Ecology

Front 1

What are the four main levels of ecology?

Back 1

organism, population, community, ecosystem

Front 2

individual interaction with environment and each other.
ex. male and female salmon fight during breeding season

physiological/ behavioral adaptations that affect fitness (ability to reproduce) of individuals

Back 2

Organism ecology

Front 3

Number of individuals in a population changing over time
ex. mathematical models

group of individuals from the same species that live in the same place at the same time

Back 3

Population ecology

Front 4

How species interact and the consequences of their interaction
ex. salmon can be predator and prey

Back 4

Community ecology

Front 5

Energy and nutrient cycle through environment; biotic and abiotic factors
ex. salmon dies and decompose..circle of life

species in ecosystem-> effect on species

Back 5

Ecosystem ecology

Front 6

Cycle in global air circulation; regions with rising air tend to be wetter than regions with descending air

Back 6

Hadley Cell- cycle

Front 7

Biome with high temp and precipitation, low variation in temp
ex. belem, Brazil

Back 7

Tropical Wet Forests

Front 8

biome with low precipitation and varying temperature located at approximately 30 degrees latitude

Back 8

Subtropical desert

Front 9

biome with moderate temp, summers long and warm, winters cold and short; many grasses
ex. denver, Colorado

Back 9

Temperate grassland

Front 10

biome with moderate temp, moderate precipitation; broad leaved deciduous trees
ex. Chicago, Illinois

Back 10

temperate forest

Front 11

biome with very cold winters, short summers, high variation in temp, low variation in precipitation; low productivity; needle leaved evergreens
ex. Canada, Russia, Alaska

Back 11

Boreal Forest (Taiga)

Front 12

biome with temp and precipitation very low, treeless, low productivity

Back 12

Arctic Tundra

Front 13

aquatic zone characterized by the seashore, shallow where plants are rooted; high photosynthetic productivity

Back 13

Littoral Zone

Front 14

aquatic zone characterized by open water that supports photosynthesis
ex. lake

Back 14

limnetic Zone

Front 15

aquatic zone characterized by the depth of zone; provides habitat for animals and bacteria
ex. common area for decomposers

Back 15

benthic Zone

Front 16

bodies of water that move constantly in 1 direction

Back 16

stream

Front 17

environment where the river meets ocean; one of the most productive environments on earth

Back 17

Estuary

Front 18

marine environment along the shore

Back 18

intertidal zone

Front 19

marine environment that spans from intertidal zone to the open ocean 200m deep... defined by the end of the continental shelf and where most fishing occurs

Back 19

Neritic Zone

Front 20

marine environment that spans the rest of the open ocean, unproductive

Back 20

Oceanic Zone

Front 21

explains how actions occur in terms of neurological, hormonal, and skeletal-muscular mechanisms involved.... how does an individual do something?

Back 21

Proximate behavior study

Front 22

Explains why actions occur; based on the evolutionary consequences and history... why does an individual do something?

Back 22

ultimate behavior study

Front 23

change in behavior that results from specific experience in life of individual

Back 23

learning

Front 24

stereotypical behavior patterns that
1. have no variation in performance
2. species specific
3. once action begins it continues to completion
ex. innate behavior

Back 24

Fixed Action Patterns (FAP)

Front 25

type of learning where individual is trained by experience to give the same response to more than one stimulus
ex. pavlov dog

Back 25

classical conditioning

Front 26

a form of navigation that uses familiar landmarks

Back 26

piloting

Front 27

form of navigation where the movement is oriented in a specific direction

Back 27

compass orientation

Front 28

self- sacrificing behavior

Back 28

altruism

Front 29

measure of how closely the actor and beneficiary are related for altruism to occur

Back 29

Coefficient of relatedness

Front 30

Rule that states if the fitness benefits of altruistic behavior are..
1. high for recipients
2. recipients are close relatives
3. fitness cost to altruist low
..then alleles associated with altruistic behavior will be favored by natural selection

Back 30

Hamilton's rule

Front 31

the study of factors that determine the size and structure of a population over time; population depends on birth, death, immigration, and emmigration

Back 31

demography

Front 32

table that summarizes probability that an individual will survive and reproduce in any given year over the course of it's lifetime

Back 32

life table

Front 33

proportion of offspring produces that survive on average to a particular age

Back 33

survivorship

Front 34

a group of the same age that can be followed through time

Back 34

cohort

Front 35

number of female offspring produced by each female in the population

Back 35

fecundity

Front 36

r-max; when birth rate is as high as possible and death rate is as low as possible; function of species life history

Back 36

Intrinsic rate of Increase

Front 37

how an individual allocated resources to growth, reproduction, and activities related to survival

Back 37

life history

Front 38

model that estimates the likelihood that a population will avoid extinction for a given time period

Back 38

population viability analysis

Front 39

the study of how organisms interact with their environment; goal is to understand distribution and abundance of organism.. why certain species live where they do and how organisms interact with environment

Back 39

ecology

Front 40

social movement that believes human actions are leading to degradation of the planet
1. uses ecological info for guidance on environment questions/ issues
2. morals, biases, trying to change

Back 40

environmentalism

Front 41

niche where abiotic range of conditions is favorable to species (all characteristics)

Back 41

fundamental niche

Front 42

Niche that is modified by biotic interactions (competition and predation)... where organisms actually exist

Back 42

realized niche

Front 43

study of how the interplay between biotic interactions and abiotic conditions translated into broad scale patterns of biodiversity

Back 43

biogeography

Front 44

energy invested into new tissue per unit of time
..limiting factors include nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, minerals)

Back 44

net primary productivity

Front 45

diagram that demonstrates the energy flow from organism consumed to consumer

Back 45

Food web

Front 46

How do humans alter the nitrogen cycle?

