Term
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Definition
1. All species in a location (biotic) plus their physical environment (abiotic)
2. Climate greatly determines species distribution |
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Term
| Describe the climate at the equator |
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Definition
1. Temperature differences
-equator receives more heat (concentrated over smaller area and less atmosphere)
2. Moisture differences
-water cycled more rapidly at equator (more heat=more evaporation) |
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Term
| Why do hot deserts occur at 30 N and S? |
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Definition
-warm air rises, spreads, and cools, losing moisture
-cool dry air now descends and warms at 30N & 30S
-has little moisture and absorbs more from the land |
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Term
| What two currencies do ecosystems run on? |
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Definition
1. Energy-flows downhill; must be replenished
2. Nutrients-recycled and reused continually |
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Term
| Describe the Ecosystem energy flow |
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Definition
Sunlight captured by plants
*5% captured by autotrophs; 3%-4% used by plants;1%-2% available to consumers
Trophic levels - position in food chain or web,
determined by number of E transfer steps |
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Term
| Why is energy flow represented in a pyramid? |
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Definition
1. E transfer is inefficient (10%)
2. E is increasingly scarce at each higher level (4-5 links) |
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Term
| Describe the 4 primary ecosystem compartments that recycle nutrients |
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Definition
1. Oceans
-large input from land via rivers and nutrients sink
-upwelling brings some nutrients back up along continental margins
2. Freshwater
-land to rivers to lakes and oceans
-rapid cycling due to small size
-nutrients at bottom brought back up by “turnover” in spring & fall; again available
3. Atmosphere
-78% N 21% O 0.03% CO2
-allows light through, traps heat, and keeps earth warm
-filters UV rays
4. Land
-25%-30% of Earth's surface
-groundwater/runoff links with freshwater/ocean
-bedrock and climate influence soil plants |
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Term
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Definition
1. biotic links unimportant
2. net atmospheric movement from ocean to land, with eventual return to ocean |
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Term
| Describe the carbon cycle |
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Definition
1. biotic links important
2. fossil fuel burning creating an imbalance
3. sedimentary rock and ocean = sinks |
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Term
| What is the human impact of burning fossil fuels? |
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Definition
1. atmospheric CO2 increasing
2. acid rain kills vegetation, inhibits aquatic reproduction
3. lake eutrophication- excess nutrients (N,P) over stimulate algae grow depleting O2 levels |
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Term
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Definition
| the study of the interactions of organisms with each other and with the physical environment |
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Term
| Describe the Role of Ecology |
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Definition
1. helps us manage natural resources
2. helps us manage and control pests
3. helps us be good stewards of God's creation |
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Term
Define the following terms:
1. Population
2. Pop Density |
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Definition
1. group of individuals of one species in a defined area
2. number per unit area/usually sampled |
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Term
| Describe Population Spacing |
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Definition
1. Clumped
ex. water hole
2. Uniform
ex. desert plants
3. Random
ex. spiders |
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Term
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Definition
study of population dynamics; how pop changes over time
*N1 = N0 + B - D + I - E |
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Term
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Definition
-summarizes number of individuals still alive in each age class and their number of offspring
-allows estimates of survivorship and death rate |
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Term
| Describe the 3 survivorship curves |
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Definition
Type 1: majority of individuals long lived
ex. primates, carnivores
Type 2: uniform death rate
ex. songbirds
Type 3: majority of individuals short lived
ex. rodents, fish |
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Term
| Describe the 2 types of population growth |
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Definition
Exponential growth: unlimited resources
Sigmoidal growth: limited resources
carrying capacity (K) |
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Term
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Definition
traits and behaviors that influence an individual's survival and reproduction
1. individual traits
2. tradeoffs; time and resources are limited, maximizing one trait will limit another
3. there is no one best pattern; each species has its own life history characteristics |
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Term
| Describe some Life HIstory traits |
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Definition
1. Reproduction
-how early, how many, how often
2. Growth and Development
a. stop at maturity and invest in reproducing vs grow continually
b. non feeding stages (moths, mayflies)
c. reorganization stages (metamorphosis)
d. dormant stages (seeds, spores, hibernation)
3. Dispersal/Migration |
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Term
| Describe Human Management of Populations |
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Definition
1. Maximum yields
-keep N below K at max growth
-can harvest rapidly reproducing species more
-harvest lower reproducing individuals
2. Limit species through resources
3. Overexploited species recover best if harvesting stopped and adequate resources provided
4. Slowly reproducing species most susceptible |
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Term
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Definition
| groups of different species living together |
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Term
