Bio 1B Ecology

Front 1

ecology

Back 1

study of interactions between organisms and their environment

Front 2

replicates

Back 2

separate independent units of study

Front 3

controls

Back 3

unmanipulated units that provide a baseline for comparison

Front 4

reductionist

Back 4

seeking mechanisms, causal processes

Front 5

holistic

Back 5

determining the boundaries of a system

Front 6

abiotic

Back 6

nonliving components --chemical and physical factors such as temp and shit

Front 7

biotic

Back 7

living components

Front 8

distribution

Back 8

geographic range

Front 9

population

Back 9

group of individuals of the same species

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community

Back 10

all the organisms of all the species that inhabit a particular area

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ecosystem

Back 11

all the abiotic factors in addition to the entire community of species

Front 12

patchiness

Back 12

mosaic of different "patches"

Front 13

biosphere

Back 13

global ecosystem

Front 14

precautionary principle

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"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of a cure"

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dispersal

Back 15

movement of individuals away from centers of high population density or from their area of origin

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emmigration

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moving away from original pop

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immigration

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arriving at new pop

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turnover

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brings oxygenated water from a lake's surface to the bottom and nutrient-rich water from the bottom to the surface in spring/fall

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causes of spatial & temporal variation

Back 19

different angles of sunlight hitting top, equator, and bottom

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what causes seaonality

Back 20

caused by the tilt of earth's axes

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hadley cell circulation

Back 21

descending air absorbs moisture (north)
ascending moist air releases moisture (tropics)
descending air absorbs moisture (south)

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biome

Back 22

major types of ecological associations that occupy broad geographic regions of land or water

Front 23

adiabatic cooling

Back 23

rising air experiences lower atmospheric pressure, expands in volume, and lowers in temp

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coriolis effect

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the earth is a sphere, not a cylinder and rotates west to east, thus we have seasonality

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thermocline

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stratum of rapid temperature change

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upwelling

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cold nutrient rich water pulled up to replace displaced surface water (winds displace ocean water from west coast of north america)

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eutrophic

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nutrient rich, likely to produce noxious/harmful algal blooms

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mesotrophic

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intermediate nutrient concentrations

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oligotrphic

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low nutrient concentration, very clear water (good for humans and fish)

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downstream

Back 30

fluxes of water, sediment

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upstream

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backflows of mobile organisms

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confluence nodes

Back 32

pulses of enrichment adjacency of contrasting habitats

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estuary

Back 33

where rivers empty into oceans. where 0% salt fresh water meets 3% salt, salt water

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tidal prism

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wedge of fresh water overlies denser salt water (estuaries)

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heritic

Back 35

nearshore subtitle

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plankton v nekton

Back 36

passive swimmers v. active swimmers

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condition

Back 37

abiotic environmental factor that varies in space and time

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Macan's filter

Back 38

Figures out why there is an absence of a species

1. dispersal?
2. behavior (avoid/select habitat)
3. abiotic factors
4. biotic factors

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niche

Back 39

range of conditions in which an organism or species can survive over time

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fundamental niche

Back 40

largest niche in which an organism could persist in absence of adversity

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realized niche

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volume actually occupied with interspecific interactions

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osmosis

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diffusion of waterq

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relict population

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residual population left over from the time when the environment could support that pop

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sink habitat

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death rates exceed birth rates

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resource subsidy

Back 45

resources produced in one habitat that support consumers in a second

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altruism

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selflessness

Front 47

density

Back 47

number of individuals per unit area or volume

Front 48

dispersion

Back 48

pattern of spacing among individuals within the boundaries of population

Front 49

mark-recapture model

Back 49

places traps within boundaries of population. captured animals are marked with tags. then they re-mix

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territoriality

Back 50

uniform dispersion as a result of antagonistic social interactions

Front 51

demography

Back 51

study of vital statistics of populations and how they change over time

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survivorship curve

Back 52

plot of the proportion or numbers in a cohort still alive at each age.
I. humans
II. squirrels
III. oysters/mullusks

Front 53

life history

Back 53

traits that affect an organism's schedule of reproduction and survival

1. when reproduction begins
2. how often they produce
3. how many offspring

Front 54

exponential population growth

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geometric. per capita rate of increase may assume the max rate for the species called the intrinsic rate of increase

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carrying capacity

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K - maximum pop size that a particular environment can support

Front 56

logistic population growht model

Back 56

per capita rate of increase declines as carrying capacity is reached

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K-selection

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density dependent

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r-selection

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density independent

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density dependent

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death rate rises as population density rises

Front 60

density dependent population regulation

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competition for resources
territoriality
health
toxic wastes
intrinsic factors

Front 61

population dynamics

Back 61

study that focuses on the interactions between biotic and abiotic factors that cause variation in population size

