Term
| Species Prevalence (Ecosystem) |
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Definition
| Number of individuals per species is highest at poles |
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Term
| Biomes (distinguished by…) |
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Definition
| Distinguished by predominant plants and particular climates |
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Term
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Definition
| Rainforests at equator to tropics |
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Term
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Definition
| Desert - same heat as equator will less rain (dry descending air) |
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Term
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Definition
| Causes deflection of winds as earth rotates west to east |
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Term
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Definition
| Relative position of lines reflect water availability (precipation vs. temperature) |
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Term
| Soil structure changes in repsonse to… |
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Definition
| Climate (weathering, leaching, erosion, decomposition), Organisms (burrowing mixes soil), and Topography (rate and direction of water flow) |
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Term
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Definition
| "Organic Layer" - freshly fallen organic material (plants, twigs, leaves) |
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Term
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Definition
| Minerals, salt, clay, silt and sand. HIGH BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY. Burrowing animals mix from O to A |
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Term
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Definition
| Clay, humus, other materials leached from A Horizon (PLANT ROOTS) |
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Term
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Definition
| Weathered parent material. CONTAINS ROCKS. Little biological activity |
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Term
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Definition
| 10 degrees of Equator, little temperature variation, annual rainfall of 2,000 to 4,000 mm distributed evenly. Trees add vertical dimension, high canopy (arboreal species), high diversity. RAINFALL LEACHES SOIL QUICKLY - LOW NUTRIENTS |
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Term
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Definition
| 10 to 25 degrees of Equator, seasonal climate, soils rich in nutrients. Less vertical stratification, heavily settled and cleared |
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Term
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Definition
| 10 to 20 degrees of Equator, wet and dry seasons, drought and wildfires during dry seasons, low water permeability (few trees), mainly herds of grazing animals |
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Term
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Definition
| 30 N and 30 S - water loss exceeds precipitation, soil is LOW in organic matter, plants adapt to aridity, low animal abundance (strong behavioral adaptations |
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Term
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Definition
| Occurs all over, except Antarctica - cool and moist in fall and winter, dry and hot in spring and summer, fragile soils, moderate fertility, human intrustion. Fire resistant evergreen plants and shrubs, animals adapt to drought |
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Term
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Definition
| Widespread, periodic droughts, EXTREMELY RICH SOILS, herbivores, low biomass, high productivity |
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Term
| Old Growth Temperate Forest |
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Definition
| 40 and 50 degrees, wet, but cool. Fertile soils, very high biomass and production, vertically stratified, full of bacteria and fungi |
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Term
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Definition
| Northern hemisphere, thin, acidic soils with LOW FERTILITY, high animal density, some species hibernate |
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Term
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Definition
| Arctic Circle - cool dry climate with short summers, low decomposition rates. Low insect species, low growing plants, large numbers of native mammals |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| 70% of Earth is water, which cycles between the ocean, atmosphere, and terrestrial fresh water (70% is locked up in glaciers and ice caps): Sun evaporates water (from surface of oceans), which condenses to form precipitation. |
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Term
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Definition
| Most phosphorus is found in mineral deposits which plants cannot access, and thus plants use mychorrhizae to take in P released by the weathering of rocks. Much is washed in oceans and rivers. |
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Term
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Definition
| Atmospheric nitrogen is in a form which organisms cannot use, and must be fixed into NH3 by bacteria, fungi, and algae which may live in symbiosis with plants. N is released during decomposition |
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Term
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Definition
| CO2 is dissolved in water for aquatic ecosystems. Three cycles (with different lengths): Rapid, Intermediate, Long Term |
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Term
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Definition
| Exhanged between plants and the atmosphere due to photosynthesis and respiration |
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Term
| Intermediate Carbon Cycle |
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Definition
| Carbon in plant and animal tissues is ingested by animals and released into the atmposphere as CO2 |
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Term
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Definition
| "Locked up" Carbon from oceans, lakes, and swamps is converted to peat, coal, natural gas, and oil which is released by heating and burning (most common in arctic where decomposition is very slow) |
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Term
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Definition
| A complex structural molecule which forms secondary cell walls in plants (strong and flexible, resistant to attacks by micro-organisms and fungi). More lignin and lower nitrogen causes leaves to decompose at a lower rate. |
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Term
| Nitrogen Availability vs. Decomposition |
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Definition
| Higher N content in the soil may lead to higher decomposition rates |
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Term
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Definition
| Nutrients in streams are subject to downstream transport. |
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Term
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Definition
| The length of stream required for a nutrient atom to complete a cycle. SHORT length = high retentiveness (the nutrients stay in one place longer). LONG length = low retentiveness (nutrients make forward progress more quickly) |
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Term
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Definition
| Pacific (largest and deepest), Atlantic, and Indian (smallest) |
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Term
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Definition
| Light decreases with increasing depth - little light ppenetrates past 600m. |
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Term
