AP Environmental Science

Unit 4 Study Guide

Ecosystems

I. Biological Populations and Communities

- Organism Species Populations Communities Ecosystem Biosphere
- An ecosystem is a system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with
their physical environment.

- Ecosystem characteristics:
Abiotic factors: water, soil, air, sunlight, wind, etc.
Biotic factors: plants, animals, bacteria, fungi, algae, etc.
Interspecific: between different species
Intraspecific: within the same species

- Population Distribution:
Clumped: some areas are dense with organisms but sparse in other areas
Random: little interaction between members of the population leading to random
spacing patterns
Uniform: fairly uniform spacing between individuals

- Ecological Niches:
Niche: the function of an organism in an ecosystem
Generalist species:
- Broad niches
- Able to withstand a wide range of environmental conditions
- Cockroaches, mice, and humans

Specialist Species:
- Narrow niches
- Sensitive to extinction
- Giant panda only eats a certain type of bamboo
- When environmental conditions are stable, they have an advantage since
there are few competitors as each species occupies its own unique niche
(Competitive Exclusion Principle)

- Symbiotic Relationships: interaction between species that can be beneficial, harmful, or

neither. These relationships are necessary to many organisms and ecosystems.

Amensalism: one suffers while the other is unaffected

- Usually occurs when one organism releases chemicals that is detrimental
to another (example: penicillin and mold)
Commensalism: one is benefited and the other is unaffected
 AP Environmental Science
Unit 4 Study Guide

Ecosystems

Competition: can be inter or intraspecific; fight for resources

Mutualism: both parties benefit
Parasitism: one is benefited at the expense of another
Predation: killing another organism
- Parasites need their hosts alive to survive but predators kill
Saprotrophism: obtain their nutrients from the dead or decaying plants

- Keystone Species: a species whose very presence contributes to a diversity of life and
whose extinction would lead to the extinction of other forms of life
Grizzly bears
Sea Stars
Sea otters in kelp forests

- Edge Effect: refers to how the local environment changes along some type of boundary or
edge

II. Biomes :
- Artic: areas surrounding the poles. Rainfall < 5cm per year

- Benthos: bottom of oceans; no sunlight so no plant life. Primary input of energy comes
from dead organic matter settling and chemosynthesis

- Coastal zones: includes estuaries, wetlands, and coal reeds; high diversity due to runoff
from land

- Deserts: rainfall less than 50 cm per year. Soil is nutrient but lack organic matter

- Grasslands: found in areas too dry for forests and too wet for deserts; moderate
temperature; rainfall is seasonal

- Hydrothermal vents: occur in the deep ocean where hot-water vents rich in sulfur
compounds are found and provide energy for chemosynthetic bacteria

- Intertidal zones: in between tides; high in diversity

- Savanna: a grassy plain in tropical and subtropical regions, with few trees

- Temperate deciduous forest: trees lose their leaves each year; definitive seasons

- Temperate rainforest: mild climate; lots of rainfall; distinguished from tropical forests
by the presence of a dominant tree
 AP Environmental Science
Unit 4 Study Guide

Ecosystems

- Tropical rainforest: hot, moist biome that receives 60-160 inches of precipitation; year
round stable weather

- Tundra: a treeless area where the subsoil is permanently frozen

III. Energy Flow:

- Sunlight is the ultimate source of energy
- Food chain: pathway of energy from one organism to another
- Food web: combination of multiple, overlapping food chains
- Only 10% of the energy is absorbed at the next trophic level

IV. Ecosystem Diversity:

- Biodiversity:
Genetic diversity: range of all genetic traits, both expresses and recessive that
makes up the gene pool for a particular species
Species diversity: number of species in that inhabit a specific area
Ecosystem diversity: range of habitats that can be found in a defined area
- Natural Selection: works on the individual level by determining which organisms have
adaptations that allow them to survive
The range of genetic variation in a gene pool determines whether the organism
has the ability to adapt, survive, and reproduce to pass on the fittest traits
New genes enter the gene pool through mutation and when combined with a
change in gene frequency, results in evolution.

Three ways natural selection operates:

- Stabilizing selection: affects the extremes of a population; things that
deviate too far from the average are removed
Decreases diversity
Maintenance of a stable gene pool
No evolution
- Directional selection: affects extremes of a population; favors one
extreme over the average and the other extreme
Evolution occurs
- Disruptive selection: acts against the average condition; favors both
extremes (bimodal)
Population eventually splits in two
Evolution occurs
V. Evolution:
- Convergent evolution: organisms not closely related to each other independently acquire
similar traits (analogous) in separate ecosystems
- Evolutionary relay: independent species acquire similar characteristics through their
evolution in similar ecosystems but at different periods of time
- Parallel evolution: two independent species evolve together at the same time and in the
same ecosystem
- Gradualism and Punctured Equilibrium ---- look it up its a big paragraph
 AP Environmental Science
Unit 4 Study Guide

Ecosystems

VI. Ecological Succession: gradual and orderly process of ecosystem development

- Types of Succession:
Allogenic: Changes in conditions creates new condition that benefit new plant
communities
Primary: colonization and establishment of pioneer species on bare ground
Progressive: communities become more complex over time by having a higher
species diversity and greater biomass
Secondary: begins in an area where natural communities have been disturbed by
topsoil remains (forest fire)