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metapopulation

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group of linked populations

Front 63

ecological capacity

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actual resource base for country

Front 64

interspecific interactions

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organism interactions with other species in the community

Front 65

environmental heterogeneity

Back 65

refuges, hazards, stresses

Front 66

homeostasis

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maintaining a stable internal environment

Front 67

acclimitization

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shifts in response of an organism to a condition caused by a regime it has experienced in the past

Front 68

life history

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organism's life pattern of growth, storage, and reproduction

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life cycle

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sequence of stages through which organisms pass to develope from zygote to reproductive stage

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unitary organism

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develops from zygote to adult with determinant form (human)

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modular organism

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grows by repeated interactions of its parts (plants)

Front 72

what is ecological footprint measured with

Back 72

arable land
pasture
forest
ocean
built-up land
fossil energy

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resource partitioning

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differentiation of niches that enables similar species to coexist in a community --they learn to use diff resources

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allopatric

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geographically separate

Front 75

character displacement

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tendency for characteristics to be more divergent in sympatric populations of two species than in allopatric counterparts

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predation

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(+,-) one kills another

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aposematic coloration

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bright warning coloration

Front 78

batesian mimicry

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harmless species mimicing a harmful one

Front 79

mullerian mimicry

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two unpalatable species resemble each other

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herbivory

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(+,-) rarely kills but harms

Front 81

parasitism

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(+,-) derives nourishment from a host

Front 82

symbiosis

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interaction in which two organisms of different species live together in direct contact

Front 83

endoparasites

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parasites that feed on the internal surface of the host

Front 84

ectoparasites

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parasites that feed on the external surface of the host

Front 85

parasitoidism

Back 85

insects that lay eggs on or in living hosts. larvae feed on the body, eventually killing it

Front 86

pathogens

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(+,-) disease causing agents

Front 87

mutualism

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(+,+) symbiosis that benefits both

Front 88

commensalism

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(+,0) benefits one but not the other

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coevolution

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reciprocal evolutionary adaptations of two interacting species

Front 90

species diversity

Back 90

variety of different kinds of organisms that make up the community

Front 91

species richness

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total number of different species in the community

Front 92

relative abundance

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proportion each species represents of the total individuals in the comunity

Front 93

trophic structure

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feeding relationships between organisms

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food chain

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transfer of food energy up trophic levels from plants to 1 2 3

Front 95

food webs

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chains aren't isolated units but webs

Front 96

energetic hypothesis

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length of food chain is limited by the inefficiency of energy transfer along the chain

Front 97

dynamic stability hypothesis

Back 97

long food chains are less stable than short chains. vulnerable to population fluctuations

Front 98

dominant species

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species in a community that are the most abundant or that collectively have the highest biomass

Front 99

biomass

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total mass of all individuals in a population

Front 100

invasive species

Back 100

generally introduced by humans to take hold out of thei rnatural range

Front 101

keystone species

Back 101

not necessarily most abundant, but keep the dominant species in check

Front 102

nonequilibrium model

Back 102

communities are constantly changing after being buffeted by disturbances

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disturbance

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event such as a storm, fire, flood, drought, etc that changes a community, removes organisms from it, and alters resource availability

Front 104

intermediate disturbance hypothesis

Back 104

moderate levels of disturbance can create conditions that foster greater species diversity than low or high levels

Front 105

ecological succession

Back 105

when disturbed area may be colonized by a variety of species, which are gradually replaced by other species

Front 106

primary succession

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purely lifeless. volcano/glacier

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secondary succession

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after a fire or such. existing species clear, but soil still intact

Front 108

evapotranspiration

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evaporation fo water from soil plus transpiration of water from plants

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species-area curve

Back 109

all other factors equal, larger geographic area of a community, the greater the number of species

Front 110

integrated hypothesis (of community structure)

Back 110

describes a community as an assembly of closely linked species, locked into association by mandatory biotic interactions that cause the community to function as an integrated unit

Front 111

individualistic hypotehsis

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plant community as a chance assemblage of species found in the same area simply because they happen to have similar abiotic requirements

Front 112

rivet model

Back 112

most of the species in a community are associated tightly with particular other species in a web life.

thus reducing/increasing the abundance of one species in a community affects other species as well

Front 113

redundancy model

Back 113

most of the species in a community are not tightly associated with one another, and the web of life is very loose. therefore an increase or decrease has little effect on the other species.