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Definition
| Deep black water (6,000m and below) |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| Sunlight increases the velocity of the water moleucles on the surface. Rapid motion of these molecules decreases density which allows warm water to float on top of cold water. |
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Term
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Definition
| Layer of water through which temperature changes rapidly with depth, creating thermal stratification. |
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Term
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Definition
| Highest near surface, due to the contact with the atmosphere, lowest at medium depth, because the oxygen consumed by bacteria is not replenished by the atmosphere, and increases again at deeper levels because colder waters contain more concentrated O2 |
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Term
| Rivers and Streams - Depth |
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Definition
| Water surface, column, and bottom (benthic) |
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Term
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Definition
| Transition between the aquatic and upland terrestrial environments |
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Term
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Definition
| Transition between surface water and ground water |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| Joining of two first order streams |
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Term
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Definition
| Joining of two second order streams |
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Term
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Definition
| Lowest in tropics where high rainfall leaches soils of soluble materials, highest in desert where low rainfall leads to high concentration of soluble materials in the soil |
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Term
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Definition
| Highest in cold, well mixed headwaters (first order streams), lowest in warm, downstream river sections. Not stratified, since water is continuously mixed by flow. |
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Term
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Definition
| Epilimnion (sunlight penetrates and warms the water), Metalimnion (temperature and other physical and chemical factors change rapidly with depth), and Hypolimnion (water is cold, dark, and lacking in dissovled oxygen) |
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Term
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Definition
| Low production, well mixed, well oxygenated. Steep shoreline and deep bottom maintain lower water temperatures. High oxygen supports larger fish. Low nutrients discourage phytoplankton an aquatic plants. |
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Term
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Definition
| High biological production, may be depleted of oxygen. Shallow bottom reduces total water volume and increases temperature reducing O2 availability. High availability of nutrients supports many aquatic plants and phytoplankton. NITROGEN (eutrophication) |
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Term
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Definition
| Adaptations that influence and organisms biology (growth, size, reproduction, mortality) |
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Term
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Definition
| If organisms use energy for one function such as growth, the amount of energy available for other functions is reduced. |
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Term
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Definition
| Grasses, reeds, sedges (smallest seeds) |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| How likely a seed (or offspring of any kind) is to survive and become part of the population. |
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Term
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Definition
| Early colonizing species (thrive under disturbance) |
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Term
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Definition
| Later colonizing species (thrive under constant conditions) |
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Term
| Female Body Size vs. Number of Eggs |
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Definition
| The larger the body, the larger the number of eggs, and the smaller the eggs themselves. The smaller the body, the smaller the number of eggs, and the larger the size of the individual eggs. |
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Term
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Definition
| "Live fast, die young" - early reproductive age, many offspring, little parental care of the offspring. |
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Term
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Definition
| "Slow and steady" - late reproductive age, large size, few offspring, greater parental care. |
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Term
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Definition
| Larger, more energy costly, therefore female reproduction is limited via resource access. |
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Term
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Definition
| Darwin - natural selection based on competition over mates and reproductive access. |
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Term
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Definition
Females choosing males with long tails tend to have sons with long tails and that survive better (genetic);
Alleles that code for longer tails will spread, and so will alleles that make females prefer long tails;
As this process continues, a new effect becomes important: males with long tails are favored not only by better survival, but also by higher mating success;
This may develop into a “runaway” process. What stops it? |
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Term
| Counter Balancing Selection |
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Definition
| The traits which make males more attractive to mates also make them more attractive to predators |
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Term
| Trivers and Willard Hypothesis |
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Definition
| Mothers should produce SONS when in GOOD conditions, and DAUGHTERS when conditions are BAD. Daughters will achieve at least some reproductive success while sons in poor condition may be out competed and may not succeed in any way. |
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Term
| Local Resource Competition Hypothesis |
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Definition
| Mothers should produce the sex which is LEAST LIKELY to compete with them for resources. When resources are limited, it is best to produce the sex which will disperse (generally males). |
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Term
| Water Loss Adaptations (Animals) |
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Definition
| Not sweating, increasing body temperature to reduce evaporation, waterproofing (scales, waxes), excreting concentrated urine (highly efficient kidneys) and reclaiming water from breath |
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Term
| Behavioral Thermoregulation |
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Definition
| Behavioral adjustments to maintain optimal body temperatures. |
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Term
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Definition
| Rely on internal sources of energy for regulating body temperature (humans). |
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Term
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Definition
| Rely on external sources of energy for regulating body temperature (lizards, etc). Burrowing, orientation in regards to sun, seeking shade, estivation (reducing metabolic rate in the summer) |
