Bio 1B

Front 1

Behavior and evolution

Back 1

behavioral ecology emphasizes evolutionary hypotheses for animal behavior based on the assumption that animals increase their fitness by optimal behavior

Front 2

Advantages of group living

Back 2

avoiding predation, increased feeding rate, energy gains

Front 3

Disadvantages of group living

Back 3

increased predation, increased competition, increased disease, increased cuckoldry, increased cannibalism

Front 4

Altruism

Kin-Selection

Back 4

the importance of inclusive fitness

Front 5

Altruism

Back 5

you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours. The importance of discrimination against cheaters.

Front 6

Promiscuity

Back 6

both male and female mate with several partners

Front 7

Parental Care in birds

Back 7

generally limited by the rate of food delivery to the nest

Front 8

Parental Care in mammals

Back 8

only females lactate often limiting the contribution by the male

Front 9

Parental Care in fishes

Back 9

little parental care but when it occurs either sex could carry it out (eg. fanning eggs)

Front 10

Environmental factors affecting mating systems

Back 10

The economics of defending resources (in space and in time)

Resource defence polygyny

Female defence polygyny

Female synchrony as a means to enforce monogamy

Front 11

Types pf distribution/dispersion

Back 11

Random (rare in nature)

Regular (or overdispersed) – frequently caused by competition

Clumped (or patchy) – many possible causes, distribution of resources for example.

iii) Age Structure – organisms may change in many ways as they age, eg. food source, predators and competitors may all change.

Comparison of human populations

Front 12

Types of Survivorship curves

Back 12

Type I (e.g. humans) – mortality is low until most individuals die late in their lifespan.

Type II (e.g. some bird species) – a constant proportional mortality

Type III (e.g. many insect and fish species) – most individuals die young, the few that survive may

then live for much longer.

Front 13

Population Analysis

Back 13

death tables

Cohort – follows a group of individuals born at the same time (hard to do but accurate)

Static – looks at all the individuals present during one time period (easier but harder to interpret)

Front 14

Iterioparity

Back 14

Reproduce repeatedly

Front 15

Four features of a population

Back 15

1.

between individuals, shared requirement for a resource, resource is in limited

supply, leads to a reduction in vital rates)

Front 16

Density Dependence

Back 16

what it is (a necessary condition for population regulation)

and what it is not (not a sufficient condition)

Front 17

What determines population density?

Back 17

density dependent factors AND

density independent factors

Front 18

Density Independent Factors

Back 18

v) Limitation vs. regulation

vi) Time delays – generally lead to oscillations and instability

vii) Life histories - ‘K’ and ‘r’ selected populations

K-selected – long lifespan, low mortality, good competitors producing few, high quality offspring

r-selected – short lifespan, high mortality, good dispersers and colonizers producing many small offspring with little parental care.

Front 19

Demographic Transition

Back 19

describes the transition from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates

Front 20

Types of Succession

Back 20

Primary succession vs. secondary succession

Degradative succession

Use of succession in forensic science

Front 21

Mechanisms of succession

Back 21

Facilitation, Tolerance, Inhibition

Front 22

Types of food webs

Back 22

Connectedness, Energy flow, Functional

Front 23

Use of food webs

Back 23

predicting pollutant movement and concentration; predicting community effects of introductions or

extinctions; designing artificial communities

Front 24

Community classification

Back 24

i) By structure ii) By dominant species iii) By dominant species at each level iv) By relative similarity v) By all the species

Front 25

Patterns in biodiversity

Back 25

i) N-S gradients in diversity

Some possible explanations: Longer time for evolution in tropics, faster evolution in tropics, greater structural complexity in the tropics, greater environmental stability in the tropics, ‘intermediate’ levels of disturbance in the tropics, higher primary productivity in the tropics.

ii) Species-area curves – linear on a plot of Log Species vs Log Area

On islands and on mainland areas

Area vs. habitats

Front 26

biodiversity

Back 26

Estimating species number and rates of species loss.

Front 27

Causes of species loss

Back 27

Extinction:

) Habitat destruction and fragmentation

Reduces absolute habitat, Increases the amount of ‘edge’ habitat, Increases the distance between

habitat patches.

ii) Hunting (for ‘fun’ and food). Short term economic gain encourages overexploitation. Tragedy of the commons

2.

Introduction of alien species. Where they come from and why they are a problem.

iv) Pollution and other causes

Front 28

Consequences of species loss

Back 28

i) Economic value (eg. food, medicines, materials)

ii) Moral reasons (religious or ethical)

iii) Ecosystem function (eg. nutrient cycling, pollination, soil production, CO2 uptake, O2 production)

Front 29

Advantages of biological control

Back 29

Highly selective, Cheap, Self propagating & self perpetuating, Resistance unlikely

Front 30

Disadvantage of biological control

Back 30

Limits subsequent pesticide use, Can be slow to initiate, Does not eliminate pest, May attack non-target species

Front 31

Epidemiology

Back 31

Explains:
Changing human density and distribution, Changing human mobility and movement, Changing human behavior, Antibiotic resistance, Immunosuppression, Environmental Change.