Ecology

Front 1

Natural History

Back 1

The study of how \organisms in a particular area are influenced by factors such as climate, soils, predators, competitors, and evolutionary history.

Front 2

Organization of Ecological Organization

Back 2

Biosphere
Region
Landscape
Ecosystem
Community
Interactions
Population
Individuals

Front 3

Evolution

Back 3

A process by which populations change over time

Front 4

Ecology

Back 4

The study of relationships between organisms and the environment.

Front 5

Ecology

Back 5

From Oikos Greek for House. Ernst Haeckel 1866 Germany

Front 6

Most popular branches

Back 6

Populations and Ecosystems

Front 7

Populations

Back 7

Abundance of specific species

Front 8

Communities

Back 8

Interaction of Populations

Front 9

Ecosystems

Back 9

Interactions of communities

Front 10

Landscape

Back 10

Interactions of Ecosystems

Front 11

Biosphere

Back 11

Ecological processes of the Earth

Front 12

How do we study ecology?

Back 12

Observation
Natural Experiments
Manipulative Experiments
Modeling

Front 13

Natural Experiments

Back 13

No Control
No replication

Front 14

Lab Experiments

Back 14

Control Group
Replication
Take out environmental Interaction

Front 15

Field Experiments

Back 15

Controls
Sometimes Replicable

Front 16

Modeling

Back 16

Conceptual
Mathematical

Front 17

Statistics

Back 17

Hypothesis test
Identify Drivers
Compare groups

Front 18

Biome

Back 18

Classification of Terrestrial Environment
Climate
Soils
Biota (Plants)

Front 19

Climate

Back 19

Long term temperature and moisture.

Front 20

Temperature

Back 20

Depends greatly on latitude
Deserts at 30 Lat

Front 21

Between Equator and Poles

Back 21

6 Hadley Cells

Front 22

Coriolis Effect

Back 22

Earth's spin deflects Hadley cells left or right

Front 23

Tropical Biomes

Back 23

Soil Sucks
Have Epiphytes

Front 24

Tropical Savanna

Back 24

Soil is what makes it a savanna and not a dry forest

Front 25

Deserts

Back 25

Driest
Temperature excedes precipitation
Build up of caliche - CaCO3
Cryptobiotic crust - can fix atmos. nitrogen

Front 26

Temperate Shrub/woodland

Back 26

Mediterranean
Maximum temps match least rainfall (prone to fire)

Front 27

Temperate grassland

Back 27

April - October Growing
Max Rainfall @ Max Temperature
Most fertile Soils

Front 28

Temperate Forests

Back 28

More rainfall than grasslands
evergreen has more of a dry season than deciduous

Front 29

Boreal Forest

Back 29

(Taiga)
Evergreen forest with lots of wetlands
average temperature below freezing

Front 30

Tundra

Back 30

Poor soil
plants short
permafrost

Front 31

Why don't biomes match lat.?

Back 31

Because topography affects climate, too

Front 32

Life in Water

Back 32

97% Ocean
2% Ice
<2% Groundwater
<1% Fresh

Front 33

Hydrologic cycle

Back 33

Losses - Evapotranspiration
Gains - Precipitation

Front 34

Size of Pool / Rate of Evapotranspiration =

Back 34

Time

Front 35

Oceans

Back 35

Depth - Different Zones
Epi - surface
Pelagic - Open water

Front 36

Lakes

Back 36

Thermocline - where it starts to stratify

Front 37

Streams and rivers

Back 37

Currents

Front 38

Coral Reefs

Back 38

Mutualism
Coral gets photosynthate
Algae gets protection (Zoo...something)

Front 39

Biome

Back 39

A major biotic community characterized by the dominant forms of plant life and the prevailing climate.

Front 40

Soil composition varies with _____

Back 40

Depth (horizon)

Front 41

Climate

Back 41

Long-term average temperature, precipitation, atmospheric circulation

Front 42

Climate Diagrams
Top Line -
Bottom Line -
Red Highlight on month -

Back 42

Precipitation
Temperature
Growing Season

Front 43

Turnover time -

Back 43

Time for reservoir to be renewed

Front 44

Features of Aquatic Systems

Back 44

Light
Temperature
Current
Chemistry
Depth

Front 45

Why does the depth affect chemical content?

