Ecology Test Notes
Define:
Sustainability
-the ability to maintain natural ecological conditions or process without interruption, weakening
or loss of value
Ecological Overshoot:
-when a population exceeds the long term carrying capacity of resources in its environment
Ecological Footprint:
-the impact of humans on the environment, and the scale at which they are using up natural
resources
Biocapacity:
-the capacity of a given productive area to generate an on-going supply of renewable resources
and to absorb it’s spillover waste
Sedimentation:
-tendency for particles in suspension to settle out the fluid in which they are entrained and come
to rest against a barrier
Infiltration:
-when water from ground enters soil
Fossil Fuels:
-natural gasses from a long time ago
Carbon Reservoir:
-place (atmosphere, ocean) that holds carbon
Carbon Sink:
-natural or artificial reservoir that accumulates and stores some carbon-containing chemical
compound
-absorbs more carbon than it releases
Carbon Source:
-releases more carbon than it absorbs
Carbon Dioxide:
-colorless, odorless gas produced by burning carbon and organic compounds and by
respiration. It is naturally present in air (about 0.03 percent) and is absorbed by plants in
photosynthesis
Eutrophication:
-excess richness/amount of nutrients in a lake or body of water. Mostly due to runoff from land
Acid Rain:ll
-rainfall that is made acidic by atmospheric pollution
Soil Organic Matter:
-the organic matter component of soil, consisting of plant and animal residues at various stages
of decomposition, cells and tissues of soil organisms
,Assimilation:
-combination of two processes that supply nutrients to cells
Input:
-the measure of food and fluids that that enter and exit the body
Factors That Lead to Unsustainability:
● artificial ecosystems
- when humans maintain an ecosystem that they’ve created
-require management to maintain biotic and abiotic factors
-ex..urban park, farm
● introduced species
-when animals/plants are introduced to an environment, it can affect the ecosystem
-an introduced species can eat too much of a certain species, leaving no food for that species
prey
-ex..if an octopus is introduced to an ecosystem, it will eat a lot of muscles, leaving no food for
seagulls
● human impact
-deforestation, urbanization, fishing, hunting
Biodiversity:
-the variety of life found in an area
-three factors are ecosystem, species and genetics
Importance:
-helps with protection of water resources
-soils formation and protection
-pollution breakdown and absorption
-climate stability
-maintenance of ecosystems
Range of Tolerance:
-species is able to survive within a range of abiotic (nonliving) factors
-near upper and lower limits of the range of tolerance, species experience stress
Optimal Range:
-within the range of tolerance, there is the optimal range
-range where species is best adapted and are the healthiest
Wide/Narrow Tolerance Ranges:
-(wide) species called generalists tend to be widely distributed and may easily invade other
ecosystems (racoon) they have a broad niche
,-(narrow) species called specialists tend to be less widely distributed, and may be sensitive to
changes (panda) they have a narrow niche
Generalist:
-species able to thrive in a variety of circumstances
Specialist:
-species able to thrive only in a narrow range of environmental conditions or has a limited diet
Niche:
-the role that each species has in an ecosystem
-no two niches are exactly the same
-these roles include what it eats, what eats it, where it lives and the type of habitat it prefers,
how it affects other species and how it affects the abiotic environment
Fundamental Niche:
-the full range of environmental conditions and resources an organism can possibly occupy and
use especially when limiting factors are absent in its habitat (limiting factor is anything that
places an upper limit on the size of population; availability to food/water, human influence)
Realized Niche:
-the part of a fundamental niche that an organism occupies as a result of limiting factors present
in its habitat
Watershed:
-a land area from which water drains into a receiving body of water (lakes, rivers, oceans)
-they supply water, purifies water, reduces floods, improves soil fertility
Factors that Affect Watersheds:
-invasive species (aquatic and terrestrial)
-storm water management (when the volume of water from a storm and sanitary sewers is too
much to be treated at the treatment plant, the water will bypass the treatment plant and go
directly into the lake
-contaminants from urban runoff (cleaning detergents, road salts, pesticides)
Healthy Watershed Characteristics:
-water quality can support native aquatic species
-stream and floodplains can accommodate floods without regular destruction and erosion
-sufficient habitat features including pools gravel bars, large pieces of wood
Biotic Index:
, -the Hilsenhoff Biotic Index measures the number of species around watersheds, and uses
those numbers to determine its biotic index number, showing if it is impaired, potentially
impaired, or unimpaired.
Water Cycle Steps:
1: Evaporation and Transpiration
-process where water at the surface absorbs heat energy from the sun and turns to vapor
-water moves from the hydrosphere to the atmosphere
Transpiration is the process where moisture is carried through plants from roots to small pores
on the underside of leaves, where it changes to vapor and is released to the atmosphere
(evaporation of water from plant leaves)
Evapotranspiration is the process where water is transferred from the land to the atmosphere by
evaporation from the soil and other surfaces, and by transpiration from plants
2. Condensation
-water vapor rises into the atmosphere where it condenses into tiny particles of ice and water,
forming clouds
3. Precipitation
-water molecules in clouds collect into big enough drops the fall back to the Earth as
rain/snow/sleet//hail
4. Runoff and Groundwater
-precipitation on the surface will collect into bodies of water, absorbed into the ground, or it will
become runoff
Groundwater is water beneath the Earth’s
surface in soil pore spaces, and in fractures
of rock formations. Surface runoff is water
that flows over the land surface. It can drain
into a watershed, and is also called an
overland flow before it reaches a canal.
