Midterm Review

Topics
Ch 4,5, and 6

Test Practice

Text

http://www.nexuslearning.net/books/Holt_Env_Science/

Video Support
Ecosysytems

Midterm Environmental2014 Study online at quizlet.com/_zl7vb

1.abiotic factors: Describes the nonliving part of the environment, including water, rocks, lights, and temperature.

2.adaptation: A trait that helps an organism survive and reproduce

3.altitude: generally a decrease in temperature with height above sea level

4.biomes: Areas with similar temperature, precipitation, altitude,soil, plants, and animals

5.biotic factors: All the living organisms that inhabit an environment.

6.carbon cycle: Circulation and reutilization of carbon includes photosynthesis and respiration.

7.cellular respiration: Process that releases energy by breaking down glucose and other food molecules in the presence of oxygen

8.consumers: An organism that obtains energy and nutrients by feeding on other organisms or their remains.

9.decomposers: Fungi and bacteria that break complex organic material into smaller molecules

10.dynamic equilibrium: A state of balance between continuing processes.

11.evolution: Change in a kind of organism over time; process by which modern organisms have descended from ancient organisms.

12.food chain: A diagram showing how energy passes from one organism to the next in an ecosystem

13.latitude: measuring north and south of the equator (0 degrees); primary element of climate

14.natural selection: A natural process resulting in the evolution of organisms best adapted to the environment.

15.nirtogen cycle: Essential to life because it is necessary for the manufacture of proteins and DNA. One of the most important and complex cycles

16.nitrogen cycle: A major nutrient cycle consisting of the routes that nitrogen atoms take through the nested networks of environmental systems.

17.photosynthesis: Carbon dioxide + water ----> glucose + oxygen

18.precipitation: A form of water (e.g., hail,rain,sleet,snow), that condenses in the atmosphere and fall to Earth's surface.

19.producers: A group of organisms that produce their own food through photosynthesis.

20.transpiration: Evaporation of water from the leaves of a plant

Diversity of life

Ecosystems 

Biomes


Natural selection is the process by which individuals that have favorable variations and are better adapted to their environment survive and reproduce more successfully than less well adapted individuals do.
Darwin proposed that over many generations, natural selection causes the characteristics of populations to change.
Evolution is a change in the characteristics of a population from one generation to the next.

Ch 4 ecosystem, 93 biotic factor, 94 abiotic factor, 94 organism, 95 species, 95 population, 95 community, 96 habitat, 96 natural selection, 97 evolution, 97 adaptation, 99 artificial selection, 100 resistance, 101 bacteria, 102 fungus, 103 protist, 104 gymnosperm, 105 angiosperm, 105 invertebrate, 106 vertebrate, 107	Main Ideas  Ecosystems are composed of many interconnected parts that often interact in complex ways.  An ecosystem is the community of all the different organisms living in an area and their physical environment.  An ecosystem contains biotic (living) and abiotic (nonliving) components.  Organisms live as populations of one species in communities with other species. Each species has its own habitat, or type of place that it lives. The naturalist Charles Darwin used the term natural selection to describe the unequal survival and reproduction that results from the presence or absence of particular traits.  Darwin proposed that natural selection is responsible for evolution—a change in the genetic characteristics of a population from one generation to the next.  By selecting which domesticated animals and plants breed, humans cause evolution by artificial selection.  We have unintentionally selected for pests that are resistant to pesticides and for bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. Organisms can be divided into six kingdoms, which are distinguished by the types of cells they possess and how they obtain their food.  Bacteria and fungi play the important environmental roles of breaking down dead organisms and recycling nutrients.  Gymnosperms are evergreen plants, many of which bear cones, while angiosperms produce flowers and bear seeds in fruit.  Insects, invertebrates that are the most successful animals on Earth, affect humans in both positive and negative ways.  Vertebrates, or animals with backbones, include fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.
Ch 5 photosynthesis, 117 producer, 118 consumer, 118 decomposer, 119 cellular respiration, 120 food chain, 122 food web, 122 trophic level, 122 carbon cycle, 124 nitrogen-fixing bacteria, 126 nitrogen cycle, 126 phosphorus cycle, 127 129 primary succession, 129 secondary succession, 129 pioneer species, 130 climax community, 130	Main Ideas  The majority of the Earth’s organisms depend on the sun for energy. Producers harness the sun’s energy directly through photosynthesis, while consumers use the sun’s energy indirectly by eating producers or other consumers.  The paths of energy transfer can be followed through food chains, food webs, and trophic levels.  Only about 10 percent of the energy that an organism consumes is stored and transferred when that organism is eaten. Materials in ecosystems are recycled and reused by natural processes.  Carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus are essential for life, and each of them follows a recognizable cycle.  Humans can affect the cycling of materials in an ecosystem through activities such as burning fossil fuels and applying fertilizer to soil. ecological succession, Organisms in an environment sometimes follow a pattern of change over time known as ecological succession.  Secondary succession occurs on a surface where an ecosystem has previously existed. Primary succession occurs on a surface where no ecosystem existed before.  Climax communities are made up of organisms that take over an ecosystem and remain until the ecosystem is disturbed again.
Ch 6 Key Terms biome, 143 climate, 144 latitude, 145 altitude, 145 Main Ideas emergent layer, 148 canopy, 148 epiphyte, 148 understory, 148 temperate rain forest, 151 temperate deciduous forest, 152 taiga, 153 tropical rain forest, 146 savanna, 155 temperate grassland, 156 chaparral, 158 desert, 160 tundra, 162 permafrost, 162	Scientists classify the ecosystems of the world into large areas called biomes.  Biomes are described by their plant life because the plants that grow in an area determine what other organisms live there.  Temperature, precipitation, latitude, and altitude are factors that affect climate, which determines the types of the plants that can grow in an area. The major forest biomes include tropical rain forests, temperate rain forests, temperate deciduous forests, and taiga.  Tropical rain forests receive heavy rains and high temperatures throughout the year. They receive about 200 to 450 cm of rainfall a year. They are the most diverse of all biomes.  Temperate deciduous forests experience seasonal variations in temperature and precipitation. They receive 75 to 125 cm of precipitation a year.  Forest biomes are threatened by deforestation through logging, ranching, and farming. Savannas are located north and south of tropical rain forests and have distinct wet seasons. Savannas receive 90 to 150 cm of precipitation a year.  Temperate grasslands get too little rainfall to support trees. Grasslands are dominated mostly by different types of grasses and flowering plants. Shortgrass prairies receive about 25 cm of precipitation a year.  Deserts are the driest biomes on Earth. Deserts receive less than 25 cm of precipitation a year.  Plants and animals found in each biome adapt to the environment in which they live.