| Describe the 5 types of interactions |
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Definition
1. Predation + -
2. Competition - -
3. Mutualism + +
4. Commensalism + o
5. Amensalism - o |
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Term
| Describe Resources and Niche |
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Definition
Resource: substance directly consumed or used by an organism for maintenance or growth
ex. food, water, space, shelter, nest sites
Niche: ecological position, role, or profession of species in community
ex. habitat, food, position in food chain, temporal activity |
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Term
| Describe the Competitive Exclusion Principle |
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Definition
Two species cannot coexist on the same limiting resource
ex. barnacles |
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Term
| Describe the types of Predation |
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Definition
1. Carnivore- kills multiple animals over time
2. Herbivore- plants
3. Parasite- host is larger, only part eaten, not killed
4. Parasitoid- host is larger, only one host individual, usually killed |
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Term
| Describe Short Term Dynamics of Predation |
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Definition
1. Predator/prey cycles; preds specialize on a few prey species
2. prey switching by a predator prevents cycles
3. prey refuges and habitat patchiness prevent prey extermination |
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Term
| Describe Long Term Dynamics of Predation |
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Definition
Predators:
-rattlesnake fangs, heat sensing pits
-cross bill
Prey:
1. mimicry
-Batesian: palatable mimics unpalatables or undesirables
-Mullerian: multiple unpalatables converge in appearance
2. camoflouge
3. aposematic coloration -warning
4. plant defense
-spines, thorns
-toxins |
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Term
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Definition
Intraspecific-same species (territories: robins, wolves)
Interspecific-different species (foxes/hawks)
Exploitation- resource's availability is reduced by consumption
Interference- resource's access is blocked |
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Term
| What are some ways to avoid competition? |
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Definition
1. Niche partitioning
2. Parapatric distribution- avoid competition
3. Character displacement- divergence prevents/minimize competition |
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Term
| Describe a Keystone Species |
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Definition
has influence on community beyond that expected
ex. saguaro cactus, elephant, starfish, prairie dog |
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Term
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Definition
| orderly, predictable progression of communities over time |
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Term
| Describe the Cause and Types of Succession |
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Definition
Cause:
each species in a community has specific requirements, and each species modifies the environment, changing its characteristics with respect to other species
Types:
Primary-occurs on newly exposed/created habitat devoid of life/resources
Secondary-follows disturbance of a previous community
Culmination-climax |
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Term
| How is species richness measured? |
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Definition
1. number of species
2. species diversity |
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Term
| What are the patterns of species richness? |
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Definition
1. increases towards equator
2. decreases with elevation
3. increases with closeness to mainland
4. increases with island size |
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Term
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Definition
| attempts to explain the past and present distribution of organisms |
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Term
| What are the primary processes of biogeography? |
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Definition
1. evolution-macro/micro
2. dispersal-results in taxa found in new locations
3. extinction (extirpation)-results in taxa not being found in former locations |
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Term
| Describe two reasons for species to occur in different locations |
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Definition
1. Dispersal
-barrier crossed and new location colonized
-more likely when unique distributions exist
2. Vicariant Event
-barrier arose and divided species range
-more likely when multiple species are concordant |
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Term
| Describe Endemic distributions |
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Definition
-species only found in one location
-the longer a location’s isolation, the greater the number of endemics
2 Explanations:
1. young species recently arisen
2. old species having died out |
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Term
| Describe the major biogeographic regions? |
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Definition
NA-Neoarctic
SA-Neotropical
Africa-Ethiopan
Europe/Asia-Palearctic
India/China-Oriental
Australia-Australian (longest isolation) |
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Term
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Definition
| large scale communities or ecosystems across the earth |
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Term
Describe the following:
1. Tundra
2. Boreal forest
3. Hot Desert |
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Definition
1. treeless, cold, short and simple food chains, high elevation
2. northern conifers, cool summers
3. hot, dry, succulents |
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Term
Describe the following:
1. Temperate Deciduous Forest
2. Temperate Grassland
3. Cold Deserts |
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Definition
1. distinct dramatic seasons with adequate moisture
2. temperate with less rainfall
3. dry, high elevation, low shrubs (Mongolia) |
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Term
Describe the following:
1. Tropical Savannah
2. Chaparral
3. Tropical Rain Forest |
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Definition
1. grassland with scattered trees
2. low shrubs and trees, evergreen leaves; cool, wet winters, and hot, dry summers (west coast, Medit)
3. high rainfall, warm, species complex, nutrients in vegetation |
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