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Term
| Inducible Chemical Defense |
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Definition
| Chemical defenses which can be induced in plants through herbivory - though they must be replaced as the leaves are lost. |
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Term
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Definition
| To reduce costs, animals can "steal" chemical defenses from their prey and incorporate them into their own bodies |
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Term
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Definition
| Warning coloration, advertises chemical defenses |
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Term
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Definition
| A harmless speices mimics noxious species to gain protection without the cost. |
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Term
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Definition
| Prey evoke coloration and markings that make them hard to see. |
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Term
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Definition
| Schooling and herding may overwhelm predators and, as a consequence, the risk to the individual of being killed is reduced. |
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Term
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Definition
| Aggregation during the birth period |
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Term
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Definition
| Densities decrease with increasing size of organism, depends on the scale of the oobservation (may be different across one pasture, or across the entire United States). |
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Term
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Definition
| Positive interactions among individuals or attraction to a common resource (watering hole). |
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Term
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Definition
| Neutral interactions among individuals and the environment, as well as between individuals. |
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Term
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Definition
| Negative interactions among individuals, local depletion of resources. Seen typically in the desert. |
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Term
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Definition
| The total number of individuals (or biomass) of a species present in a specified area. Requires knowledge of boundaries. Address using indicies of density. |
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Term
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Definition
| A substitute for an actual measurement of density. |
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Term
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Definition
| Habitat tolerance, geographic range, local population size. |
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Term
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Definition
| Extensive range, broad habitat tolerance, large population |
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Term
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Definition
| Has one aspect of rarity, either limited range, low tolerance, or small population. |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| All three aspects of rarity |
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Term
| Population Dynamics - Influential Factors |
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Definition
| The number of individuals born, the number of individuals that die, the number of individuals that move into a population, and the number of individuals that move out of a population. |
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Term
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Definition
| N(t-1) = N(t) + B + I - D - E |
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Term
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Definition
| Influences birth and death rates |
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Term
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Definition
| A group of individuals born in the same population in the same year (of the same age) |
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Term
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Definition
| Following a specific cohort from birth to death, recording each individual's age at reproduction and death. |
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Term
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Definition
| Age classes, number of surviors at the beginning of each year, number of deaths during the year, scaled to 1000 (or unity) |
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Term
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Definition
| Age (x axis) vs. Number of Survivors (y axis) |
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Term
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Definition
| Juvenile survivorship is high, followed by relatively high mid-age survivorship, and much greater mortality among older individuals |
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Term
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Definition
| Individuals die at equal rates, regardless of age |
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Term
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Definition
| High mortality among juveniles, followed by increasing survivorship later in life. |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| Number alive in each age class at each interval |
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Term
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Definition
| Survival (probability of surviving until age "x") |
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Term
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Definition
| Birth rates, average number of offspring produced by an individual in each age class |
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Term
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Definition
| Average number of offspring per individual x proportion of individuals surviving to that time period |
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Term
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Definition
| Net reproductive rate - the average number of offspring produced by an individual within its lifetime. Sum of "lxmx" |
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Term
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Definition
| Less than one, a population is declining, equal to one, the population is stable, greater than one, the population is increasing. |
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Term
| Geometric Rate of Increase |
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Definition
| λ = N(t+1)/N(t) --> the ration of population size at two points in time. Will equal R(0) in species with non-overlapping generations. |
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Term
| Exponential Model Assumptions |
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Definition
| Constant birth and death, therefore constant "r" or rate of increase |
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Term
| Logistic Model Assumptions |
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Definition
| Relationship between density and the birth and death rates is linear, and carrying capacity is constant, because the resource base is constant |
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Term
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Definition
| Models interspecific competition to predict the outcome using a zero growth isocline |
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Term
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Definition
| The outside line settles at K and the inside line goes extinct. |
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Term
| Exploitative Interactions |