Back 45

Because different organisms at different levels of the ocean use different chemicals for life. (Photosynthetic algae at the top of lakes)

Front 46

Vertical Mixing in Lakes in -

Back 46

Fall and Spring because of uniform temperatures.

Front 47

Poikilotherms -

Back 47

Conformers.
Don't do anything to regulate temperature.

Front 48

Regulators

Back 48

Ectotherms
Endotherms
Heterotherms

Front 49

Heat Budget -

Back 49

Hs=Hm ± Hcd ± Hcv ± Hr - He

Metabolism
Conduction
Convection
Radiation
Evaporation

Front 50

Desert Plants

Back 50

Hs = Hcd ± Hcv ± Hr
Want to reduce Hs
So - Want to Decrease Hcd and or Hr, and increase Hcv

Front 51

Desert Plant Adaptations

Back 51

Highly reflective leaves lower Hr
Small leaves to increase Hcv loss
Orient leaves parallel to sunlight
Open growth form and small leaves expose more of the plant to the wind

Front 52

Arctic Plants

Back 52

Hs = Hcd ± Hcv ± Hr
Want to Increase Hs
Increase Hcd and Hr
Decrease Hcv

Front 53

Arctic Plant Adaptations

Back 53

Darkly pigmented leaves reduce reflection and increase Hr
Compact groth form decreases exposure of plant surfaces to wind
Low Hcv loss to wind
Orient Leaves perpendicular to sunlight
Ground hugging growth form increases heat gain from solar heated surroundings through Hcd and Hr

Front 54

Ectothermic Animals

Back 54

Regulate temperature via behavior
(basking, burrows, etc.)

Front 55

Animal Adaptations for Heat -

Back 55

Pressing flat against substrate to reduce Hcv
Resting on Substrate, not earth to reduce Hcd
Exposing darkly pigmented back to sun to increase Hr

Front 56

Endothermic Plant -

Back 56

Skunk Cabbage
Uses high metabolic rate to melt snow through Hr and Hcd

Front 57

Regional Heterothermy

Back 57

Being able to let certain parts of the body get cold without causing problems

Front 58

Example of Regional Heterothermy -

Back 58

Counter-current exchange

Front 59

Counter-current exchange (cold)

Back 59

Shunt (like in seagull foot) stops the blood from entering extremity. The blood transfers heat because the artery and vein are right next to each other.

Front 60

Counter-current exchange (hot)

Back 60

The air brought in through breathing cools blood that is going through cooling tubes in respiratory opening and heads up to brain when it's cooled.

Front 61

Torpor -

Back 61

Reduction in metabolic rate
survive temperature extremes
-hibernation (winter)
-estivation (summer)

Front 62

Example of Torpor -

Back 62

Hummingbirds can enter short term torpor on cold nights.

Front 63

Ways to measure water in air -

Back 63

Grams of vapor per cubic meter of air..
or by the pressure exerted by the water vapor in air

Front 64

Low temperatures, air is saturated by _______

Back 64

Low quantities of water vapor.

Front 65

Temperature increases and the amount of water air holds ____

Back 65

Increases.

Front 66

Water Budget (plants)

Back 66

Wip = Wr + Wa - Wt - Ws

Front 67

Water Budget (aniimals)

Back 67

Wia = Wd + Wf + Wa - We - Ws

Front 68

VPD -

Back 68

Vapor Pressure Deficit

Front 69

High VPD =
Low VPD =

Back 69

Higher Evaporative water loss
lower evaporative water loss

Front 70

Water moves down gradient of _______

Back 70

high to low potential.

Front 71

________ has the lowest water potential.

Back 71

Dry air

Front 72

Ψ Equation

Back 72

Ψplant = Ψsolutes + Ψmatric +Ψpressure

Front 73

For the flow of water to continue from the roots...

Back 73

Ψleaf must be lower than Ψroot

Front 74

For transpiration to occur...

