Unit 2: Developing Ecosystems Review

1.h. What factors threaten barrier islands? How can these islands be protected better? Barrier islands are long, narrow, offshore deposits of sand or sediments are parallel the coast. They serve two purposes: protect the coastlines (especially coastal wetlands and estuaries) from severe storm damage and harbor several habitats that are refuge for wildlife.

1.h. What factors threaten barrier islands? How can these islands be protected better? The main factor threatening barrier islands is human development on low-lying barriers such as Atlantic City and Miami Beach. These islands can be protected by building behind the second set of dunes and making people who choose to live there to accept the financial risks associated with living in this area.

2.h. What needs to be done to convert from a high-throughput economy to a low- throughput economy? High-Throughput EconomyLow-Throughput Economy DefinitionThe increase of one-way flow of matter and energy resources through economic systems to keep up with the high economic growth. Integrating the concept of recycling and reusing as much matter as possible by also reducing the throughput of matter and energy through an economy. WasteHigh WasteLow Waste

Inputs (from environment) High-quality energy Matter System Throughputs Output (intro environment) Unsustainable high-waste economy Low-quality energy (heat) Waste matter and pollution High-Throughput Economy

Energy Matter Energy Feedback Low-Throughput Economy Energy conservation Waste and pollution prevention Sustainable low-waste economy Matter Feedback Recycle and reuse Pollution control Waste and pollution Low-quality energy (heat)

2.h. What needs to be done to convert from a high-throughput economy to a low-throughput economy? There are six ways to convert to a low-throughput economy: 1. reuse and recycle most nonrenewable matter resources. 2. Use renewable resources no faster than they are replenished 3. Use matter and energy resources efficiently. 4. Reduce unnecessary consumption. 5. Emphasize pollution prevention and waste reduction. 6. Control population growth.

6.a. Which biomes have the most energy available? Why? GPP: Rate at which an ecosystem’s producers convert solar energy into chemical energy as biomass. NPP: Rate at which producers use photosynthesis to store energy minus the rate at which they use some of this stored energy through aerobic respiration.

8.c. Explain how a mass extinction can lead to an adaptive radiation. Mass extinction: significant rise in extinction rates above the background level. They tend to be a catastrophic, widespread event in which 25-70% of the species are wiped out. Adaptive radiation: rapid speciation of one or a few species to fill many ecological niches. Adaptive radiation can occur after a mass extinction or mass depletion because there are many new or vacant ecological niches in the changed environment.

11.b. What factors affect species diversity? Species diversity: combination of the community’s number of different species (species richness) and the abundance of individuals within each species (species evenness). Factors that affect diversity include: – Latitude: as you increase in latitude, diversity decreases. – Pollution: as you increase in pollution, diversity decreases. – Other factors include habitat diversity, NPP, habitat disturbance and time.

13. Explain succession of organisms. Succession: gradual change in species composition in a given area. - Primary Succession: gradual establishment of biotic communities on nearly lifeless ground. ex. bare rock, severe erosion, newly cooled lava, newly created shallow ponds. - Second Succession: communities are established in an area where some type of biotic community is present already. ex. abandoned farmlands, burned or cut forests, heavily polluted streams or flooded/dammed lands Succession is a change in the community NOT just a particular species.