Boag Connect #3 (March 23-April 2)

Front 1

Biological Community

Back 1

Consists of interacting species, usually living within a defined area

• Lies between the spacial scales of a biome and a population

Front 2

Community Ecology

Back 2

Studies how groups of species interact and form functional communities

Front 3

Ecotone

Back 3

Areas where distinct communities meet

• Can be sharp or gradual
• often overlap of populations is broad

Front 4

Ecological Niche

Back 4

Distinctive lifestyle and role of an organism in a community

• Takes into account all biotic and abiotic aspects
• Two variants: Fundamental and Realized

Front 5

Fundamental Niche

Back 5

Potential ecological niche for an organism, in absence of competing species and predators

Front 6

Realized Niche

Back 6

Niche an organism actually occupies

• Focus on biotic factors

Front 7

Competition

Back 7

Two or more individuals attempting to use the same resource, including space

• Two levels: Intraspecific and interspecific

Front 8

Intraspecific Competition

Back 8

Among individuals within a population (same species)

Front 9

Interspecific Competition

Back 9

Between different species

Front 10

Alleopathy

Back 10

Organism produces one or more biochemicals that influence growth, survival, and reproduction of other organisms

Front 11

Consumptive Competition

Back 11

Organisms consume the same resources (different and same species)

Front 12

Competitive Exclusion Principle

Back 12

Two species cannot permanently occupy the same niche in the same community for an indefinite amount of time

• One species is excluded by another b/c competition
• "Complete competitors cannot coexist" - Hardin

Front 13

Types of Ecological Interactions

Back 13

1. Harm (-/-) [depresses fitness of both]
2. Predation or Parasitism (-/+)
3. Amensalism (-/0)
4. Commensalism (+/0)
5. Mutualism (+/+) [fitness of both is increased]

Front 14

Prey Defenses

Back 14

• Mechanical defenses
• Associating in groups (bird flocks)
• Cryptic colouration (insects resemble environment)
• Warning colouration (send signal that its poison - newts)
• Mullerian mimicry
• Batesian mimicry

Front 15

Mullerian Mimicry

Back 15

Resemblance of two harmful prey species

• Convergent evolution

Front 16

Batesian Mimicry

Back 16

Resemblance of an innocuous prey species to a dangerous prey species

Front 17

Ecological Succession

Back 17

Both a pattern and a process; mediated by competition and arrival of new species adapted to changing conditions in each sere

Front 18

Sere

Back 18

Succession stage

Front 19

Primary Succession

Back 19

Occurs in an area not previously inhabited (e.g. rock/gravel after glaciation)

• No well established soil

Front 20

Secondary Succession

Back 20

Occurs where there is pre-existing climax community and well-formed soil

• e.g. after fire or clear cutting
• Quicker than primary
• "old field" succession = most common

Front 21

Arms Race

Back 21

Characterizes interactions between predators/parasites and prey

• even mutualisms are subject to 'cheating' and evolutionary instability may result over time

Front 22

Highly Developed Countries

Back 22

Low birth rate, low infant mortality, long life expectancies, top-heavy age structure, high avg. personal income

Front 23

Developing Countries

Back 23

High birth rate, high infant mortality, short life expectancies, bottom heavy age structure, low avg. personal income

Front 24

Biological Diversity

Back 24

Variety of organisms at three levels:

1. Genetic diversity
2. Species diversity
3. Ecosystem diversity

Front 25

What are the causes of declining biological diversity?

Back 25

• Mostly habitat loss and fragmentation
  • Pollution, introduction of invasive species, pest and predator control, commercial activity

Front 26

What are the 'ecosystem services' that forests provide?

