Unit 1
Community: all living organisms
Ecosystem: all living and non-living organisms
Competition: organisms fighting over a resource
Resource partitioning: organisms use the same resource in different ways to reduce
competition.
- Temporal partitioning: using resources at different time of day
- Spatial partitioning: using different areas of a same habitat
- Morphological partitioning: using different resources based on diff evolved body
features.
Predation: one organism using another organism as an energy source
- True predator: kill and eat prey for energy.
- Herbivore: eats plants for energy.
- Parasites: uses a host organism for energy (often lives inside without killing the
organism).
- Parasitoids: lay eggs inside the host organism.
Mutualism: relationship that benefits both organisms
Commensialism: relationship in which one organism benefits and the other organism is
unaffected
- Free rider. Eg. Bird nests in trees.
Symbiosis: any close or long-term interaction between two organisms of different species.
- Mutualism, commensialism, parasitism.
1.2
★ Biomes are defined by annual av precipitation and temperature.
★ Animals are uniquely adapted to each biome.
Tundra and boreal biomes: high latitude. Cold. Frozen soil. Low water availability.
Temperate biomes: mid latitude. Warm, cool. Nutrient-rich.
Tropical biomes: closer to the equator. Hot, humid. Nutrient-poor.
Climate change results in the shifting of biomes.
1.3
Characteristics of bodies of water:
● Salinity: level of salt in water
, ● Depth.
● Flow. Carries sediment (nutrients) which are transported from one area to another. Plants
need to survive.
● Temp.
Estuary: partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams
flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea.
- Brackish (partially fresh & partially salt) water. Unique salinity level. Sediments. Huge
amounts of nutrients for plant biodiversity.
- Mouth of the river empties out into the ocean.
1.4
Law of conservation of energy: energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only change
forms.
Reservoirs: things that temporarily store matter. Temporarily stores carbon.
Sources: processes that move matter between reservoirs. Releases carbon.
Sinks: reservoirs that store more matter than they give off. Stores carbon.
Carbon cycle:
★ Carbon sources release carbon into the atmosphere. Carbon sinks remove carbon from the
atmosphere.
★ The time spent in each carbon reservoir varies.
Photosynthesis: removes carbon from the atmosphere and stores it in plants.
Respiration: releases carbon into the atmosphere as organisms break down glucose for energy.
★ Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases global temperatures. Global warming.
Extraction: carbon is removed from the ground.
Combustion: process of burning fossil fuels (releases carbon)
1.5
Nitrogen cycle:
★ Nitrogen cycles quickly through its reservoirs.
★ The majority of nitrogen is stored in the atmosphere (the atmosphere is nitrogen’s major
reservoir). It is unavailable for organisms to use. Atmospheric nitrogen cannot be broken
down because the triple bonds are too strong.
, ★ Nitrogen must be transformed through a process called nitrogen fixation in order for
organisms to use.
Nitrogen fixation: converts biologically unavailable nitrogen gas into biologically available
forms such as nitrate or ammonia.
Nitrification: ammonia converted to nitrate. Useful forms of nitrogen for plants.
Assimilation: plants/animals taking in nitrogen for biological use.
- Organisms cannot assimilate with atmospheric nitrogen gas. It must be in a solid form.
Ammonification: converts dead organisms/waste to ammonia/ammonium ions
Denitrification: converts ammonia into nitrogen gas, etc to continue the cycle.
1.6
Phosphorus cycle:
★ No gas phase. Does not enter the atmosphere. Slower than other cycles.
★ Found in rocks and sediments. Has to undergo weathering (breaking/wearing down of
rocks by natural process). Releases phosphate ions.
★ Transported from one area to another. Erosion.
★ Very slow process. Plants do not receive enough phosphate.
1.7
Water cycle:
● Condensation: conversion of a vapor/gas to a liquid.
● Evaporation: turning liquid into vapor
● Evapotranspiration: process by which water is transferred from the land to the
atmosphere by evaporation from the soil/other surfaces OR by transpiration from plants
(water evaporating from plants)
Community: all living organisms
Ecosystem: all living and non-living organisms
Competition: organisms fighting over a resource
Resource partitioning: organisms use the same resource in different ways to reduce
competition.