Front 114

primary producers

Back 114

trophic level that supports all others consisting of autotrophs

Front 115

primary consumers

Back 115

herbivores

Front 116

secondary consumers

Back 116

carnivores that eat herbivores

Front 117

tertiary consumers

Back 117

carnivores that eat other carnivores

Front 118

detritivores/decomposers

Back 118

consumers that get their energy from detritus (nonliving organic material)

Front 119

primary production

Back 119

amount of light nergy converted to chemical energy by autotrophs during a given time period

Front 120

gross primary production (GPP)

Back 120

amount of light energy that is converted to chemical energy by photosynthesis per unit time

Front 121

net primary production (NPP)

Back 121

equal to gross primary production minus the energy used by the primary producers for respiration (R)

NPP = GPP -R

Front 122

limiting nutrient

Back 122

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

Front 123

eutrophication

Back 123

phytoplankton communities become dominated by cyanobacteria

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secondary production

Back 124

amount of chemical energy in consumers' food that is converted to their own new biomass in a given time period

Front 125

production efficiency

Back 125

(net secondary production)/(assimilation of primary production)

Front 126

trophic efficiency

Back 126

percentage of energy that is actually transferred between levels

Front 127

turnover time

Back 127

(standing crop biomass)/(production)

Front 128

green world hypothesis

Back 128

terrestrial herbivores consume relatively little plant biomass because they are held in check

1. plants have defenses
2. nutrients not energy supply limit
4. abiotic factors limits
5. intraspecific competition can't limit predatores
5. interspecific competition keep them in check

Front 129

water cycle

Back 129

ocean, evaporation, movement in sky, precipitation, percolation through soil, runoff and ground water

Front 130

carbon cycle

Back 130

burning of fossil fuels, co2 in atmosphere, photosynthesis, primary consumers, detritus, carbon compounds in water, cellular respiration

Front 131

nitrogen cycle

Back 131

n2 in atmosphere, nitrogen fixing bacteria NH3, nitrification, nitrifying bacteria, assimilation, decomposers

Front 132

phosphorus cycle

Back 132

rain, plants, consumption, decomposition, soil leeching, geologic uplift, weathering of rocks, water runoff

Front 133

critical load

Back 133

amount of added nutrient, usually nitrogen or phosphorus that can be absorbed by plants without damaging ecosystem integrity

Front 134

biological magnification

Back 134

toxins become more concentrated in successive trophic levels of a food web

Front 135

overexploitation

Back 135

human harvesting exceeding regrowth

Front 136

extinction vortext

Back 136

positive feedback loops to inbreeding and genetic drift that reduces the population

Front 137

minimum viable population

Back 137

minimum size of population to sustain and survive

Front 138

population viability and analysis

Back 138

predict chance of survival

Front 139

true predators

Back 139

many hosts
always lethal
kill
consume all

Front 140

grazers

Back 140

many hosts
rarely lethal
damage
consume partially

Front 141

parasites

Back 141

one/few hosts
rarely lethal
attack
consume parts

Front 142

parasitoids

Back 142

one host
always lethal
kill one
consume all

Front 143

Connell's experiement

Back 143

the barnacles. proved niche and realized niche

Front 144

dynamic equilibrium

Back 144

MacArthur & Wilson
species richness increases going toward equilibrium

few exceptions

Front 145

latitudinal gradient explained (tropics dominate)

Back 145

greater area
longer history
greater habitat heterogeneity
favorable climates and reduced climate variability
interspecific interaction

Front 146

biodiversity reserves

Back 146

hotspot
spatial patterns: neutral
landscape structure

Front 147

edge effect

Back 147

edges have larger effect on general area as the patch size decreases

Front 148

exploitative competition

Back 148

two species compete for resources that is short in supply (indirect)

Front 149

interference

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two species directly harm

Front 150

predator (mediated/apparent)

Back 150

two species decrease in each other's presence because they support the increased abundance

Front 151

character displacement

Back 151

structures adapt and move their niche to overlap

Front 152

bacterial succession

Back 152

early: aerobic gram-positive cocci & rods. r-selected, not defensive/competitive

middle: 300-500 thick. acids

late: anaerobic bacteriodes 'sere' stage

Front 153

clear water

Back 153

nutrient sequestration
upslope vectoring
terrestrial vegetative cover
frequent flushing of prey

Front 154

eutrophic water

Back 154

hypoxia
indedible algae
bank erosion
nitrogen fixation

Front 155

switch from clear to eutrophic water

Back 155

loss of wetlands
erosion, sediment loading
water management

Front 156

negative feedback

Back 156

stabalizing, correcting

Front 157

positive feedback

Back 157

egging on

Front 158

biodiversity hotspot

Back 158

small area with exceptional concentration of endemic species

Front 159

zoned reserve

Back 159

extensive region of land that includes areas undisturbed by humans surrounded by

Front 160

bioremediation

Back 160

use of living organisms to detoxify polluted ecosystems

Front 161

biological augmentation

Back 161

uses organisms to add essential materials