Back 74

atmosphere must be lower than Ψleaf

Front 75

Main water loss by animals -

Back 75

Evaporation

Front 76

Main water acquisition -

Back 76

With food and drinking

Front 77

Metabolic water -

Back 77

Water released during cellular respiration

Front 78

Example of metabolic water -

Back 78

Kangaroo rat.
Doesn't need to drink, the oxidation of its food is enough to balance it out.
Most loss is through evaporation.
Secretions are only moderate losses.

Front 79

Example Water strategy -

Back 79

Tenebrionid Beetles.
Get most water by drinking water that condenses on their abdomen and then falls to their mouth.
Secretions not a problem.

Front 80

Scorpions -

Back 80

High humidity in burrow
Only come out of burrow at night when temperatures are lower
Have a cuticle to help reduce evaporation
Low metabolic rate reduces respiration

Front 81

Plant Water Adaptations -

Back 81

Increase root mass during dry conditions
Decrease leaf area

Front 82

Wilting effectively...

Back 82

reduced leaf area to decrease water loss

Front 83

Examples of Adaptations in the desert -

Back 83

Cactus exposes only tops of trunk and branches to mid day sun
Water stored in trunk and arms
Trunk and branches insulated with high density of spines
Keeps stomata closed allowing temperature to rise
Camel - doesn't sweat and allows temperature to rise
Faces directly into sun
Carries not water in hump, but metabolic water
dense hair reduces heat gain

Front 84

Isoosmotic

Back 84

Salts and water diffuse in and out at same rate

Front 85

Hypoosmotic

Back 85

Lower salts inside, High water inside
Salts come in, Water goes out

Front 86

Hyperosmotic

Back 86

Higher salts inside, lower water inside
Salts out, Water in

Front 87

Leibig's law

Back 87

if one crop of the nutritive elements is deficient or lacking, plant growth will be poor even when all the other elements are abundant. Any deficiency of a nutrient, no matter how small an amount is needed, will hold back plant development.

Front 88

Photoshynthesis -

Back 88

Capture solar energy
convert solar energy to ATP and electron carrier
Use products to fix CO2 into organic matter

Front 89

Ways to capture light -

Back 89

Chlorophylls
Carotenoids
Bacteriochlorophyll
Rhodopsin

Front 90

C3 Photosynthesis -

Back 90

CO2 combines with RuBP to form PGA

Rubisco, PGA, photorespiration

Front 91

C4 Photosynthesis -

Back 91

PEP - don't need to open so many stomata

PEP carboxylase, Rubisco, oxaloacetate

Front 92

CAM or Crassulacean acid metabolism -

Back 92

Open stomata at night when temperatures are lower and humidity higher.

PEP carboxylase, Rubisco, malic acid

Front 93

Chemosynthesis -

Back 93

CO2 fixation using chemical energy
Sulfur Oxidation (black smokers and acid mine drainage)
Nitrification
Methane oxidation
Metal Oxidation
Supports life in the dark

Front 94

Herbivores -
Carnivores -
Detritovores -

Back 94

Plants
Animal Flesh
Non-living organic matter

Front 95

Macronutrients -

Back 95

5 elements make up 93-97% of biomass of plants, animals, fungi and bacteria
Carbon
Oxygen
Hydrogen
Nitrogen
Phosphorus

Front 96

Food quality ratio -

Back 96

C:N

Front 97

Herbivores -

Back 97

Must overcome plant physical and chemical defenses

Front 98

Plant physical defenses -

Back 98

Cellulose; lignin; silica; spines

Front 99

Chemical plant defenses -

Back 99

Tanins; alkaloids; oxalic acid

Front 100

Detritovores -

Back 100

Consume food rich in carbon but poor in nitrogen
Dead leaves = half the nitrogen content
Fresh detritus may still have considerable chemical defenses present

Front 101

Aposomatic coloring -

Back 101

Warning colors

Front 102

Mullerian mimicry -

Back 102

Comimicry among several species of noxious organisms

Front 103

Batesian mimicry -

Back 103

Harmless species mimic noxious species

Front 104

Herbivores

Back 104

Problem of cellulose and chemical defense

Front 105

Optimal foraging -

Back 105

Cost benefit

Front 106

Factors of optimal foraging -

Back 106

Encounter rate
Energy content of prey item
cost of searching
cost of handling