Back 26

• Watershed protection
• Soil erosion prevention
• Climate moderation
• Protection from flooding
• Wildlife habitat

Front 27

Conservation Biology

Back 27

• Study of how humans affect species and communities
  • Development of ways to protect biological diversity, either species by species or at the ecosystem level

Front 28

Endangered Species Act (ESA)

Back 28

• Authorizes the US Fish and Wildlife Service to protect biodiversity domestically and abroad
  • In Canada this is the SARA (species at risk act)

Front 29

CITIES

Back 29

International organization to protect species from illegal international wildlife trade

• Poaching only profitable if markets exist and export/import allowed

Front 30

In Situ Conservation

Back 30

Efforts to preserve biological diversity in the wild

• Works if local communities have vested interest in success

Front 31

Ex Situ Conservation

Back 31

Efforts to preserve biological diversity in human-controlled settings

• Zoos and botanic gardens = short term solutions

Front 32

Ecosystems

Back 32

Consist of the communities of organisms that live in the area and their physical and chemical abiotic environments

Front 33

Ecosystem Ecology

Back 33

The study of how energy flows among components of an ecosystem

• How carbon, nitrogen, and other key elements cycle through organisms, sediments, the oceans, and the atmosphere
  • how humans affect the environment

Front 34

Biogeography

Back 34

Environmental and historical factors explain plant and animal distributions on the globe

• affected how and where human civilization appeared

Front 35

Four Components in Every Ecosystem

Back 35

1. Primary producers
2. Consumers (secondary producers)
3. Decomposers
4. The abiotic environment

• Linked by energy flow

Front 36

Primary Producer (Autotroph)

Back 36

Organism that synthesizes its own food from inorganic materials and energy sources

• support ecosystems by transforming sunlight to chemical energy stored in sugars, used for maintenance, respiration, growth, and reproduction

Front 37

Gross Primary Productivity (GPP)

Back 37

Rate at which photosynthesis captures energy

• equivalent to carbon fixed during photosynthesis

Front 38

Net Primary Productivity (NPP)

Back 38

Energy available to consumers (both herbivores and carnivores)

• Energy invested in new tissue after plants and other producers carry out cellular respiration

Front 39

Decomposers (Detritivores/Saprotrophs)

Back 39

Feed on waste products or dead remains of other organisms

Front 40

10% Rule

Back 40

Only 10% of energy flows through to the next trophic level (90% energy lost)

Front 41

Which ecosystems have the highest total Net Primary Productivity?

Back 41

Tropical wet forests (high NPP per unit area, large area) and open ocean (low NPP per unit area, but very large area)

Front 42

What limits productivity of terrestrial or marine ecosystems?

Back 42

• Terrestrial: Limited by a combination of temperature and availability of water and sunlight (lowest in deserts and arctic regions)
• Freshwater & Marine: Limited by specific nutrients

Front 43

Eutrophication

Back 43

Caused by excess of macronutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus

• Adding micronutrients like iron to oceans could increase production and help sequester atmospheric CO2

Front 44

Standing Crop

Back 44

Available biomass (eg. algae) at any given moment

• Low in oceans because most primary producers are consumed as soon as they are produced

Front 45

Biomagnification

Back 45

Pollutants (eg. DDT, PBCs) become more concentrated as they move from lower to higher trophic levels

Front 46

Biogeochemical Cycles

Back 46

Nutrients cycle from organism to organism in an ecosystem via assimilation, consumption, and decomposition

• Nutrients are exported from an ecosystem by migration organisms or by flowing water/groundwater

Front 47

What factors control the rate of nutrient cycling in ecosystems?

Back 47

Decomposition of detritus

• Decomposition rate influenced by abiotic conditions and quality of detritus as nutrient source
• Decomposers often very abundant in terms of biomass (includes invertebrates, bacteria, and fungi)

Front 48

Global Carbon Cycle

Back 48

Involves the movement of carbon among terrestrial ecosystems, the oceans, and the atmosphere

• Ocean is largest reservoir

Front 49

Greenhouse Gasses

Back 49

Trap heat radiated from earth and keep it from being lost to space

• Transmit short wavelengths, reflect long ones
• Increased GG b/c human activities like agriculture and burning of fossil fuels
• CO2 not sole determinant of global warming