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Definition
| One species benefits while the other suffers. |
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Term
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Definition
| Eat plants or plant parts |
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Term
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Definition
| Use their host as both habitat and food |
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Term
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Definition
| Causes disease that harms the infected host |
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Term
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Definition
| Kill and consume their prey |
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Term
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Definition
| Complete part of their life cyle in their host and then kill them. |
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Term
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Definition
| The fitness of both species is increased |
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Term
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Definition
| Plant is pollinated, animal is fed |
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Term
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Definition
| Plant gets seed dispersal, animal gets food (eating the fruit) |
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Term
| Relative Species Abundance |
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Definition
| How much more of less abundant one species is than another |
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Term
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Definition
| A model of species richness and relative abundance in a community |
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Term
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Definition
| Species which influence community structure despite their low biomass |
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Term
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Definition
| Species which influence community structure because of their high biomass |
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Term
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Definition
| The conversion of inorganic forms of energy into biomass by autotrophs in an ecosystem |
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Term
| GPP (Gross Primary Production) |
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Definition
| The total amount of energy converted to biomass by all of the autotrophs in an ecosystem |
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Term
| NPP (Net Primary Production) |
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Definition
| The total amount of energy accumulated by producers in their tissues |
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Term
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Definition
| When climate and nutrients influence ecosystems through primary production |
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Term
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Definition
| Consumers influence the ecosystems from above |
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Term
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Definition
| The gradual change in a community after a disturbance or the creation of a new substrate |
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Term
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Definition
| Occurs in sterile, inorganic substrates |
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Term
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Definition
| Occurs where the established vegetation is changed or disturbed in some way |
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Term
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Definition
| The end of the successional process |
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Term
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Definition
| Early species enhance the establishment of later species |
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Term
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Definition
| Early species have no effect on later species |
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Term
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Definition
| Early species inhibit the establishment of later species |
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Term
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Definition
| Persistence in the face of change |
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Term
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Definition
| How a community or ecosystem maintains structure and or function in the face of change |
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Term
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Definition
| How a community or ecosystem returns to its former state after a change |
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Term
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Definition
| A heterogeneous area composed of several distinct patches |
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Term
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Definition
| A group of populations that are connected by the exchange of individuals among the populations: each patch must support a breeding subpopulation, no single population is large enough to persist over the long term, colonization, extinction, recolonization events are asynchronous |
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Term
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Definition
| Can be modeled as a balance between species colonization and extinction |
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Term
| Species Richness vs. Area |
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Definition
| The larger the area, the greater the species richness |
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Term
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Definition
| Polutants persist in the biotic and abiotic environment - toxins build up in the top predators |
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Term
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Definition
| High yields from populations below K, fixed quota strategies are not sustainable, since populations fluxuate, while variable techniques are the best |
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Term
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Definition
| Single, Large is better if the small reserves support the same species as the large, while Several, Small is better if the small reserves support different species from the large |
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Term
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Definition
| Allow populations to be more resilient to local extinction, and counteract negative effects of fragmentation, but can allow undesirable species to spread easily, and can allow catastrophic disturbances (like forest fires) to spread between fragments |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| Molten crust, no oxygen, high sulfur, volcanic eruptions, bombardment. |
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Term
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Definition
| Methane, water, ammonia, hydrogen, carbon dioxide = amino acids and sugars. Clay medium |
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Term
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Definition
| Proposed that organisms change over time and adapt to their environment due to adaptive forces, the inheritance of acquired characters. |
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Term
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Definition
| Changes in phenotype caused by genomic imprinting (not a change in DNA sequence) |
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Term
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Definition
| Structures across species which seem to have the same strucutre and relative function (vertebrate forelimbs - bat wings vs. human hand) |
