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| The study of changes over time in the vital statistics of populations, especially birth and death rates. |
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| The number of births and deaths in a given population. |
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| A group of individuals of the same age that are followed over time using data from a Life Table. |
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| Compromises on life expectancy to ensure reproductive success. |
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| Reproductive viable and survival success. Ex. The measure of ______ in a population |
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| The maximum number of individuals of a given species that can be supported by an environment. |
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| An S-shaped curve often used to describe the curve of data presented by the logistic growth model. |
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| This is a phenomenon in which certain species count on dense populations in order to exceed. Ex. single plant vs. clump. It may also refer to specific selection for traits that are favoured at high densities as opposed to low ones. |
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| Factors that contribute to stabilizing population growth, such as competition for resources, predation, toxic wastes, intrinsic factors, territoriality and disease. |
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| In a stable population, a shift from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates. |
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| The aggregate land and water area required by a person, city or nation to produce all of the resources it consumes and absorb all of the waste it generates. |
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| A narrow stratum of abrupt temperature change in the ocean and in many temperate-zone lakes. |
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| The open-water component of aquatic biomes. |
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| The bottom surface of an aquatic environment. |
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| The narrow top layer of an ocean or lake, where light penetrates sufficiently for photosynthesis to occur. |
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| The part of an ocean or lake beneath the photic zone, where light does not penetrate sufficiently for photosynthesis to occur. |
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| The shallow region of the ocean overlying the continental shelf. |
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| In a lake, the well-lit, open surface waters far from shore. |
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| In a lake, the shallow, well-lit waters close to shore. |
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| The formation of layers based on salinity and temperature. |
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| A nutrient-poor, clear lake with few phytoplankton. |
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| A lake that has a high rate of biological productivity supported by a high rate of nutrient cycling. |
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| The sum of a species' use of the biotic and abiotic resources in its environment. Ex. temperature, times of activity, diet |
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| A type of algae that thrives in nutrient-rich systems and can interfere with coral reefs. |
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| An ecological relationship between organisms of two different species that live together in direct and intimate contact. |
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| A symbiotic relationship in which both participants benefit. |
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| A symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits but the other is neither helped nor harmed. |
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| A symbiotic relationship in which one organism, the parasite, benefits at the expense of another, the host, by living either or on the host. |
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| A type of algae that have a mutualistic relationship with coral. |
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| A type of autrotrophic (capable of synthesizing its own food) plankton. |
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| A species that is not necessarily abundant in a community yet exerts strong control on community yet exerts strong control on community structure by the nature of its ecological role or niche. |
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| An organism that influences community structure by causing physical changes in the environment. |
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| Addition of removal of top predators which has effects in the entire ecosystem. |
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| When a predator controls the structure or population dynamics of an ecosystem. |
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Definition
| The theory that can ecosysyem can exist under multiple sets of unique biotic of abiotic conditions. |
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| The spread of a population over an area. May be random, clumped or uniform. |
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| In genetics, the mating, or crossing, of two true-breeding varieties. |
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| forest fire, earthquake, great human alteration etc. |
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| A type of ecological succession that occurs in an area where there were originally no organisms present and where soil has not het formed. |
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| A type of succession that occurs where an existing community has been cleared by some disturbance that leaves the soil or substrate intact. |
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| Material deposited by a glacier. |
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| A phylum of bacteria that obtain their energy through photosynthesis. |
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| Microorganisms capable of transforming atmospheric nitrogen into fixed nitrogen. |
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| A biological community of animals and plants which, through the process of biological successsion - the development of vegetation in an area over time - has reached a steady state. |
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| International Union for the Conversation of Nature |
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| Committee On the Status of Endangered Wildlife In Canada |
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| A species that has gone extinct in a specific area. |
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| A species that is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. |
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| A species considered likely to become endangered. |
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| Processes by which natural ecosystems help sustain human life by purifying air and water. |
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| The minimal population size at which a species is able to sustain its numbers. |
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Definition
| A process in which a small population becomes smaller. Factors such as inbreeding and genetic drift contribute significantly to this phenomenon. |
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Term
| Effective Population Size |
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Definition
| Some population numbers may be misleading, because only a fraction of them can actually produce viable offspring. Ex. They may be all male, or old etc. To deal with this, scientists came up with a formula to determine the Effective Population Size - the true breeding potential of a population, which takes the sexes of the population into account. |
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| Effective Population Size Formula |
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Definition
| Ne = (4Nf x Nm)/(Nf + Nm) |
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| The shallow region of the ocean overlying the continental shelf. |
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| A behaviour that reduces an animal's individual fitness but increases the fitness of other individuals in the population. |
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| Likelihood of an individual to produce viable offspring. |
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| The natural selection that favours altruistic behaviours by enhancing reproductive success of relatives is called kin selection. |
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| Coefficent of Relatedness (r) |
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Definition
| The fraction of genes that are, on average, shared. |
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| Social or dominance hierarchy |
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Definition
| A ranking system within a group in which mating opportunities are limited which determines sexual opportunities. (ex. wolves) |
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| The total effect an individual has on proliferating its genes by producing its own offspring and by providing aid that enables other close relatives, who share many of those genes, to produce offspring. |
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Definition
| Altruistic behaviour between unrelated individuals, whereby the altruistic indicual benefirs in the future when the beneficiary reciprocates. |
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| Highest level of social organization in a hierarchical classification. Characterized by cooperative brood care, overlapping adult generations and division of labour by reproductive and non-reproductive groups. (ex. ants) |
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| No strong pairings or lasting relationships. |
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| Males with mating control over a group of females, females with mating control over a group of males, respectively. (ex. lions) |
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