Back 46

fossil fuels, nitrogen fixing crops, nitrogen fertilizes

Front 47

What does extra nitrogen do?

Back 47

1. causes aquatic life to boom then bust
2. dead zone in gulf of mexico

Front 48

use of defense of resource by one individual that reduces availability of that resource to other individuals

Back 48

competition

Front 49

competition within a species

Back 49

intraspecific

Front 50

competition between species

Back 50

interspecific

Front 51

How do humans alter the nitrogen cycle?

Back 51

fossil fuels, nitrogen fixing crops, nitrogen fertilizes

Front 52

What does extra nitrogen do?

Back 52

1. causes aquatic life to boom then bust
2. dead zone in gulf of mexico

Front 53

use of defense of resource by one individual that reduces availability of that resource to other individuals
requirements:
1. limited resources
2. shared resources

Back 53

competition

Front 54

competition within a species

Back 54

intraspecific

Front 55

competition between species

Back 55

interspecific

Front 56

Principle that states that it is not possible for two species with the same niche to coexist

Back 56

Competitive Exclusion Principle (Gause)

Front 57

association of interacting species in a defined area

Back 57

Ecological Community

Front 58

number of species in an ecological community

Back 58

richness

Front 59

combination of richness and relative abundance for species

Back 59

diversity

Front 60

A way to measure diversity where H' is between 0-1 (probability)

-increases with richness
-increases with evenness

Back 60

Shannon-Weaver Index

Front 61

Type of succession where nothing is left after disturbance so succession is slow

Back 61

primary succession

Front 62

type of succession where some organisms and soil survive after disturbance; succession rapid

Back 62

secondary succession

Front 63

Hypothesis that states:
1. diversity maximum at intermediate time following a disturbance
and/or
2. diversity maximum at intermediate level of disturbance

Back 63

Intermediate Disturbance hypothesis (IDH)

Front 64

relationship where disturbance decreases diversity occurs in the...

Back 64

desert, forest

Front 65

relationship where disturbance increases diversity occurs in the...

Back 65

grasslands, intertidal zone

Front 66

4 important factors that affect species diversity

Back 66

area, predation, habitat diversity, disturbance

Front 67

field of science that studies species with the threat of extinction

Back 67

Conservation Biology

Front 68

biodiversity is important because it (3 reasons):

Back 68

1. ecosystem stability
2. ecosystem services
3. provides good and services

Front 69

type of diversity where total genetic in formation is contained within a species

Back 69

genetic diversity

Front 70

type of diversity that depends on richness and abundance

Back 70

species diversity

Front 71

type of diversity that depends on the variety of biotic communities in a region

Back 71

ecosystem diversity

Front 72

3 major factors that cause populations to decline include:

Back 72

1) habitat loss
2) overexploitation
3) introduction of exotic species

Front 73

(-/-) relationship that occurs when different individuals use the same resources and when those resources are limited

Back 73

Competition

Front 74

pairs of species that influence each others evolution
ex. predator/prey; parasite/host

Back 74

coevolutionary arms race

Front 75

competition within species (usually for space, sunlight, food) ; major cause of density- dependent growth

Back 75

intraspecific

Front 76

competition between species

Back 76

Interspecific

Front 77

principle that states that it is not possible for species with the same niche to coexist

Back 77

competitive exclusion principle

Front 78

type of competition where one species suffers a much greater fitness decline then the other

Back 78

asymmetric competition

Front 79

type of competition where each species experiences roughly equal decrease in fitness

Back 79

symmetric competition

Front 80

type of competition where 2 species consume the same resources

Back 80

consumptive competition

Front 81

type of competition where 1 species makes space unavailable to others

Back 81

preemptive competition

Front 82

type of competition where 1 species grows above other

Back 82

overgrowth competition

Front 83

type of competition where 1 species produces toxins that hurt other species

Back 83

chemical competition

Front 84

type of competition where 1 species protects its territory from the other

Back 84

territorial competition

Front 85

type of competition where 2 species interfere directly for access to specific resources

Back 85

encounter competition

Front 86

when harmful prey species resemble each other

Back 86

Mullerian mimicry

Front 87

when harmless prey species resemble harmful species

Back 87

Batesian mimicry

Front 88

Hypothesis that states that herbivore populations are limited by predation or disease

Back 88

top down control

Front 89

hypothesis that contends that plants are a poor food source in terms of nutrients they provide for herbivores
ex. nitrogen limitation

Back 89

poor-nutrition hypothesis

Front 90

hypothesis that states that plants defend themselves effectively enough to limit herbivory

Back 90

plant- defense hypothesis

Front 91

(+/+) interaction where both organisms benefit from interaction

Back 91

mutualism

Front 92

species that has a much greater impact on surrounding species than its abundance would suggest

Back 92

keystone species

Front 93

3 hypotheses to explain what limits length of food chain

Back 93

1. energy transfer
2. stability (through disturbances)
3. environmental complexity

Front 94

the total amount of photosynthesis in a given area and time period

Back 94

gross primary productivity

Front 95

efficiency with which plants use the total amount of energy available to them

Back 95

gross photosynthetic efficiency

Front 96

completely decayed organic material

Back 96

humus

Front 97

areas drained by single stream

Back 97

watershed

Front 98

4 components of an ecosystem

Back 98

1. abiotic environment
2. primary producers
3. consumers
4. decomposers