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Term
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Definition
| Human tailbone, goose bumps, appendix, etc. |
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Term
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Definition
| A single lineage that undergoes rapid speciate showing ecological and phenotypic diversity |
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Term
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Definition
| Independent evolution of similar phenotypes for organisms living in similar environments |
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Term
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Definition
| The genetic makeup of an organism |
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Term
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Definition
| The appearance of an organism, the result of the expression of the genotype, which can be influenced by the environment |
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Term
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Definition
| Body cells, not inherited |
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Term
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Definition
| Cells in the gametes, inherited |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
|
Definition
| Addition of removal of nucleotides |
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Term
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Definition
| Changes in gene position, amount of DNA, chromosome number |
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Term
| Flow of Information in Cell |
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Definition
| Replication, DNA, Transcription, mRNA, Ribosome, Translation, Protein |
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Term
| Properties of Genetic Code |
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Definition
| Universal, redundant, unambiguous |
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Term
| Synonymous Point Mutations |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| Alterating - Misense = from one aa to another, Nonsense = codon to stop |
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Term
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Definition
| Insertions and deletions including the removal or addition of one or more nucleotides which can lead to a frameshift mutation. |
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Term
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Definition
| Reduces or eliminates gene flow between populations which results in evolutionary independence of the populations |
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Term
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Definition
| Barrier to gene flow between populations |
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Term
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Definition
| Physcial isolation causes isolated populations to experience different environmental conditions and natural selection leads to genetic changes |
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Term
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Definition
| A continuous habitat is separated and the populations isolated |
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Term
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Definition
| If diverged species come back in contact hybridization can occur resulting in the complete reintegration of the populations to the formation of a new hybrid species distinct from the parent. This depends on the relative fitness of the parent species and the hybrid species |
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Term
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Definition
| Natural selection that the reduces the frequency of hybrids (promotes nonrandom mating) |
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Term
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Definition
| In an area where two closely related species are sympatric, characters that differentiate them may be more different than they are in areas where the species do not live together |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| Long limbs, opposable big toe, bipedalism, smaller canine teeth |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
|
Definition
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Term
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Definition
The closer an area is to the poles, the smaller the angle of the sun’s rays to the surface of the earth.
Seasons = angle of the planet |
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Term
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Definition
| (self-feeding)= green plants and some bacteria use inorganic sources of energy. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (other-feeders)= decomposers and animals – use organic sources of energy. |
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Term
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Definition
| production by autotrophs (photosynthesis) |
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Term
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Definition
| production by heterotrophs (consumption of plants or animals) |
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Term
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Definition
| Plant, Herbivore, Carnivore system |
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Term
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Definition
| Plant, Herbivore, Carnivore system |
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Term
|
Definition
| feed on plant and animal remains and feces, breaking them down into nutritive salts. |
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Term
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Definition
Energy is consumed in each link of the food chain.
There is less energy for each following link.
This is because some of the energy is used to perform work and respiration, and is lost as heat. |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
|
Definition
Trophic levels allow us to picture the flow of energy through an ecosystem.
(Primary, Secondary) |
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Term
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Definition
| a group of individuals of the same species living together in an area, potentially interbreeding. |
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Term
|
Definition
A population in ideal conditions with unlimited resources could show unlimited growth.
In reality, many factors slow population growth:
Weather
Food shortage
Disease
Competition
Predators
Lack of space, etc. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The maximum number of individuals supported by the environment - population size oscillates around this value |
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Term
|
Definition
| The sum of populations of various species living in a given biotope is a community. |
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Term
|
Definition
The weight of living organisms per unit area is called the biomass.
Biomass does not necessarily reflect productivity. |
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Term
|
Definition
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Term
|
Definition
Niche includes not only where an organism lives, but its function or role in the ecosystem.
"profession" |
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Term
|
Definition
| The combination of animal and plant communities, and their physical surroundings |
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Term
|
Definition
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Term
|
Definition
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Term
|
Definition
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Term
| Species Diversity (Ecosystems) |
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Definition
Highest in tropics, declines as you move toward the poles.
"Stratification" |
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