definition

Pacific NW - Douglas Fir, Redwood (CA), Ferns, and Mosses

 

Fauna - Bear, Moose, Mountain Lion, Squirrel, and White-tailed Deer

Term
Types of Temperate Broadleaf Forest
Definition
  1. Temperate Deciduous Forest
  2. Temperate Evergreen Forest
  3. Temperate Woodlands
Term
Temperate Deciduous Forest
Definition

Asia

Eupore - Beech, oak, ash, birch, elm

North America - hemlock, northern hardwood forest, central hardwood forest

Term
Hemlock Temperate Deciduous Forest
Definition
White Pine & Northern Hardwood Forest Mix
Term
Northern Hardwood Forest - Temperate Deciduous Forest
Definition
Beech, maple, black cherry, red oak
Term
Central Hardwood Forest - Temperate Deciduous Forest
Definition

Southern Slopes - Oak and Chestnut

 

Northern Slopes/Cloves - Tulip tree, high diversity of temperate tree species

 

Ozarks - oak and hickory

Term
Temperate Evergreen Forest
Definition

Australia - Eucalyptus forest

 

Gulf Coast and Florida Everglades - Magnolia, live oak, Spanish moss, Palm

Term
Temperate Woodlands
Definition
Oak, Oak-Juniper, and Pine-Juniper
Term
Tropical Rainforest
Definition

Regions:

Amazon Basin, Indo-Malaysian, West & Central Africa

 

Warm, Constant Temperature with 60 to 160 inches of rain


Flora - Broadleaf evergreen trees, Epiphytes, Lianas

 

Vegetation structure/stratification:

    Feeding Layers, Most Productive Ecosystem,         Infertile soil, nudtrients are in the vegetation     not soil, Organic matter decomposes quickly,     no significant litter layer

Term
Mountain Rainforest/Cloud Forest
Definition

Shorter Trees with gnarles limbs

 

More even canopy

Term
Tropical Seasonal Forest
Definition

Transitional - less rain, temperature more variable

 

Few trees lose leaves during dry period

Term
Tropical Dry Forest
Definition

> 40 % tropical Forest

 

Most tropical forests are not rainforests

 

distinct wet and dry seasons

 

plants lose leaves during dry period

Term
Lentic (Lacustrine)
Definition
Lakes
Term
Pelagic
Definition
Open Water Area
Term
Zone of Lakes
Definition

Zones are relative to Light Compensation Points

Limnetic - Light Penetrates

Profundal - Deep water, without Light

Term
Plankton
Definition

Wanderer

 

Zoo Plankton - Rotifers, copepods

 

Phytoplankton - Blue-green Algae, Green Algae, Diatoms

Term
Nekton
Definition

Free Swimming Organisms

 

E.g. Fish, large Invertebrates

Term
Neuston
Definition

Organisms associated with Surface of Lake

 

E.g.  Water striders

Term
Benthic
Definition

Bottom (on or in)

 

Zones

 

Profundal benthos

Littoral benthos

Term
Littoral
Definition
Margin of Lake
Term
Riparian
Definition

Shoreline

 

Types:  Muddy and Oozy, Rocky and Sandy Shores

Term
Macrophytes
Definition
Large Plants in a Lake
Term
Types of Macrophytes
Definition
  1. Emergent - e.g. reeds, cattails, bulruches
  2. Floating - rooted - e.g. water lilies, pondweeds
  3. Free-floating - (surface) - e.g. duckweed
  4. Free-floating - (submerged) - e.g. hornwort
  5. Submerged-rooted - e.g. Chara, Elodea

 

Term
Lacustrine Succession
Definition
  1. Bare bottom and Open Water - pioneer stage
  2. Submergent Vegetation and Phytoplankton (Algae)
  3. Emergent Vegetation
  4. Temporary Pond
  5. Marsh
  6. Grassland - Prairie, meadow
  7. Forest

 

Term
Littoral Fauna
Definition

Insects:

Dragonflies, mayflies, stoneflies, caddisflies, midges, backsimmers, water strider, and diving beetle

 

Fish

Term
Physical Features of Lakes
Definition
  1. Light
  2. Temperature

Light:

     Zones: euphotic, disphotic, and aphotic

     Light Compensation Point

 

Temperature

Thermal Stratification: epilimnion, metalimnion, hypolimnion

Dimictic Lakes: 2 mixing periods/overturns

Term
Formation of Lakes
Definition
  1. Glaciers - e.g. Kettle Lakes
  2. Ice Scour - e.g. Finger Lakes, Great Lakes
  3. Tectonic Lakes - e.g. Rift Lakes, Lake Tahoe
  4. Volcanic Lakes - e.g. Crater Lake
  5. Riverine Lakes - Oxbow Lakes, Floodplain Lake
  6. Coastal Impoundment - e.g. Coast of S Africa
  7. Organic Origins - e.g. Hoover Dam
Term
Major Lakes
Definition
  1. Caspian Sea - Largest Inland body of Water
  2. Dead Sea - Most concentrated natural salt Lake in world, Lowest point on Earth
  3. Great Salt Lake
  4. Baikal - Largest (Volume) Deepest
  5. The Great Lakes - e.g. Superior (Largest in Surface Area), Michigan
  6. Aral Sea
Term
Salt Marshes
Definition

Associated with Estuaries, Flooded daily by tides, High Productivity, Low Diversity, and Food web Changes with Tide

 

Flora - Saltwater Cordgrass

 

Fauna - Fiddler Crab, ribbed mussel, and Marsh Periwinkle

Term

Estuaries

 

Definition

E.g. - River deltas, bays, lagoons

 

Primarily marine, benthic organisms (e.g. Oysters)

 

Salinity Stratification

Term
Coral Reefs
Definition

Warm, shallow, nutrient-deficient seas

 

Very productive, high biodiversity

 

Living Coral, Coralline red algae, foraminifera, mollusks

Term
Riverine
Definition
Stream
Term
Why do Streams Exist?
Definition
  1. Surface Water
  2. Channels
  3. Slope or Gradiant
Term
Watershed
Definition
Area or River where a water stream drains
Term
Stream Order
Definition

Stream Orders from 1 to 3 = Headwater Streams

Stream Orders from 4 to 6 = Mid Size Streams

Stream Orders from 6 and Above are Larger Streams

Term
Major Rivers
Definition
  1. Nile - Longest River
  2. Mississippi/Missouri River - 12 miles shorter than Nile
  3. Amazon River - Widest River
  4. Colorado - Drains into the Pacific Ocean
  5. Columbia/Snake
  6. St. Lawrence
Term
Stream Physical Features
Definition
  1. Flow
  2. Pools and Riffles

Flow:

Must be moving and it Meanders

Water flows the fastest in the Center of the River

Term
Benthic Structures of Streams
Definition
  1. Sandy Benthic
  2. Bedrock Benthic
  3. Gravel and Rubble Benthic - Most productive becuase of small spaces for small organisms to hide

 

Term
Detritus of Streams
Definition
  1. CPOM - Coarse Particulate Organic Matter - Size is anything > 1 mm in Diameter (e.g. trees, woods, plants, leaves)
  2. FPOM - Fine Particulate Organic Matter - Size range from .5 mm to 1 mm (e.g. invertebrates that live in small spaces)  Some of these particles can actually move out and dissolve into UPOM
  3. UPOM - Ultrafine Particulate Organic Matter - Size is < .5 mm and Particles generally do not dissolve at this level
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