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84 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
Define Community.

What determine's Community Structure?
Community: an association of interacting species inhabiting a defined area.

Structure is determined by:
1) number of species
2) relative abundance of species
3) kinds of species comprising the community
What is the typical pattern of species abundance in a population?
Clumped
Define:
Diversity

Richness

Evenness
Diversity: variety of species present (a combination of richness and evenness)

Richness: # of species in a community

Evenness: the relative abundance of species
How to interpret a rank abundance curve
plot the relative abundance of species against their rank in abundance
What is the relationship between environmental complexity and species diversity?
Species diversity INCREASES with environmental complexity
What factors help determine the diversity of plants?

of animals?
plants= nutrients in the soil, disturbance

animals= the plants available to eat
What is the role of disturbance in community structure?
It depends, it vaies from one organism to another and from one environment to another. Includes both abiotic and biotic factors
Explain the intermediate disturbance hypothesis
species diversity is HIGHEST at intermediate levels of disturbance
Coyote Case study
Keynote Species

Dominant Species

Ecosystem Engineers
Keynote: species that despite low biomass, exerts a strong effect on community structure

Dominant: substantially influence community structure because they are very ABUNDANT

Ecosystem Engineers: an organism that causes changes in the physical environment sufficient to influence the structure of landscapes, ecosystems or communities.
Define: Succession

Primary Succession

Secondary Succession
Succession= the change in plant, animal, and microbial communities in an area following disturbance or the creation of new substraight.

Primary: disturbance is severe, no vegetation or soil remaints ex: glacial retreat or volcano

Secondary: soil is intact, starting over in vegetation ex: fires, logging
How does species richness change during succession?
1. increased species diversity

2. changes in species composition
Explain the ecosystem changes that occur during succession
1) Biomass increases
2) primary production occurs
3) respiration occurs
4) Nutrients are retained
Differentiate between
Facilitation
Inhibition
Tolerance
Facilitation: pioneer species modify the environment making it less suitable for themselves and more suitable for others

Inhibition: early arrivals inhibit colonization of later arrivals

Tolerance: no facilitation or inhibition. later succession species are those able to tolerate a broad range of characteristics.
Differentiate between the relay forensics model and initial florists model
Relay Floristics: Pioneer species come. Then intermediate. then climax species= no overlap

Initial Floristics: there is some overlap between pioneer, intermediate and climax species
Define: Climax community
community whose population remains stable until disrupted by disturbance
Define:
Community Stability

Resistence:

Resillance:
Stability: absence of change, persistence of a community or ecosystem in the face of disturbance

Resistence: the abilty to maintain structure and/or functino in the face of potential disturbance

Resilliance: the ability to bounce back after a disturbance
Island biogeography case study
What is the relationship between species richness and area?
Bigger area= more species richness!
Relationship between island ISOLATION and species richness
More isolated= less species richness
Explain the equilibrium model of island biogeography.
-immigration rates
-extinction rates
Eqiulib model= plots the immigration and extinction rates. The point where they meet is the equilibrium.

Immigration Rates: the rate of arrival of new species on an island.
- Highest when the island has no species.
- Determined by distance from source.

Extinction Rates: rate at which species go extinct on an island.
- Increases as number of species on an island increases.
- Determined by islands size.
Describe the SLOSS debate
looks at wether the best way to preserve biodiversity is to have a single very large preserve or several small preserves. Depending on the species or area, either choice may be correct.
Differentiate between Primary and Net Primary production
Primary= production of new organic matter by autotrophs in an ecosystem

Net Primary Production= the amount of organic matter produced by primary producers MINUS (-) the energy it takes to produce it
What is the relationship between actual evapotranspiration and primary production?
Actual Evapotranspiration= the amount of water lost from an ecosystem to the atmospehre due to a combination of evaporation and transpiration by plants. this LIMITS primary production
Leibig's Law of the Minimum
The nutrient that is in short supply controls the rate that things happen. If you add more nitrogen to the soil and plants grow, then nitrogen was limiting. If they don't grow it's something else.
What are trophic levels? What limits the number of trophic levels in a community?
Trophic levels: the position in a food web