Abiotic Factor:
-nonliving things or influences on organisms
-ex..sunlight, temperature, nutrients,
soil/water pH, soil density, salinity
Biotic Factor:
Define:
Sustainability
-the ability to maintain natural ecological conditions or process without interruption, weakening
or loss of value
Ecological Overshoot:
-when a population exceeds the long term carrying capacity of resources in its environment
Ecological Footprint:
-the impact of humans on the environment, and the scale at which they are using up natural
resources
Biocapacity:
-the capacity of a given productive area to generate an on-going supply of renewable resources
and to absorb it’s spillover waste
Sedimentation:
-tendency for particles in suspension to settle out the fluid in which they are entrained and come
to rest against a barrier
Infiltration:
-when water from ground enters soil
Fossil Fuels:
-natural gasses from a long time ago
Carbon Reservoir:
-place (atmosphere, ocean) that holds carbon
Carbon Sink:
-natural or artificial reservoir that accumulates and stores some carbon-containing chemical
compound
-absorbs more carbon than it releases
Carbon Source:
-releases more carbon than it absorbs
Carbon Dioxide:
-colorless, odorless gas produced by burning carbon and organic compounds and by
respiration. It is naturally present in air (about 0.03 percent) and is absorbed by plants in
photosynthesis
Eutrophication:
-excess richness/amount of nutrients in a lake or body of water. Mostly due to runoff from land
Acid Rain:ll
-rainfall that is made acidic by atmospheric pollution
Soil Organic Matter:
-the organic matter component of soil, consisting of plant and animal residues at various stages
of decomposition, cells and tissues of soil organisms
,Assimilation:
-combination of two processes that supply nutrients to cells
Input:
-the measure of food and fluids that that enter and exit the body
Factors That Lead to Unsustainability:
● artificial ecosystems
- when humans maintain an ecosystem that they’ve created
-require management to maintain biotic and abiotic factors
-ex..urban park, farm
● introduced species
-when animals/plants are introduced to an environment, it can affect the ecosystem
-an introduced species can eat too much of a certain species, leaving no food for that species
prey
-ex..if an octopus is introduced to an ecosystem, it will eat a lot of muscles, leaving no food for
seagulls
● human impact
-deforestation, urbanization, fishing, hunting
Biodiversity:
-the variety of life found in an area
-three factors are ecosystem, species and genetics
Importance:
-helps with protection of water resources
-soils formation and protection
-pollution breakdown and absorption
-climate stability
-maintenance of ecosystems
Range of Tolerance:
-species is able to survive within a range of abiotic (nonliving) factors
-near upper and lower limits of the range of tolerance, species experience stress
Optimal Range:
-within the range of tolerance, there is the optimal range
-range where species is best adapted and are the healthiest
Wide/Narrow Tolerance Ranges:
-(wide) species called generalists tend to be widely distributed and may easily invade other
ecosystems (racoon) they have a broad niche
,-(narrow) species called specialists tend to be less widely distributed, and may be sensitive to
changes (panda) they have a narrow niche
Generalist:
-species able to thrive in a variety of circumstances
Specialist:
-species able to thrive only in a narrow range of environmental conditions or has a limited diet
Niche:
-the role that each species has in an ecosystem
-no two niches are exactly the same
-these roles include what it eats, what eats it, where it lives and the type of habitat it prefers,
how it affects other species and how it affects the abiotic environment
Fundamental Niche:
-the full range of environmental conditions and resources an organism can possibly occupy and
use especially when limiting factors are absent in its habitat (limiting factor is anything that
places an upper limit on the size of population; availability to food/water, human influence)
Realized Niche:
-the part of a fundamental niche that an organism occupies as a result of limiting factors present
in its habitat
Watershed:
-a land area from which water drains into a receiving body of water (lakes, rivers, oceans)
-they supply water, purifies water, reduces floods, improves soil fertility
Factors that Affect Watersheds:
-invasive species (aquatic and terrestrial)
-storm water management (when the volume of water from a storm and sanitary sewers is too
much to be treated at the treatment plant, the water will bypass the treatment plant and go
directly into the lake
-contaminants from urban runoff (cleaning detergents, road salts, pesticides)
Healthy Watershed Characteristics:
-water quality can support native aquatic species
-stream and floodplains can accommodate floods without regular destruction and erosion
-sufficient habitat features including pools gravel bars, large pieces of wood
Biotic Index:
, -the Hilsenhoff Biotic Index measures the number of species around watersheds, and uses
those numbers to determine its biotic index number, showing if it is impaired, potentially
impaired, or unimpaired.
Water Cycle Steps:
1: Evaporation and Transpiration
-process where water at the surface absorbs heat energy from the sun and turns to vapor
-water moves from the hydrosphere to the atmosphere
Transpiration is the process where moisture is carried through plants from roots to small pores
on the underside of leaves, where it changes to vapor and is released to the atmosphere
(evaporation of water from plant leaves)
Evapotranspiration is the process where water is transferred from the land to the atmosphere by
evaporation from the soil and other surfaces, and by transpiration from plants
2. Condensation
-water vapor rises into the atmosphere where it condenses into tiny particles of ice and water,
forming clouds
3. Precipitation
-water molecules in clouds collect into big enough drops the fall back to the Earth as
rain/snow/sleet//hail
4. Runoff and Groundwater
-precipitation on the surface will collect into bodies of water, absorbed into the ground, or it will
become runoff
Groundwater is water beneath the Earth’s
surface in soil pore spaces, and in fractures
of rock formations. Surface runoff is water
that flows over the land surface. It can drain
into a watershed, and is also called an
overland flow before it reaches a canal.
Abiotic Factor:
-nonliving things or influences on organisms
-ex..sunlight, temperature, nutrients,
soil/water pH, soil density, salinity
Biotic Factor:
