Ap Bio-Interactions

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abiotic

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Nonliving.

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biome

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Any of the world’s major ecosystems, classified according to the predominant vegetation and characterized by adaptations of organisms to that particular environment.

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biosphere

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The entire portion of Earth inhabited by life; the sum of all the planet’s ecosystems.

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biotic

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Referring to all the organisms that are part of the environment.

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chaparral

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A scrubland biome of dense, spiny evergreen shrubs found at midlatitudes along coasts where cold ocean currents circulate offshore; characterized by mild, rainy winters and long, hot, dry summers.

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community

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All the organisms that inhabit a particular area; an assemblage of populations of different species living close enough together for potential interaction.

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detritus

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Dead organic matter.

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dispersal

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The distribution of individuals within geographic population boundaries.

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ecosystem

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All the organisms in a given area as well as the abiotic factors with which they interact; a community and its physical environment.

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permafrost

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A permanently frozen stratum below the arctic tundra.

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population

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A localized group of individuals that belong to the same biological species (that are capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring).

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savanna

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A tropical grassland biome with scattered individual trees, large herbivores, and three distinct seasons based primarily on rainfall, maintained by occasional fires and drought.

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temperate broadleaf forest

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A biome located throughout midlatitude regions where there is sufficient moisture to support the growth of large, broadleaf deciduous trees.

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tundra

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A biome at the extreme limits of plant growth. At the northernmost limits, it is called arctic tundra, and at high altitudes, where plant forms are limited to low shrubby or matlike vegetation, it is called alpine tundra.

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altruism

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Behavior that reduces an individual’s fitness while increasing the fitness of another individual.

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associative learning

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The acquired ability to associate one stimulus with another; also called classical conditioning.

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classical conditioning

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A type of associative learning; the association of a normally irrelevant stimulus with a fixed behavioral response.

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coefficient of relatedness

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The probability that a particular gene present in one individual will also be inherited from a common parent or ancestor in a second individual.

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ethology

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The study of animal behavior in natural conditions.

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fixed action pattern (FAP)

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A sequence of behavioral acts that is essentially unchangeable and usually carried to completion once initiated.

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foraging

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Behavior necessary to recognize, search for, capture, and consume food.

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habituation

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A very simple type of learning that involves a loss of responsiveness to stimuli that convey little or no information.

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imprinting

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A type of learned behavior with a significant innate component, acquired during a limited critical period.

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innate behavior

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Behavior that is developmentally fixed and under stroge genetic control. It is exhibited in virtually the same form by all individuals in a population despite internal and external environmental differences during development and throughout their lifetimes.

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kin selection

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A phenomenon of inclusive fitness, used to explain altruistic behavior between related individuals.

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kinesis

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A change in activity or turning rate in response to a stimulus.

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monogamous

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A type of relationship in which one male mates with just one female.

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operant conditioning

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A type of associative learning in which an animal learns to associate one of its own behaviors with a reward or punishment and then tends to repeat or avoid that behavior; also called trial-and-error learning.

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polyandry

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A polygamous mating system involving one female and many males.

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polygamous

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A type of relationship in which an individual of one sex mates with several of the other.

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polygyny

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A polygamous mating system involving one male and many females.

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proximate question

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In animal behavior, an inquiry that focuses on the environmental stimuli, if any, that trigger a particular behavioral act, as well as the genetic, physiological, and anatomical mechanisms underlying it.

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sensitive period

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A limited phase in an individual animal’s development when learning of particular behaviors can take place.

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sign stimulus

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An external sensory stimulus that triggers a fixed action pattern.

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social learning

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Modification of behavior through the observation of other individuals.

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spatial learning

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Modification of behavior based on experience of the spatial structure of the environment.

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taxis

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Movement toward or away from a stimulus.

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ultimate question

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In animal behavior, an inquiry that focuses on the evolutionary significance of a behavioral act.

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carrying capacity

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The maximum population size that can be supported by the available resources, symbolized as K.

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cohort

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A group of individuals of the same age, from birth until all are dead.

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density dependent

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Referring to any characteristic that varies according to an increase in population density.

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density independent

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Referring to any characteristic that is not affected by population density.

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dispersion

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The pattern of spacing among individuals within geographic population boundaries.

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ecological capacity

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The actual resource base of a country.

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ecological footprint

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A method to use multiple constraints to estimate the human carrying capacity of Earth by calculating the aggregate land and water area in various ecosystem categories that is appropriated by a nation to produce all the resources it consumes and to absorb all the waste it generates.

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emigration

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The movement of individuals out of a population.

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exponential population growth

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The geometric increase of a population as it grows in an ideal, unlimited environment.

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immigration

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The influx of new individuals from other areas.

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K-selection

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The concept that in certain populations, life history is centered around producing relatively few offspring that have a good chance of survival.

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logistic population growth

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A model describing population growth that levels off as population size approaches carrying capacity.

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mark-recapture method

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A sampling technique used to estimate wildlife populations.

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r-selection

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The concept that in certain populations, a high reproductive rate is the chief determinant of life history.

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survivorship curve

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A plot of the number of members of a cohort that are still alive at each age; one way to represent age-specific mortality.

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zero population growth (ZPG)

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A period of stability in population size, when the per capita birth rate and death rate are equal.

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Batesian mimicry

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A type of mimicry in which a harmless species looks like a species that is poisonous or otherwise harmful to predators.

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coevolution

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The mutual evolutionary influence between two different species interacting with each other and reciprocally influencing each other’s adaptations.

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commensalism

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A symbiotic relationship in which the symbiont benefits but the host is neither helped nor harmed.

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competitive exclusion

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The concept that when populations of two similar species compete for the same limited resources, one population will use the resources more efficiently and have a reproductive advantage that will eventually lead to the elimination of the other population.

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ecological niche

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The sum total of a species’ use of the biotic and abiotic resources in its environment.

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ecological succession

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Transition in the species composition of a biological community, often following ecological disturbance of the community; the establishment of a biological community in an area virtually barren of life.

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evapotranspiration

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The evaporation of water from soil plus the transpiration of water from plants.

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interspecific competition

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Competition for resources between plants, between animals, or between decomposers when resources are in short supply.

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keystone species

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A species that is not necessarily abundant in a community yet exerts strong control on community structure by the nature of its ecological role or niche.

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Müllerian mimicry

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A mutual mimicry by two unpalatable species.

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mutualism

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A symbiotic relationship in which both participants benefit.

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primary succession

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A type of ecological succession that occurs in a virtually lifeless area, where there were originally no organisms and where soil has not yet formed.

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resource partitioning

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The division of environmental resources by coexisting species such that the niche of each species differs by one or more significant factors from the niches of all coexisting species.

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secondary succession

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A type of succession that occurs where an existing community has been cleared by some disturbance that leaves the soil intact.

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biological magnification

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A trophic process in which retained substances become more concentrated with each link in the food chain.

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eutrophication

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A process by which nutrients, particularly phosphorus and nitrogen, become highly concentrated in a body of water, leading to increased growth of organisms such as algae. Cultural _____ refers to situations where the nutrients added to the water body originate mainly from human sources, such as agricultural drainage or sewage.

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gross primary production (GPP)

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The total primary production of an ecosystem.

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limiting nutrient

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An element that must be added for production to increase in a particular area.

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net primary production (NPP)

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The gross primary production of an ecosystem minus the energy used by the producers for respiration.

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trophic efficiency

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The percentage of production transferred from one trophic level to the next.

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biological augmentation

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An approach to restoration ecology that uses organisms to add essential materials to a degraded ecosystem.

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endangered species

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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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extinction vortex

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A downward population spiral in which positive-feedback loops of inbreeding and genetic drift causes a small population to shrink and, unless reversed, become extinct.

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introduced species

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A species moved by humans, either intentionally or accidentally, from its native location to a new geographic region; also called an exotic species.

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minimum viable population (MVP)

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The smallest population size at which a species is able to sustain its numbers and survive.

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movement corridor

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A series of small clumps or a narrow strip of quality habitat (usable by organisms) that connects otherwise isolated patches of quality habitat.

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overexploitation

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Harvesting by humans of wild plants or animals at rates exceeding the ability of populations of those species to rebound.