Download The Final Examination Location: ED 217

The Final
Examination
2 P.M. - 3:50 P.M.
Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008
Location: ED 217
http://www.wou.edu/wou/maps/
http://www.wou.edu/provost/registrar/finals.php
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Study Session
This Sunday
~ 2:00 & 6:30 P.M.
@ NS 103
http://www.vcld.org/pages/newsletters/01_02_fall/testtaking.htm
Spring Term Class
Biology 370
Environmental Science
The course examines the issues of humans in
ecological systems.
Final Examination
~40 Questions:
~5 – Exam I
~35 – Populations,
Communities, and
Ecosystems
http://www.vcld.org/pages/newsletters/01_02_fall/testtaking.htm
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Final Examination
Study Hints:
Every day ~ 40 minutes
Study Group
Start NOW!
Don’t Delay!
http://www.vcld.org/pages/newsletters/01_02_fall/testtaking.htm
Community Ecology
Characteristics
1. Species Diversity and Relative Abundance
2. Prevalent Form of Vegetation
3. Community Stability (?)
4. Trophic Structure
Community Ecology
Characteristics
1. Species Diversity and Relative Abundance
Community “A”:100 (1)
60 (2)
25 (3)
10 (4)
Community “B”: 50 (1)
30 (2)
12 (3)
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Species – Area Curve
In general, the larger
the area, the greater
the number of
species.
Community Ecology
Characteristics
2. Prevalent Form of Vegetation
- Ecologists examine the dominant
species, its vertical and horizontal
structure
Vertical Structure
Horizontal Structure
Tropical Rainforests
have four layers:
EMERGENT LAYER
The tallest trees are the emergents,
towering as much as 200 feet above the
forest floor with trunks that measure up to
16 feet around. Most of these trees are
broad-leaved, hardwood evergreens.
Sunlight is plentiful up here. It is hot, but
not humid and very windy at times. The
trees have mushroom shaped crowns.
Animals found are eagles, monkeys, bats
and butterflies.
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Tropical Rainforests
have four layers:
CANOPY LAYER
This is the primary layer of the forest
and forms a roof over the two remaining
layers because the trees are so close
together. Most canopy trees have smooth,
oval leaves that come to a point. Most of
the trees are also covered by other plants
called epiphytes. 90% of the animals live in
this layer. Many animals live in this area
since food is abundant. Those animals
include: snakes, toucans and tree frogs.
Some of these animals never go down to
the forest floor.
Tropical Rainforests
have four layers:
UNDERSTORY LAYER
Little sunshine reaches this area so the
plants have to grow larger leaves to reach
the sunlight. The plants in this area seldom
grow to 12 feet. Many animals live here
including jaguars, red-eyed tree frogs and
leopards. There is a large amount of insects
here.
Tropical Rainforests
have four layers:
FOREST FLOOR
It's very dark down here. Almost no
plants grow in this area, as a result. Since
hardly any sun reaches the forest floor
things begin to decay quickly. A leaf that
might take one year to decompose in a
regular climate will disappear in 6 weeks.
Giant anteaters live in this layer.
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Temperate Forests have
three layers:
Canopy
Layer
Understory
Layer
Forest Floor
Community Ecology
Characteristics
3. Community Stability (?)
Disturbance Ecology
Discrete events in time that disrupts ecosystem, community, or population
structure and changes resources, substrates, or the physical environment.
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Disturbance Ecology
Examples:
‹
‹
‹
‹
‹
Floods
Wildfires
Ice Flows
Hurricanes
Wind and ice storms
Periodic disturbances in
forests, shrublands,
grasslands, and wetlands are
part of ecological systems;
as natural of an
environmental factor as
snow, wind, or rain.
Pacific NW Forests
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Community Ecology
Characteristics
4. Trophic Structure
“Feeding Level”; the categories of organism in a
community, and the position of an organism in a
food web, defined by the organism’s sources of
energy; includes producers, primary consumers,
secondary consumers, etc.
Trophic Structures
Food Webs – Complex
Interactions
• A food web shows
the actual feeding
relationships in a
community,
including its many
interconnecting
food chains.
