Ecology

Front 1

Ecological maxims (guiding principles)

Back 1

1. Organisms interact and are interconnected
2. Everything goes somewhere
3. No population can increase in size forever
4. Finite energy and resources result in tradeoffs
5. Organisms evolve
6. Communities and ecosystems change over time
7. Spatial scale matters

Front 2

general misconceptions of ecology

Back 2

1. balance of nature - return to original preferred state
after disturbance

2. each species has a distinct role to play in
maintaining that balance

Front 3

Population

Back 3

Group of individuals of a species that are living and interacting in a particular area.

Front 4

Community

Back 4

Association of populations of different species in the same area.

Front 5

Producers

Back 5

Capture energy from an external source (ex. the sun) and use it to produce food

Front 6

Ecosystem

Back 6

Community of organisms plus the physical environment.

Front 7

Landscape

Back 7

Areas with substantial differences, typically including multiple ecosystems.

Front 8

Biosphere

Back 8

All the world’s ecosystems comprise the ....

Front 9

Adaptation

Back 9

A characteristic that improves survival or reproduction.

Front 10

Natural Selection

Back 10

Individuals with certain adaptations tend to survive and reproduce at a higher rate than other individuals.

Front 11

Net primary productivity (NPP)

Back 11

Energy captured by producers, minus the amount lost as heat in cellular respiration.

Front 12

Consumers

Back 12

Get energy by eating other organisms or their remains.

Front 13

Energy

Back 13

1. Can not be recycled it is one directional

Front 14

Nutrient Cycle

Back 14

Nutrients are
continuously recycled from
the physical environment
to organisms and back
again

Front 15

Ecological
Experiments:
Design and
Analysis

Back 15

1. Assignments of treatments and control

2. Replication

3. Random assignment of treatments

4. Statistical Analyses (statistical vs.
biological significance)

Front 16

Scientific Method

Back 16

1. Make observations and ask questions.

2. Use previous knowledge or intuition to develop hypotheses.

3. Evaluate hypotheses by experimentation, observational studies, or quantitative models.

4. Use the results to modify the hypotheses, pose new questions, or draw conclusions about the natural world.

Front 17

Why are Amphibians are “biological indicators” of environmental problems?

Back 17

1. Skin is permeable; pollutant molecules can pass through easily.

2.Eggs have no protective shell. Exposed to enviroment

3. They spend part of life on land and part in water—exposed to pollutants and UV in both environments.

Front 18

Meta Study

Back 18

Doing a study by looking at a whole bunch of studies.

Front 19

convergence

Back 19

Evolution of similar growth forms among distantly related species in response to similar selection.

Front 20

Biosphere

Back 20

Zone of life on Earth.

Front 21

Biomes

Back 21

large-scale biological
communities shaped by the physical
environment, particularly climate

Front 22

Terrestrial biomes are characterized by ...

Back 22

growth
forms of the dominant plants, such as leaf
deciduousness or succulence.

Front 23

succulence

Back 23

thick leathery leaves

Front 24

Deciduous Trees

Back 24

Moist, seasonall warm/coo or cool/cold on fertile soils. Or warm, seasonally wet/dry

Front 25

Cacti and shrubs

Back 25

Dry, seasonal hot/cool

Front 26

Needle-leaved evergreen trees

Back 26

moist, seasonally warm/cool on cool/cold INFIRTILE soils