Final Exam ETT

Terms in this set (71)

The process of recovery in an ecosystem following a disturbance

Glacier Bay, Alaska

Example of primary succession, glacial retreat over the last 200 years has allowed for simultaneous views of different stages of succession in a relatively small region

Primary succession

The series of changes that occur in an area where no soil or organisms exist

Secondary succession

The series of changes that occur in an area where the ecosystem has been disturbed, but where soil and organisms still exist

Mt Hood, Oregon

Example of primary succession after volcanic activity

Pinelands, New Jersey

Example of secondary succession after fire

Cape Cod Dunes, Massachusetts

Example of secondary succession after salt spray and wind

Colonization, dispersal, establishment, persistence

Factors affecting plant succession

Contributor to biodiversity: the percentage of any specific allele in the gene pool

Contributor to biodiversity: A group of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area

Contributor to biodiversity: A group of similar organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring.

Alpha diversity

Contributor to biodiversity: Number of species locally

Contributor to biodiversity: number of species that differ in occurrence between multiple habitats

Impacts of climate change on biodiversity

Causes of biodiversity loss

Convergent evolution

Process by which unrelated organisms independently evolve similarities when adapting to similar environments

Euphorbia and cactus

Example of convergent evolution

Horseshoe Crab and Red knot

Example of two interdependent species: the crabs were being overfished, so the birds could not find enough of their eggs

Habitat fragmentation

Splitting of ecosystems into small fragments

Ecological island

An area that is biologically isolated so that a species occurring within the area cannot mix with any other of the same species

Example of a place which has manmade lakes and utilizes hydropower- creating artificial habitat. Also within a floodplain zone with repeat inundations.

Flushing Meadows Park

Example of a park which tried to implement three wetland zones and encountered problems with invasives, dry soil, arson, and lack of management. Had some success with biodiversity and habitat.

Gateway National Park

For estuarine communities, semidiurnal tides of the bays and ocean are the most important hydrologic feature at this park. They are dependent on the twice daily inundation of saltwater.

Example of a park which was being restored, had challenges with fragmentation, limited dispersal corridors, soil: fill, high pH, invasives, few migration opportunities

Hydrologic Cycle

The cycle through which water in the hydrosphere moves; includes such processes as evaporation, precipitation, and surface and groundwater runoff

Urban Hydrologic Cycle

Rainwater Harvesting

Stormwater management: can help with rainwater management by keeping the rainwater on site and reducing the rate of runoff. If allowed, harvested rainwater can assist in irrigation to help with recuding municipal water use for outdoor water needs.

Stormwater management: cools urban heating, reduces carbon dixoide, thermal benefits to buildings, better acoustics, reduced storm water runoff, improved aesthetics of rooftops, supports wildlife, increase roof lifespan

Pervious Pavements

Stormwater management: Wide variety of surfaces, including concretes, asphalts, and various types of grid and paver systems that aid in the rapid infiltration of water.

Bioretention Systems

Stormwater management: the process in which contaminants and sedimentation are removed from stormwater runoff. Stormwater is collected into the treatment area which consists of a grass buffer strip, sand bed, ponding area, organic layer or mulch layer, planting soil, and plants.

Pollutant removal mechanisms

Absorption by plants, microbes, and soil; exposure to sunlight and dryness; infiltration and sedimentation

Palustrine systems

marshes, wet meadows (periodically inundated wetland that may or may not have water present), fens (freshwater peat with basic (alkaline) soil, nutrients from groundwater), bogs (freshwater peat with acidic soils), swamps, etc

temporary pools of water that provide habitat for distinctive plants and animals

Estuarine systems

Form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environments.

High vs low flow habitat

Stresses in intertidal zone

Tidal flux, Desiccation, High temperatures, Low temperatures, Wave energy

Ecosystem engineer

a keystone species that creates or maintains habitat for other species.

Autogenic engineer

environment altered via their own physical structure, the longevity of an engineering effect after its death is dependent upon the persistence of its remains (ex- coral reefs, red forests)

Allogenic engineer

change the environment by transforming living or non-living materials from one physical state to another via mechanical or other means (eg beavers, elephants)

resistance vs resilience

Orange County Great Park

Example of a park utilizing corridor strategies

continuous corridor of habitat that connects subpopulations through which species can disperse

relatively homogeneous area that differs from its surroundings

a landscape with a high degree of connectivity

Habitat Fragmentation

Splitting of ecosystems into small fragments

Checkerspot butterfly

Example of animal affected by habitat fragmentation

Stepping stones

Small intervening habitat patches that dispersing organisms can use to move between large favorable habitats.

Example of a project which built corridors: in order to retain connectivity, two ecoducts were built when the road was upgraded: "Woeste Hoeve" and "Terlet"

Silver Spotted Skipper Butterfly

Example where fragmentation of the animal's habitat can be compensated through maintaining or restoring stepping stones

Optimal Reserve Design

Chemical defenses

One mechanism that plant populations evolve to avoid predation

Extrafloral nectaries

nectar producing stuctures that are not located in flowers used to attract ants

Ants and acacia

Example of a mutualistic relationship using extrafloral nectaries

Types of rarity

Torrey pine, Florida nutmeg, Coast Redwood

Examples of rarity

Species-area curves

graphs used to extrapolate backward to determine the species richness of a given habitat if its area were to decline

Properties of communities

Keystone species

A species that influences the survival of many others in an ecosystem

Disturbance variations

•Frequency •Intensity •Regularity •Timing

Introduced species

species moved by humans to new geographic areas, either intentionally or accidentally

Naturalized species

introduced species that have established themselves as a stable population

Examples of Invasives

Kudzu, tree of heaven, Chestnut blight, Dutch elm disease, Gypsy moth, emerald ash borer, rabbits in Australia

Qualities of Successful Invaders

Invader Succession

Disturbed and species-poor communities are most likely to be invaded

Phases of Invasion

Examples of Invaders

Cattle egret, Queen Anne's lace, Common mullein, Microstegium, Norway maple, Bittersweet, Garlic mustard, Purple loosestrife, Japanese knotweed

Results of invasion

Lake Gatun, Panama

Example of invasive in lake: Few measures can protect native fish once peacock bass have been introduced. Reduction in native species richness in lakes with introduced peacock bass was observed in all of the area lakes, regardless of the presence of macrophyte refugia.

American chestnut blight

The pathogenic fungus Cryphonectria parasitica (formerly Endothia parasitica) is a member of the Ascomycota (sac fungi) taxon, and is the main cause of chestnut blight—a devastating disease of the American chestnut tree that in the early 1900s caused a rapid, widespread die-off of this once plentiful tree from its historic range in the eastern United States.

Opuntia stricta

Example of biocontrol: In Australia it has been the subject of one of the first really effective biological control exercises using the moth Cactoblastis cactorum.

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