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b. Biology Exam 4
These are designed to prepare for Exam 4 in a first-semester Organismal Biology course.
38
Biology
Undergraduate 1
04/10/2010

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Term
Batesian mimicry
Definition
When a harmless species mimics a harmful species.
Term
Mullerian mimicry
Definition
When two or more harmful species converge on the same appearance.
Term
Fecundity
Definition
Number of offspring produced by an organism over its lifetime.
Term
Ecotone
Definition
A transitional are between two habitats.
Term
Benthic zone
Definition
The bottom of an ocean or lake or river.
Term
Littoral zone
Definition
The edge of a body of water from the high water mark to the shallow waters.
Term
Homeothermic
Definition
Organisms that maintain a constant body temperature.
Term
Poikilothermic
Definition
Organisms whose body temperature varies with their environment e.g. most ectotherms.
Term
Ecology
Definition
Study of how organisms relate to one another and their environments.
Term
Metapopulation
Definition
The population of a habitat that is separated from other habitable zones by intermittent geographical isolation.
Term
Source-sink populations.
Definition
Metapopulations that exist in areas uninhabitable for part of the year, but which are repopulated from a metapopulation that lasts year-round.
Term
Assemblage
Definition
A subset of species in a community.
Term
Community
Definition
The aggregate of organisms in a given area.
Term
Population
Definition
All the members of a given species in a given area.
Term
Abiotic
Definition
Non-living elements of an enironment, e.g. wind, water, temperature, sunlight, soil.
Term
Demography
Definition
The quantitative study of populations.
Term
Exponential growth curve
Definition
The graph of population size over generations ellapsed possible from unrestricted growth.
Term
Logistic growth-curve
Definition
The graph of population size over generations ellapsed limited by carrying capacity.
Term
Carrying capacity
Definition
The population size of a given species that its environment can indefinitely sustain.
Term
Succession
Definition
The process of re-populating an environment after a disturbance.
Term
Ecotones
Definition
Transitional area between two different environments.
Term
Commensalism
Definition
Symbiotic relationship where only one member benefits, while the other is neither helped nor harmed.
Term
Mutualism
Definition
Symbiotic relationship from which both members benefit.
Term
Parasitism
Definition
Symbiotic relationship where one member benefits at the expense of another.
Term
Ectoparasite
Definition
A parasite that lives on the surface of its host.
Term
Endoparasite
Definition
A parasite that lives within its host.
Term
Epiphyte
Definition
A plant that grows on another plant, rather than anchoring its roots to the earth.
Term
Competitive exclusion
Definition
When two species competing for the same resources, one will win out and eliminate the other.
Term
Resource partitioning
Definition
Species dividing up space and food so as to avoid competing with each other.

e.g. lizards living in different areas of trees (emergent layer, canopy, floor)
Term
Character displacement
Definition
Morphological differences that eventually develop from species specializing to different niches during resource partitioning.
Term
Coevolution
Definition
When two species adapt along with each other, leading to high degrees of specialization e.g. milkweed developing poison to deter herbivores, and monarch butterflies adapting to store up that poison to deter carnivores.
Term
Aposematism
Definition
"Warning colors" that announce poisonous or dangerous animals.
Term
Cryptic coloration
Definition
Trait that allows organisms to blend in to their environment.
Term
Ants and acacias
Definition
Example of coevolution.
Term
Keystone species
Definition
A species that a great deal of other species in an environment depend on, e.g. beavers, black spined urchins.
Term
N,P,K
Definition
3 main ingredients in fertilizers (limiting nutrients for plants in the wild)
Term
Disturbance
Primary Succession:
Pioneer community
Secondary Succession:
more species move in
Climax community: succession finished
Definition
Describe succession
Term
Estuaries
Definition
transitional environment between marine and freshwater
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