- Temporal partitioning: using resources at different time of day
- Spatial partitioning: using different areas of a same habitat
- Morphological partitioning: using different resources based on diff evolved body
features.
Predation: one organism using another organism as an energy source
- True predator: kill and eat prey for energy.
- Herbivore: eats plants for energy.
- Parasites: uses a host organism for energy (often lives inside without killing the
organism).
- Parasitoids: lay eggs inside the host organism.
Mutualism: relationship that benefits both organisms
Commensialism: relationship in which one organism benefits and the other organism is
unaffected
- Free rider. Eg. Bird nests in trees.
Symbiosis: any close or long-term interaction between two organisms of different species.
- Mutualism, commensialism, parasitism.
1.2
★ Biomes are defined by annual av precipitation and temperature.
★ Animals are uniquely adapted to each biome.
Tundra and boreal biomes: high latitude. Cold. Frozen soil. Low water availability.
Temperate biomes: mid latitude. Warm, cool. Nutrient-rich.
Tropical biomes: closer to the equator. Hot, humid. Nutrient-poor.
Climate change results in the shifting of biomes.
1.3
Characteristics of bodies of water:
● Salinity: level of salt in water
, ● Depth.
● Flow. Carries sediment (nutrients) which are transported from one area to another. Plants
need to survive.
● Temp.
Estuary: partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams
flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea.
- Brackish (partially fresh & partially salt) water. Unique salinity level. Sediments. Huge
amounts of nutrients for plant biodiversity.
- Mouth of the river empties out into the ocean.
1.4
Law of conservation of energy: energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only change
forms.
Reservoirs: things that temporarily store matter. Temporarily stores carbon.
Sources: processes that move matter between reservoirs. Releases carbon.
Sinks: reservoirs that store more matter than they give off. Stores carbon.
Carbon cycle:
★ Carbon sources release carbon into the atmosphere. Carbon sinks remove carbon from the
atmosphere.
★ The time spent in each carbon reservoir varies.
Photosynthesis: removes carbon from the atmosphere and stores it in plants.
Respiration: releases carbon into the atmosphere as organisms break down glucose for energy.
★ Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases global temperatures. Global warming.
Extraction: carbon is removed from the ground.
Combustion: process of burning fossil fuels (releases carbon)
1.5
Nitrogen cycle:
★ Nitrogen cycles quickly through its reservoirs.
★ The majority of nitrogen is stored in the atmosphere (the atmosphere is nitrogen’s major
reservoir). It is unavailable for organisms to use. Atmospheric nitrogen cannot be broken
down because the triple bonds are too strong.
, ★ Nitrogen must be transformed through a process called nitrogen fixation in order for
organisms to use.
Nitrogen fixation: converts biologically unavailable nitrogen gas into biologically available
forms such as nitrate or ammonia.
Nitrification: ammonia converted to nitrate. Useful forms of nitrogen for plants.
Assimilation: plants/animals taking in nitrogen for biological use.
- Organisms cannot assimilate with atmospheric nitrogen gas. It must be in a solid form.
Ammonification: converts dead organisms/waste to ammonia/ammonium ions
Denitrification: converts ammonia into nitrogen gas, etc to continue the cycle.
1.6
Phosphorus cycle:
★ No gas phase. Does not enter the atmosphere. Slower than other cycles.
★ Found in rocks and sediments. Has to undergo weathering (breaking/wearing down of
rocks by natural process). Releases phosphate ions.
★ Transported from one area to another. Erosion.
★ Very slow process. Plants do not receive enough phosphate.
1.7
Water cycle:
● Condensation: conversion of a vapor/gas to a liquid.
● Evaporation: turning liquid into vapor
● Evapotranspiration: process by which water is transferred from the land to the
atmosphere by evaporation from the soil/other surfaces OR by transpiration from plants
(water evaporating from plants)
