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145 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Ecology: |
study of how organisms interact with the environment |
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Goals of ecology |
1.understand distribution and abundance of organisms 2.recognize/explain patterns in nature |
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abiotic interactions |
interaction between organisms and non living environment |
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Organismal ecology |
interaction between individual and environment, considers morphology, physiology, behavior |
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Population ecology |
understand machanisms regulation population growth, distribution habits, interactions between organisms in population, exhibits variation |
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community ecology |
all the organisms that interact within an area Focus: -interspecific interactions(how 2 species interact) -evaluate fitness consequences of their interactions (0, -, +) -community structure -community response |
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ecosystem |
includes both biotic and abiotic interactions focus:energy flow, nutrient cycles |
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climate |
prevailing long term weather conditions influences ecoysytem structure ex. temp-metabolism, wind-moisture loss, sun-photosynthesis |
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temp |
most affected by solar radiation, -at equator:sun comes in at 90’ angle:lots of energy in small area, least distance from the sun |
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precipitation: |
influenced bu temperature and air circulation, |
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Hadley Cell |
on either side of equator: from 0-30’ warm air rises, cool air sinks, formed by warming and cooling, creates a cyclical cell of circulation north and south of the equator, air heats at equator, warm air rises-->cools as it rises-->condenses as it cools-->rains as it condenses, then the cool air sinks generates other cells |
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Ferrel Cell |
as the cool air sinks, it warms up at 30* and gives the deserts their warm dry air
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Polar cell |
at 60*-90*
cold air |
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Causes of regional variation in climate |
rain shadow:mountains-wet and dry side, the taller the mountain, the more extreme causes air to rise, cool and release moisture- on the slope facing water: wet side oceans: have high heat capacity which greatly modifies the temperature to make a milder climate, cooler summers, warmer winters |
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Behavioral Ecology |
look into proximate cause: how a behavior happens, causation: what triggers the behavior (stimulus) development: does the behavior change with age/learning? or present from birth?effect on fitness?Definition of behavior:response to stimulus |
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behavior |
response to stimulus |
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innate |
behavior present at birth, unmodified by learning |
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learned |
acquired via life experience |
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Stereotypical |
done the exact same way each time,little variation |
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flexible |
variable depending on conditions |
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Fixed Action Patterns (FAPs) |
highly stereotyped, innate behavior 1.performed without learning 2.inflexible/stereotyped 3.cannot be modified by learning -set off by releasor stimuli -generally respond to life threatening situations where there is no room to make a mistake and learn from it, usually species specific |
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Genetic basis of learning |
-all behavior ultimately linked to genotypes, -highly innate behaviors programmed by genes-genes that control behavior typically embedded in genetic cascades, simple changea to just one gene can cause dramatic changes to complex behaviors- ex.flies: what mkes flies act like male or female at sex depends on the sex lthal genes, one stop codon makes the differencec between male or femal behavior when mating, ex mice: male behavior-mount, female behavior-present, did experiement and foudn that hormones cause the mice to present either behavior |
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learning |
chagne in behavior as a result of specific life experiences -response to situations aren’t overly costly |
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conditioning |
classical pavlovs dog-unconditioned response-food/sal, conditioned-metronome/sal simple learning |
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imprinting |
fast and irreversible, occurs in a critical time window, to locate their mother simple learning |
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more complex learning: |
spatial,mistake based,cognition, observationalbehavior modified by life experience, demonstrates a spectrum of complexity along both behavioral axis |
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spatial learning |
ex wasps home surrounded by pine cones, move pine cones and the wasps cant find their home. |
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mistake based learning: |
when you encounter something that is mildly toxic/bad, then you will learn to not do it again, |
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cognition |
recongtion and manipulation of facts about the world, abitility to form concepts and gain insights |
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observational learning |
individual learns from others |
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communication |
signal from one individual modifies behavior of another |
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signal |
information containing behavior |
