Ecosystems, Biomes, and Climate
JEOPARDY!! 
Species’
Interactions and
Response to
Disturbances
(Communities)
Populations’
Dynamics and
Growth
Weather and
Climate
Climate and
Biomes
Potpourri
10
20
30
40
50
10
20
30
40
50
10
20
30
40
50
10
20
30
40
50
10
20
30
40
50
10 Species Interactions and
Response to Disturbances
Define and give two examples of
resource partitioning and explain
how it can increase species
diversity.
10
Species Interactions and
Response to Disturbances
*Resource partitioning occurs when species competing
for similar scarce resources evolve specialized traits that
allow them to use shared resources at different times, in
different ways, or in different places.
*Some insect-eating bird species reduce competition by
feeding in different portions of certain spruce trees and by
feeding on different insect species.
*Resource partitioning allows species to avoid niche
overlap.
20 Species Interactions and
Response to Disturbances
Describe three ways in which
predators can increase their chances
of feeding on their prey and three
ways in which prey species can
avoid their predators.
20
Species Interactions and Response to
Disturbances
*Some ways that predators can increase their chances of
feeding on their prey include camouflage, chemical warfare,
ability to fly faster than the prey, and better vision.
*Some ways in which prey species can avoid their predators
include camouflage, protective shells, chemical warfare and a
highly developed sense of sight or smell that alerts them to
the presence of predators.
30 Species Interactions
and Response to
Disturbances
Define and give an example of
coevolution.
.
30 Ch 8 Aquatic
Biodiversity
**Coevolution occurs when populations of two different
species interact in such a way over a long period of time;
changes in the gene pool of one species can lead to changes in
the gene pool of the other. Such changes can help both sides
become more competitive, or avoid or reduce competition.
*An example is bees and flowers or bats and moths.
30 Community 1
40 Species Interactions
and Response to
Disturbances
Define parasitism, mutualism, and
commensalism and give an example
of each.
40 Species Interactions and
Response to Disturbances
*Parasitism occurs when one organism (the parasite) feeds on
another organism (the host), usually by living on or in the host. An
example is tick to human.
*Mutualism is an interaction that benefits both species by
providing each with food, shelter, or some other resource. An
example is bee to flower.
*Commensalism is an interaction that benefits one species but has
little, if any, effect on the other. An example is epiphyte to tree.
50 Species Interactions
and Response to
Disturbances
Distinguish between primary
ecological succession and secondary
ecological succession and give an
example of each.
50
Species Interactions and
Response to Disturbances
*Primary succession involves the gradual establishment of biotic communities in
lifeless areas where there is no soil in a terrestrial ecosystem or no bottom
sediment in an aquatic ecosystem.
Examples include bare rock exposed by a retreating glacier (Figure 5-10), newly
cooled lava, an abandoned highway or parking lot, and a newly created shallow
pond or reservoir.
*Secondary succession occurs as a series of communities or ecosystems with
different species develop in places containing soil or bottom sediment. This type
of succession begins in an area where an ecosystem has been disturbed, removed,
or destroyed, but some soil or bottom sediment remains. Candidates for
secondary succession include abandoned farmland, burned or cut forests, heavily
polluted streams, and land that has been flooded.
10
Populations’
Dynamics and
Growth
Why do most populations live in
clumps?
10
Populations’ Dynamics and Growth
Most populations live in clumps because they cluster
around resources, they have a better chance of getting
resources in a clump, living in groups provides some
protection from predators, and living in packs gives
some predators a better chance of catching prey.
20
Populations’ Dynamics and
Growth
What is a population’s age structure
and what are three major age groups
called?
20
Populations’ Dynamics
and Growth
*Age structure refers to the number or
percentage of males and females in
young, middle, and older age groups. A
diagram of the age structure of the human
population might show the percentages of
males and females in the total population
in age categories: pre-reproductive (ages
0–14); reproductive (ages 15–44); and
post-reproductive (age 45 and older).
30
Populations’ Dynamics
and Growth
Distinguish between the
environmental resistance and the
carrying capacity of an environment,
and use these concepts to explain
why there are always limits to
population growth in nature.
30
Populations’ Dynamics
and Growth
*Environmental resistance is the combination of all
factors that act to limit the growth of a population. It
largely determines a population’s carrying capacity:
the maximum population of a given species that a
particular habitat can sustain indefinitely.
*The growth rate of a population decreases as its size
nears the carrying capacity of its environment because
resources such as food, water, and space begin to
dwindle.
.
40
Populations’ Dynamics and
Growth
Define population density and
explain how some limiting factors
can become more important as a
population’s density increases.
40
Populations’
Dynamics and
Growth
*Population density is the number of
individuals in a population found within a
defined area or volume.
*Limiting factors become more important
as population density increases because
things like diseases can spread quickly
through dense populations.
50
Populations’ Dynamics
and Growth
Define and give an example of a
population crash. Explain why
humans are not exempt from
nature’s population controls.
.
50
Populations’ Dynamics and
Growth
**A population may suffer a dieback, or population crash, if it uses up
its resource supplies and temporarily overshoots, or exceeds, the
carrying capacity of the environment. The reindeer population crashed
when they were introduced onto a small island in the Bering Sea.
**Humans are not exempt from population crashes when they have
used up their resources, as seen with the Irish potato famine. Speaking
on a global scale, there is no place for us to come from (immigration) or
go to (emigration). That means population change is limited to births
minus deaths. To put it in the crudest of terms, we must either reduce
the number of births or increase the number of deaths in order to
stabilize or reduce our population. If we choose not to undertake that
change, nature will do so as we exceed our carrying capacity.
10
Weather and Climate
Distinguish between
weather and climate.
