Chapter 6: Kinds of Ecosystems and Communities
Questions
1. Describe the process of succession. How does primary succession differ from secondary succession?
2. How does a climax community differ from a successional community?
3. List three characteristics typical of each of the following biomes: tropical rainforest, dessert, tundra, taiga, savanna, Mediterranean shrub lands, tropical dry forest, grassland, and temperate deciduous forest.
4. What two primary factors determine the kind of terrestrial biome that will develop in an area?
5. How does height above sea level affect the kind of biome present?
6. What areas of the ocean are the most productive?
7. How does the nature of the substrate affect the kind of the organisms found at the shore?
8. What is the role of each of the following organism in a marine ecosystem: phytoplankton, zooplankton, algae, coral animals, and fish?
9. List three differences between freshwater and marine ecosystems.
10. What is an estuary? Why are estuaries important?
Answer
1. Describe the process of succession. How does primary succession differ from secondary succession?
• Ecosystems are dynamic, changing units. Decomposers recycle the chemical elements that make up the biotic portion of any ecosystem. Abiotic factors also have a major influence on the kind of community that will be established. Since all organisms are linked together in a community, any change in a community affects many organisms within it. Certain conditions within a community are keys to the kinds of organisms that are found associated with one another. Each organism has specific requirements that must be met in the community or it will not survive. Over long time periods, it is possible to see trends in the way the structure of a community changes and to recognize that climate greatly influences the kind of community that become established in an area. This series of changes result in a relatively long-lasting, stable combination of species that is self-perpetuating. The concept that communities proceed through a series of recognizable, predictable changes in structure over time is called succession.
• Primary succession differ from the secondary succession is that
- Primary succession is a succession progression that begins with a total lack of organism and bare mineral surfaces or water. It’s often takes long time, since there is no soil and few rapidly available nutrients for plants to use for growth.
- Secondary succession is much more commonly observed and generally proceeds more rapidly, because it begins with the destruction or disturbance of an existing ecosystem.
2. How does a climax community differ from a successional community?
• The relatively stable, long-lasting community that is result in the succession is called the climax community. The relatively stages is reached calls the climax community. The stages that lead to the climax are called successional stages.
3. List three characteristics typical of each of the following biomes: tropical rainforest, dessert, tundra, taiga, savanna, Mediterranean shrub lands, tropical dry forest, grassland, and temperate deciduous forest.
• Tropical rainforest:
- Temperature is usually warm and relatively constant
- No frost and it rains nearly everyday
- Plants grow rapidly, and many of the trees have extensive root networks.
• Dessert:
- Lack of water
- High evaporation rate
- Windy
• Tundra:
- Lack of trees
- has permanently frozen surface soil
- The plants there are short, less than 20 centimeters.
• Taiga:
- Short cool summer and long winter with abundant snowfall
- The trees are having needle-shape leaves
- Few animals
• Savanna:
- Prolonged drought
- The predominant plants are grasses
- The animal that live there are grazers
• Mediterranean Shrubland:
- Wet, cool winters and hot, dry summer
- Near the ocean
- The vegetation is dominated by woody shrubs
• Tropical dry forest:
- Monsoon climate
- Plants can enduring the drought
- The trees drop their leaves during the dry period
• Grassland
- Windy with hot summer and cold-to-mild winter
- Grass make 60 to 90 percent of vegetation
- Many grazer animals
• Temperate deciduous forest
- Winter-summer change of seasons
- Have trees that lose their leaves during the winter and replace the following spring
- Home to great variety of insects
4. What two primary factors determine the kind of terrestrial biome that will develop in an area?
• The two primary factors that determine the kind of terrestrial biomes that will develop in an area are temperature and precipitation.
5. How does height above sea level affect the kind of biome present?
• Biomes are terrestrial climax communities with wide geographic distribution. The distribution of terrestrial ecosystem is primarily related to precipitation and temperature. The temperature is warmest near the equator, and become colder toward the poles. Similarly, as the height above sea level increases, the average temperature decreases. This means that even at the equator, it is possible to have cold temperatures on the peak of tall mountains.
6. What areas of the ocean are the most productive?
• The area of the oceans that are most productive is the upper layer of the ocean known as euphotic zone.
7. How does the nature of the substrate affect the kind of the organisms found at the shore?
• The kind of the substrate determines the kinds of organisms that live near the shore. For example, rocks provide area for the attachment, that sand do not, since sand is constantly moving. Mud usually has little oxygen for the construction of new living organisms. In water, these are often in short supply.
8. What is the role of each of the following organism in a marine ecosystem: phytoplankton, zooplankton, algae, coral animals, and fish?
• Phytoplankton: is the planktonic organism that carries on photosynthesis.
• Zooplankton: It feeds on the large population of phytoplankton.
• Algae: provide both themselves and the coral animals with the nutrient for growth
• Coral animals: eat zooplanktons and algae as primary food source
• Fish eat the zooplankton and it is eaten by large fish such as shark, salmon, or tuna.
9. List three differences between freshwater and marine ecosystems.
• The nature of the bottom substrate
• The water temperature
• The amount of dissolved salt
10. What is an estuary? Why are estuaries important?
• An estuary is a special category of aquatic ecosystem that consists of shallow, partially enclosed areas where freshwater enters the ocean. Because the estuary is shallow that allows the sunlight to penetrate to most of the water in the basin. And the photosynthesis activity support many kinds of organisms in the estuary. Also, estuary is a nursery sites for fish and crustaceans such as flounder and shrimp. The adult enter these productive sheltered areas to reproduce and then return to the ocean.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment