Ap Earth Environmental Chapter 4

CH 4 Ecosystems and how they work: Connections in Nature

Define/explain the following:

-Ecology - Is the study of how organisms interact with one another and with their nonliving environment.

-Organism - Any form of life

-Species - Groups of organisms tat resemble one another in appearance, behavior, chemistry, and genetic makeup.

-Population - A group of interacting individuals of the same species that occupy a specific area at the same time.

-Genetic Diversity - Individuals that vary slightly in their genetic material

-Habitat - Place where a population normally lives

-Community - Populations of the different species occupying a particular place

-Ecosystem - A community of different species interacting with one another and their nonliving environment of matter and energy

-Biosphere/Ecosphere - The portion of the earth in which living (biotic) organisms exist and interact with one another and with their nonliving (abiotic) environment

-What are the basic characteristics shared by living organisms?

-List and define the major parts of Earth’s Life-Support Systems. Be sure to include;atmosphere, troposphere, stratosphere,hydrosphere,lithosphere and Biosphere

Atmosphere: A thin envelope or membrane of air around the planet

Troposphere: Inner layer of atmosphere, above sea level but contains most of the planet’s air, mostly nitrogen and oxygen

Stratosphere: Next layer, contains enough ozone to filter out most of the sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation, allowing life to exist on land and in the surface layers of bodies of water

Hydrosphere: Consists of the earth’s liquid water (both surface and underground), ice (polar ice, icebergs, and ice in frozen soil layers, or permanent frost), and water vapor in the atmosphere

Lithosphere: The earth’s crust and upper mantle; the crust contain nonrenewable fossil fuels and minerals we use as well as renewable soil chemicals (nutrients) needed for plant life

Biosphere: The portion of the earth in which...