10
Weather and
Climate
**Weather is a set of physical conditions of the lower atmosphere such as
temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind speed, cloud cover, and other factors
in a given area over a period of hours or days.
**Climate is an area’s general pattern of atmospheric conditions over periods
ranging from at least three decades to thousands of years.
20
Weather and
Climate
Why are oceans responsible for the
earth’s temperature and climate?
20
Weather and
Climate
Land quickly absorbs and reflects solar energy back
to space, whereas bodies of water hold on to solar
energy and release it back slowly to space. This helps to keep
warmth on our planet, which is distributed by ocean currents.
30
Weather and
Climate
Explain how convection circulates
warm air and cold air in the
atmosphere.
30
Weather and
Climate
Air at the equator is warmer and less
dense, so it rises in the atmosphere
north and south away from the
equator. As it rises, it starts to cool,
become more dense, and sinks back
to the equator.
.
40
Weather and Climate
Explain how convection
circulates deep currents and
surface currents.
40
Weather and
Climate
Cold, deep currents along the ocean
floor are eventually drawn up to
become warm surface currents
carried by the wind. When cold
currents reach the surface, it is
warmed by the sun and becomes a
warm surface current.
50
Weather and
Climate
What do the circuit
movement of rising
warm and sinking cold
air form in the
atmosphere? How
many are there?
50
Weather and
Climate
convection cells--- there are 6
giant convection cells
10
Climate and Biomes
What is the rain shadow
effect and how can it lead to
the formation of deserts?
10
Climate and Biomes
**rain shadow effect is a reduction of
rainfall and loss of moisture from the
landscape on the side of mountains facing
away from prevailing surface winds. Warm,
moist air in onshore winds loses most of its
moisture as rain and snow on the windward
slopes of a mountain range. This leads to
semi-arid and arid conditions on the leeward
side of the mountain range and the land
beyond.
20
Climate and
Biomes
Explain why there
are three major
types of each of the
major biomes
(deserts, grasslands,
and forests).
20
Climate and Biomes
The three major biomes are determined by the
amount of precipitation.
Differences in climate, mostly from average annual
precipitation and temperature, lead to the formation
of tropical (hot), temperate (moderate), and polar
(cold) deserts, grasslands, and forests.
30
Climate and Biomes
What type of information
does weather give you? List
all four.
30
Precipitation
Temperature
Humidity
Wind
Climate and Biomes
40
Climate and Biomes
What four things determine a
place’s climate?
40
Wind
Ocean currents
Mountains
Latitude
.
Climate and Biomes
50
Climate and Biomes
What are the three major
climate zones?
50
Polar
Temperate
Tropical
Climate and Biomes
10 Genetics 2
My name is Bond, Ionic Bond;
Taken, not shared!
10 Population Growth
From: Mariano Cecowski
<MCecowski#NoSpam.sif.com.ar>
Q: if both a bear in Yosemite and one in
Alaska fall into the water
which one disolves faster?
A: The one in Alaska because it is
HIJKLMNO
10 Population Growth
Alimentary: What Sherlock Holmes said to Dr. Watson.
Urinate: What a nurse would say if a patient asked her what room
he's in.
Urine - The opposite of "You're out!"
Benign: What we want when we are eight.
Intestine - Currently taking an exam
CARDIOLOGY: advanced study of poker playing
TERMINAL ILLNESS: getting sick at the airport
10
Potpourri
List the defining features of
the atmospheric layers.
10
**temperatures
**air pressure
**solar energy
**gases in layer
Potpourri
10
Genetics 2
20
What is air pressure?
Potpourri
20
Potpourri
The effect of all the gas
molecules being pulled toward
the earth via gravity, causing
molecules to push down on the
planet.
30
Potpourri
What is the Gulf Stream?
30
Potpourri
*Warm water current
in the Atlantic Ocean
30
Genetics 2
40
Potpourri
Describe the exploding
white-tailed deer
population problem in
the United States and
discuss options for
dealing with it.
40
Potpourri
There are 25– 30 million white- tailed deer in the United States. Laws to protect deer have
restricted hunting and natural predators such as wolves and mountain lions have been nearly
eliminated. During the last 50 years, large numbers of Americans have moved into the wooded
habitat of deer and provided them with flowers, garden crops, and other plants they like to eat.
In some forests, they are consuming native ground cover vegetation and allowing nonnative
weed species to take over. Deer also spread Lyme disease to humans. Each year there are 1.5
million deer– vehicle collisions which injure at least 14,000 people and kill at least 200.
Options for dealing with the deer overpopulation include the following:
Changing hunting regulations to allow killing of more female deer. Since it is too
dangerous to allow widespread hunting with guns in populated communities, hire
licensed archers who use bows and arrows to help reduce deer numbers. However,
animal activists argue that this is cruel and inhumane treatment.
Scare off deer by spraying the scent of deer predators or rotting deer meat or using
electronic equipment that emits high-frequency sounds, which humans cannot hear.
Surround their gardens with high fencing. Such deterrents may protect one area, but cause
the deer to seek food in someone else’s yard or garden.
Deer can be trapped and moved from one area to another. This is expensive and must be
repeated whenever deer move back into an area.
Put deer on birth control by shooting females with darts loaded with a contraceptive.
50
Potpourri
In terms of stability of ecosystems,
distinguish between inertia
(persistence) and resilience and
give an example of each.
50
Potpourri
There are two aspects of stability in living systems:
*One is inertia, or persistence: the ability of a living
system, such as a grassland or a forest, to survive
moderate disturbances, such as mild drought.
*A second factor is resilience: the ability of a living
system to be restored through secondary succession
after a moderate disturbance, such as a wildfire.