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Food Webs – Complex Interactions
Food Chains – “Linear”
Interactions
• A food chain is a “linear” feeding relationship
with just one representative at each trophic
level.
– Different ecosystems have radically different food
chains.
– Natural communities rarely contain well-defined
groups of primary, secondary, and tertiary
consumers.
Biological
Magnification
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Food Webs – Complex Interactions
Habitat Change is Constant
Habitat Ecology
Species and Habitat Interrelationships
Populations are a reflection
of both the quantity, quality
and location of habitats.
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Chapter Reading
Chapter #28:
“How Do Ecosystems Work? ”
Pg. 560 - 570.
Ecological Levels of Organization
- A Pyramid of Interactions Species
Populations
Communities
Ecosystems
Biogoegraphical Realms
Biosphere (Earth)
An “Ecological
System?”
In the discipline of ecology, the word
Sir Arthur Tansley (1871-1955)
Ecosystem is an abbreviation of the term,
ecological system – the basic unit in ecology. It first
appeared in a 1935 publication by the British ecologist Arthur
Tansley (Tansley, 1935). However, the term had been coined
already in 1930 by Tansley's colleague Roy Clapham, who was
asked if he could think of a suitable word to denote the physical
and biological components of an environment considered in
relation to each other as a unit.
Tansley, A., 1935, The use of vegetational concepts and terms. Ecology, v. 16, p. 284-307.
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Ecological Levels of Organization
Ecosystems
Ecosystem
An array of species,
populations, and communities,
AND their physical
environment, interacting
through a flow of energy and a
cycle of nutrients.
An “Ecological
System?”
Composition: What is here/there?
Structure:
How is the system built?
How is it distributed?
Function:
How does the system operate?
What it does.
An “Ecological
System?”
Components of an Ecosystem:
Sir Arthur Tansley (1871-1955)
Biotic Components
Abiotic (non-living) and
Physical Components
Species
Populations
Communities
Competition and Predation
Water
Nutrients
Topography
Weather
Disturbances
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Energy and the Laws of
Thermodynamics
Energy exists in many forms, such as heat, light, chemical
energy, and electrical energy. Energy is the ability to bring
about change or to do work. Thermodynamics is the study
of energy.
Kinetic
energy
Entropy
Entropy
Potential
energy
Energy and the Laws of
Thermodynamics
The 1st Law of Thermodynamics:
Energy can be changed from one form to
another, but it cannot be created or
destroyed. The total amount of energy and
matter in the Universe remains constant,
merely changing from one form to
Isaac Newton (1643-1727)
another.
Energy and the Laws of
Thermodynamics
The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics:
"in all energy exchanges, if no energy enters or
leaves the system, the potential energy of the state
will always be less than that of the initial state."
In energy transfer, some energy will
dissipate as heat. The flow of energy
maintains order and life.
Isaac Newton (1643-1727)
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Limits - Laws of Thermodynamics
The 10% Rule
Consumers
Consumers
Producers
Greater than
90% of
the available
energy is
lost in the form
of heat energy
at each level
Limits: Thermodynamics and
Pyramids of Biomass and Numbers
Consumers
Producers
Decomposers
Energy
flows
through
ecosystems
Nutrients
cycle
through
ecosystems
Global Primary Productivity
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Nutrient Cycles
• Nutrients are elements and small molecules
that form the chemical building blocks of life.
• Macronutrients are required by organisms in
large quantities.
– Examples: water, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen
• Micronutrients are required only in trace
quantities.
– Examples: zinc, molybdenum, iron, selenium
Nutrient Cycles
• Nutrient cycles (or biogeochemical
cycles) describe nutrient pathways between
communities and abiotic components of
ecosystems.
– Nutrient Reservoirs are sources and storage sites.
– Major reservoirs are usually in the abiotic
environment.
Nutrient Cycles
The Carbon Cycle
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Nutrient Cycles
The Water Cycle
Nutrient Cycles
The Nitrogen Cycle
World Climate: Seasons
Earth’s Curvature
Cause of Seasons
Amount of sunlight per area
decreases as you move away
from the equator.