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methods of communication |
visual tactile, olfactory, auditory, combination |
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deception in communication |
both intra and interspecific deception, where one uses a mode of communication to falsify information of dange, toxicity, or something else, but a key factor of deception is that in order for it to exist, deception must be rare |
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Orientation |
• Movement in response to taxis that results in a change of position• Taxis = simple orientation, Photo, Phono, Geo, Chemo |
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Taxis |
simple oreintaion, in response to a stimulus, (photo-,phono-,geo-,chemo-) |
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piloting |
use of visual references |
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compass navigation |
use of stars, sun, magnetic fields to navigate |
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bi-cooridnate(true)navigation: |
compass navigation plus knowledge of where you ARE |
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Altruism |
behavior that imparts a cost to a self and a benefit to another (self-sacrifice), kin selection |
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Kin selection |
altruism if cost is less than benefit due to relatedness (50% usally highest degree of relatedness |
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Hamilton’s rule |
if Br>C then altruism is likely, where B=benefit, r=coefficient of relatedness [0,1], C=cost |
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Eusociality |
altruism in social groups that have sterile individuals, common in some insect lines(ants, bees) all sterile |
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haplodiploidy |
:sex-determination system in which males develop from unfertilized(NO FATHER) eggs and are haploid(one copy of each chromosome), and females develop from fertilized eggs and are diploid(two copies of each chromosome)This results in a different distrubition of relatedness:If a queen mates only once, her daughters are highly related to each other (called supersisters), because the father's sperm are all identical.A female is more related to her sisters (on average, 75% similar) than she is to her own daughters (on average 50% similar).A female is more related to her son (50 % similar) than she is to a brother (on average, 25% similar).which contributes to eusociality because it will mean that the female will help her fitness the most by helping raise her sisters than by rearing her own children, so this means that many female bees will gorgo reproductoin.-eusociality often results in extreme division of labor |
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Population |
group of individuals of the same species that 1.live in a localized area, 2.utilize a common pool of resources, 3. are a functional unit |
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density |
number of individuals per unit area or volume |
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dispersion |
distribution within an area or volume clumped, regular/uniform, random |
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clumped |
aggregated around resources |
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uniform/regular |
evenly distributed in space, usually as a result of competition |
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random |
lack any pattern |
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semelparity |
breed once and die, spend whole life gathering resources,adult diverts resources into producing huge amounts of offspring to ensure sufficient numbers reach maturity without any parental care |
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iteroparity |
multiple breeding events in lifetime |
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DISCRETE |
seasonal:populations with distinct breeding season Nt=N0(lambda)^t lambda=e^r |
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continuous |
breed yr round Nt=N0e^rt lambda=e^r |
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demography |
study of factors that influence population size and structure over time factors that influence size: birth/death, immigration/emigration |
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Type I survivorship curve |
young survivorship is high, old survivorship is low usually K mammals die of old age |
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Type II survivorship curve |
survivorship is constant through life, linear steady source of mortality |
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Type III survivorship curve
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young survivorship is low, old is high lots of babies not many survive , r selected species |
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survivorship |
proportion surviving to a particular age class |
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cohort |
individuals born in same period |
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survivorship curve |
log(survivorship) vs age |
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fecundity |
number of offspring produced-often limited to #female offspring |
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(l_x) |
age specific survivorship |
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age specific fecundity |
avg # females produced by a female of a certain age class |
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life tables |
used for demographic analysises, required: initial # born in a cohot(N), # that survive to each age class (l_x), avg fecundity for each age class (m_x) can predict pop growth |
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(m_x)
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age spcific fecundity |
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(l_x*m_x) |
#of surviving female offspring produced by an individual each year class |
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Net reproductive rate |
equation: |
