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Ecology and Ecosystem - Short Trick

Scientists, pyramids, nutrient cycles, succession and biomes — one sentence each

4 trick sentences22 pairs5 parts
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How to read
  • Guru Ram Each coloured word = one name in the list, shown below in the same colour
  • Panda Two colours in one word = two names
  • ➜ Order the numbered order matters · ⇄ Any order no order
1

Terms and Laws — Who and When

Who gave ecology, ecosystem, niche, the pyramids, the 10% law and the stages of succession.

Pairs

Scientist — what he gave (in order of year)

6 sentences

Hackers hid in an eco lodge.

Haeckel (Ernst)=The term Ecology — 1866 · Oikos = house + Logos = study

Clever kids succeed step by step.

Clements (F.E.)=The stages of succession (five) — 1916

A grinning niece found her own corner.

Grinnell (Joseph)=The term niche — 1917 · niche = address + profession

Elephants built the pyramids.

Elton (Charles)=Ecological pyramids — 1927 · hence “Eltonian pyramids”

Tanya fixed the eco system.

Tansley (A.G.)=The term Ecosystem — 1935

The lift takes only ten people.

Lindeman (Raymond)=The 10% law — 1942 · only about 10% of energy passes to the next trophic level

Underlined word = the contribution: eco lodge → ecology · succeed → succession · niece → niche · eco system → ecosystem · ten → 10% law. The science got its name first (1866); its unit about 70 years later (1935).

2

Productivity and Pyramids

The order of productivity per unit area, and which pyramid is inverted where.

Trick 1

Primary productivity per unit area

➜ highest to lowest

Mangoes grow large in Ooty.

  1. 1Mangroves
  2. 2Grasslands
  3. 3Lakes
  4. 4Oceansvast but nutrient-poor

Odum’s classes — high (10–25 g/m²/day): estuaries, coral reefs, alluvial plains, intensive agriculture · low (below ≈ 0.5): deep oceans and deserts · NPP = GPP − respiration.

Pairs

Which pyramid is inverted where

3 sentences

A tree holds a number of birds.

Tree (single-tree ecosystem)=Pyramid of numbers inverted — one producer, many birds and insects on it

Pond fish weigh more than the algae.

Pond / sea=Pyramid of biomass inverted — phytoplankton weigh little, big fish weigh more

Energy never flows backwards.

Energy pyramid=Always upright in every ecosystem — never inverted

In a grassland or crop field the pyramid of numbers is upright · in grasslands and forests the pyramid of biomass is upright · energy flows one way; matter moves in cycles.

3

Biogeochemical Cycles

The elements of gaseous and sedimentary cycles, the four steps of the nitrogen cycle and the nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

Trick 2

Gaseous and sedimentary cycles

⇄ Any order

Gaseous (store in the air)My gas car never overheats.

Sedimentary (store in rock and soil)Sunil photographed his camel beside a rock.

  1. Carbon
  2. Nitrogen
  3. Oxygen
  4. Sulphur
  5. Phosphorus
  6. Calcium

Gaseous cycles are nearly perfect — the huge atmospheric store quickly evens things out · sedimentary cycles are slower · the third type is the water cycle.

Trick 3

Four steps of the nitrogen cycle

➜ in order

The farmer’s amma needs dinner.

  1. 1Fixationfree N₂ → usable compounds · lightning too
  2. 2Ammonificationdead proteins → ammonia · Bacillus
  3. 3Nitrificationammonia → nitrite (Nitrosomonas) → nitrate (Nitrobacter)
  4. 4Denitrificationnitrate → back to N₂ · Pseudomonas

Air is 78% nitrogen, yet plants take it from the soil, mainly as nitrate.

Pairs

Nitrogen-fixing bacteria

2 sentences

The rhino loves peas.

Rhizobium=In the root nodules of legumes (gram, pea, moong) — symbiotic

Azad works alone.

Azotobacter=Free-living in the soil

Blue-green algae fix nitrogen too · that is why pulses enrich the soil.

4

Ecological Succession

From bare land to a climax community — the five stages of Clements (1916).

Trick 4

Five stages of succession

➜ in order

Nikki invited cousins to rest on the cliff.

  1. 1Nudationbare land · first settlers are pioneer species
  2. 2Invasionseeds arrive · settling in = ecesis
  3. 3Competitionrivalry for space and resources
  4. 4Reactionorganisms and environment change each other
  5. 5Climaxbest adjustment with the environment

The full series of changing communities is a sere · primary succession starts where no life existed; secondary where a destroyed community is re-establishing.

5

Biomes of the World

What the grasslands are called in each region, and the biome records.

Pairs

Grasslands — local names

8 sentences

Prakash loves American corn.

Prairie=North America

Steps from Europe to Asia

Steppe=Eurasia — best developed on the black chernozem soils of Russia–Ukraine

Pammi cheers for Argentina.

Pampas=Argentina

Velvet from South Africa

Veld=South Africa

Puzzles make me hungry.

Puszta=Hungary

Down goes the Aussie wicket.

Downs=Australia

Lily keeps the vegetables cold.

Llanos=Colombia, Venezuela — tropical (savanna)

Campers love Brazil nuts.

Campos=Brazil — tropical (savanna)

The first six are temperate grasslands (the world’s wheat granaries); the last two are tropical savannas · the African savanna is called Parkland.

Pairs

Biome records

3 sentences

The tanker is the biggest truck on the road.

Taiga (coniferous forest)=Largest terrestrial biome by area — 50° to 70° N · spruce, pine, fir, larch

My tummy gets little food.

Tundra=Lowest primary productivity — mosses, lichens, dwarf shrubs · frozen ground (permafrost)

Very cold nights in Siberia

Verkhoyansk (Siberia)=The “cold pole of the world” — taiga belt, down to −40 °C in winter

Read the full chapter for the complete notes — a trick helps you remember the list; understanding comes from the notes.