Orbit of the earth around the
sun and the tilt of the earth
give rise to seasons
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World Climate: Currents
•Warm air rises at the
equator.
•Cool air descends.
•Moves water around
the Earth.
•Rotation of earth
changes wind patterns.
.
World Climate: Oceans
•Water
moves heat
•Moderates
climate
Examples:
The well-known Gulf Stream in the Atlantic and its counterpart in the Pacific,
the Kuroshio Current, are strong currents that carry heat northward from the tropics.
•California current along Oregon Coast (cool water)
World Climate Patterns
Sunlight, Temperature, Moisture, and Geology
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Effect of Mountains on
Temperature, Moisture, and Vegetation
The Rainshadow Effect
Effect of Altitude on Vegetation
Kamloops, British Columbia
Effect of Rainfall &
Temperature on Vegetation
Ecological Levels of Organization
- Biomes Biome
Large regions of
land and water that
are characterized by
similar habitat
conditions and
community structure.
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World Biomes
World Biomes
Tundra
A Finnish word for “treeless plain”
1/5 of the Earth’s land surface
- Average temperature below freezing.
- Poor drainage
- Short growing seasons
- Low precipitation (<25cm/yr)
- Permafrost (~1.5 ft below surface)
World Biomes
Tundra
Two types of Tundra:
A) Arctic Tundra
-
Short growing seasons
Low productivity
Extensive peat bogs
B) Mountain Tundra
-
“Islands” of mountaintop habitat
Shorter daylengths
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World Biomes
Boreal Forest (Taiga)
- Conifers (cone-bearing) trees
- The Northern Coniferous Forest
- Taigas (“swamp forests”)
- A Russian word meaning “mountain”
- Glaciated areas
- Cold, dry winters
- Scattered trees
- Short growing season
World Biomes
Temperate Rain Forest
- High Species Diversity in temperate climate
- > 125 inches/yr rainfall
- Long-term intervals between disturbances
World Biomes
Temperate Deciduous Forest
- Broadleaf trees (Ash,
Beech, Maples, Oaks,
Birch, Chestnut, Elm)
- More diverse than Coniferous Forests.
- Freezing temperatures during winter.
- Leaf loss due to freezing damage.
- In SW U. S. associated with riparian
areas.
- Lost as farmers cleared land for agricultural production.
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World Biomes
Temperate Grasslands
- Low Rainfall
- Short and Long grass prairie
- Deep, fertile soils
- Maintained by the “RainShadow”
World Biomes
Temperate Grasslands
Historically covered 43%
of U. S. land area.
- Fire and herbivores are
important components in
maintaining structure and
function of the grassland
system (a disturbance).
World Biomes
Chaparral
- Found on west coast of continents (Mediterranean Climate)
- Hot summers, cool wet winters
- Usually above freezing temperatures
- Shrubs are most prevalent species
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World Biomes
Deserts
< 10 cm/year
- Rainfall is brief but heavy
- Relatively low productivity
- Vast extremes in air temperatures
World Biomes
Deserts
1/3 of the
world’s land
surface is arid
or semiarid
Cold, high mountain deserts
Hot
deserts
World Biomes
Tropical Rain Forests
Highest Species
Diversity
Most productive biomes
Annual mean temperature 25 C,
humidity > 80%
Litter does not accumulate, rapid decomposition
of organic matter; soils are weathered and nutrient-poor
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World Biomes
Oceans, Estuaries, and Wetlands
Biologically diverse systems
World Biomes
Coral Reefs
Some of the most biologically diverse systems
on Earth, aquatically (in water)
or terrestrially (on land).
Biogeographical Realms
Realms:
Six immense land areas
and 1 aquatic area, each
with distinctive species
of plants and animals.
W. L. Sclater – 1858 (Bird distributions)
A. R. Wallace – 1876 (Mammal distributions)
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Atmospheric Change
“The Keeling Curve”
Biology 370: Environmental Science
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