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R_0 |
growht rate for generation, net reproductive rate R_0>1 then pop is growing, if R_0<1 then pop is shrinking, R_0=2 then pop is doubling each generation |
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r |
instantaneous growth rate per capita growth rate at any particular instant can be +/-/0, CONTINUOUS growht |
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r_max |
Intrinsic rate of I max growth rate of a species |
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Discrete (I) |
N_0=pop at time 0, N_1=pop at time 1 equation:_____ N-initial pop |
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exponential growth |
r constant over time r doesn't change with density density independent dN/dt=rmaxN N-initial pop |
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logistic growth |
r changes as a function of density r decreases with increaseing density harder to procreate when theres less access to resources density dependent dN/dt=rmaxN[(K-N)/K] N-initial pop |
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Carrying capacity (K) |
the max # of individuals that can be sustained in a given habitat funtion of abiotic and biotic factors k varies with habitat |
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logistic growth equation and its meanining |
dN/dt=r_max*N*[(K-N)/K] if N is small, r is close to r_max as N increases, r decreases as N approaches K r becomes 0 |
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factors limiting population growth |
density independent density dependent |
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density independent |
not affected by population size |
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density dependent |
becomes more pronounced with increasing density |
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r selected species |
r refers to intrinsic growth rate rapid growth/short life span low survivorship, high fecundity good dispersal poor competitors never reach stable levels boom and crash, boom and crash, |
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K selected species |
K refers to carrying capacity slow growth/long life span high survivorship, low fecundity good competitors |
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Biomes |
• Large regions characterized by distinctvegetation types Each has distinctive temperature &precipitation regime – Annual average temp & precipitation – Annual variation in temp & precipitation |
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Factors regulating terrestrial ecosystems |
– Temperature – Precipitation |
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Factors regulating aquatic ecosystems |
– Sunlight – nutrients |
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tundra |
• Temperature – Average annual temp = very low – Annual variation in temp = high • Precipitation – Average annual precip = low – Annual variation in precip = low |
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taiga |
(Boreal Forest) • Temperature – Average annual temp = low – Annual variation in temp = high • Precipitation – Average annual precip = low – Annual variation in precip = low |
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temperate deciduous forest |
• Temperature – Average annual temp = moderate – Annual variation in temp = high • Precipitation – Average annual precip = moderate – Annual variation in precip = moderate |
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temperate grassland |
• Temperature – Average annual temp = moderate – Annual variation in temp = moderate • Precipitation – Average annual precip = low – Annual variation in precip = moderate |
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subtropical desert |
• Temperature – Average annual temp = high – Annual variation in temp = moderate • Precipitation – Average annual precip = very low – Annual variation in precip = low |
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tropical wet forest |
• Temperature – Average annual temp = high – Annual variation in temp = low • Precipitation – Average annual precip = very high – Annual variation in precip = high |
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Aquatic systems |
nutrients easily lost– Advection, sinking• Productivity limited to regions ofadequate light– Function of depth & water clarity |
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Freshwater Ecosystems |
lentic or lotic |
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Lentic systems |
– Still or slowly flowing water – Lakes and ponds – Swamps, marshes, bogs |
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Lotic systems |
– Rapidly flowing water – Streams |
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Horizontal structure |
Littoral limnetic |
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Vertical |
Photic Aphotic |
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Littoral zone |
shallow enough for rooted vegetation |
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– Limnetic zone |
too deep for rooted vegetation |
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Aphotic |
not enough light for photosynthesis |
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Photic |
enough light for photosynthesis |
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Benthic zone |
bottom of lake or pond |
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Marshes |
lack woody plants Both have slow flowing water • Both typically connected to lakes orstreams |
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Bogs |
stagnant & highly acidic due todecomposition |
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Swamps |
have trees Both have slow flowing water• Both typically connected to lakes orstreams |
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Stream |
rivers and creeks |
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Rivers |
big stream |
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Creek |
Little Stream |
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Linear progression of Lotic Systems |
– Early = low temp low nutrients, high oxygen – Mid = warmer temp, higher nutrients, lower oxygen – Late – warmest temp, highest nutrients, lowestoxygen |
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Intertidal |
covered and uncovered by tides |
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Coastal (Neritic) |
portion of ocean over continentalshelf |
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– Pelagic (Oceanic) |
– portion off continental shelf |
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Community |
interacting species within agiven area |
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order the scale of pop, biom, and community |
– Population < Community < Biome |
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species interactions |
• Interaction between 2 species. • Affect fitness of both species • Fitness effects: +, -, or 0 • Five basic types of interactions: commmensalism, competition, amensalism, Consumption (antagonistic) , mutualism |
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Commensalism |
• +/0 • One species gains in fitness • Other species unaffected ex. •Remora gets protection, foodscraps, free ride•Host Whale is not affected |
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Mutualistic Interactions |
> +/+ • Both organisms benefit • Not cooperative or altruistic – Rare case where: – Both organisms attempt to profit – Both are successful • May change to consumptive/competitiverelationships |
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Competition |
• -/-• Both species experience fitness decrease• • Species with overlapping niches competewith each other |
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Niche |
– sum total resources used by a species. – Range of conditions it can tolerate |
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Competitive Exclusion |
– Hyptothesized that 2 spp with same nichecannot co-exist -occurs when competition is asymmetric |
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Symmetric Competition |
– Each spp. experiences the same decrease infitness |
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Asymmetric competition |
– One spp. has greater fitness decrease thanother -more common thansymmetric |
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Why doesn’t asymmetric competitioncause there to be just a few superiorcompetitor species? |
• Most niches don’t completely overlap• This provides a spatial refuge for theinferior competitor |
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Fundamental niche |
total possible use ofthe environment by a spp. |
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Realized Niche |
actual observed used ofthe environment by a spp. |
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Consumption(antagonistic interactions) |
• One spp consumes all or part of another • 3 types– Herbivory– Parasitism– Predation |
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Herbivory |
grazing organisms (herbivores) consume plant tissues |
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Parasitism |
parasite consumes relatively small amounts of tissue from aplant or animal (host) |
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Predation |
predator kills and consumes all or most of another organism (prey) |
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Two basic types of defenses from consumption |
– Constitutive: – Inducible: |
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Constitutive |
always presented |
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Inducible |
produced in response to predators • Variable responses • Triggered by presence of predators • Defense represents a fitness cost • Inducible defense minimizes fitness cost |
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Aposematism |
Warning colorations that advertise defenses |
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Mimicry |
• Constitutive defenses have led to 2 typesof mimicry: Mullerian Batesian |
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Mullerian mimicry |
– Spp. with similar defenses resemble eachother |
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Batesian Mimicry |
– Spp. without defenses resemble those withdefenses |
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Top down vs bottom up control ofconsumption |
• Predator/prey populations undergocycles • Bottom up: amount of prey regulatespredator abundance • Top down: predators control preyabundance |
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Exponential growth vs logistic growth |
exponential: density independent logistic: density dependent |
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Exponential groth |
r constant over time r doesnt change with density |
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Logistic growth |
r changes as a function of density r decreases with increasing density harder to procreate with less access to resources dN/dt=rmaxN[(K-N)/K] [(K-N)/K]=regulating portion |
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Carrying Capacity (K) |
the max # of individuals that can be sustained in a given habitat function of abiotic and biotic factors K varies with habitat |
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How the logistic growth eq works |
dN/dt=rmaxN[(K-N)/K] if N is small, r is close to rmax as N increases, r decreases as N approaches K, r becomes 0 |
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Density dependent vs density independent factors regulating populations |
independent:not affected by pop size dependent: becomes more pronounced with increasing density |
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Indirect interactions |
two species that do not directly interact but exert influence on each other consequence of interaction with another species that affects both of them |
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Trophic cascade |
when theres more of A->less of B, when there's less of B then there's more of C A indirectly affected C |
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R_0 vs lambda |
R_0 per generation lambda: per year/time lambda: R_0/generation time |