- is determined by the # of transfers of energy from primary producers to that level
10% rule= only 10% of the energy from one trophic level makes it to the next
Bottom up vs. Top down control
Bottom Up: populations at any given trophic level are controlled by the populations in the tropic level below them

Top Down: "world is green" proposition; top predators control the abundance of plant populations indirectly through their direct control of herbivoires
Nutrient Cycling and Retention
Chapter 19
Why is phosphorous essential? Explain cycle.
Phosphorous is essential in ATP, DNA, RNA & Phosphilipids.

It is released through the weathering of rocks and absorbed by plants (microrrhizae_. Much of it is washed into rivers and ends up in the ocean and becomes ocean sediments. Geological uplift creates new land. Cycles begin again.
Why is nitrogen essential?
Explain Cycle.

Ammonification
Nitrification
Dentrification
Nitrogen is in Amino Acids, Nucleic Acids and Chlorophyll.

Nitrogen is 78% of atmosphere but largely unavailable due to strong tripple bond. Nitrogen fizers *cyanobavteria, free living soil bacteria) break the bond and turn it into ammonia. Then organisms can use it. WHen they die, fungi and bacteria break organic nitrogen down into ammonium (ammonification). Then ammonium is converted into nutrate by other bacteria (Nitrification) and Nitrogen reenters the atmospher via (dentrification) when bacteria turns nuitrate into molecular nitrogen.
Why is Carbon important?
Explain cycle.
Carbon is essential for all organic molecules and influences global climate.

Photosynthesis takes carbon out of the atmosphere and respiration returns it to the atmosphere. Carbon can remain locked in fossil fuels, soil and peat for a long time. Recently, burning fossil fuels has been a major source of atmospheric carbon.
What factors influence decomposition rates?
-list & explain
1) Temperature: warmer temp= faster decomposition
2) Moisture: Wetter= faster decomp
3) Chemical composition of litter: more cellulose and lignin = slower decomposition
4) Environment: animals shred and burrow through litter causing it to decay faster.
What is required for a nutrient to cycle globally?
must be volatile/have a gaseous space
Differentiate between short term and long term carbon pools
Long term (peet), fossil fuels (carbon just sites due to slow decomposition rates)

Short term= in living plant matter, in the biomass as longa s the plant is alive
What prediction does the equilibrium model make for species composition on islands over time?
Gives a balance of two species; immigration vs. extinction. Over time, species are coming and going. Predicts a number, but not who.
Test 1
Questions
4 Missouri Ecoregions
1. Central dissected Till plains
2. Osage plains
3. Ozark Highlands
4. Mississippi Alluvial Basin
Woodland
Prairie
Glade
Forest
Wetland
Savana
Woodland: canopy varies 30-100% closure with spares understory and dense ground flora

Forest: trees forming a closed canopy and intersperesd with multilayerd shade-tolerant sub canopy trees, shrubs, etc.

Prairie: dominated by perrenial grasses with scattered shrubs/trees

Glade: open, rocky barrens dominated by drought-adapted forbs

Wetland: hydric soils and hydrophillic vegetation

Savanna: grasslands intersperes with open grwn scattered trees; orchard like groves
5 processes of soil formation
1. Parent material
2. topography
3. Biological
4. Time
5. Climate
Soil Horizons:
O- most organic matter
A- topsoil
E- leached clay
B- accumulated clay
Explain process of cation exchange- How does acid rain affect it?
The inorganic matter in soil (clay) holds a negative charge. Plants hold a slightly positive charge, allowing for the exchange of positives and negatives between the plant and soil. Acid rain would hold a positive charge, therefore the soil woudl be more positive and would not exchange with the plant in the way it is suppoesed to. Clay attracts/holds H+ ions, plants release H+, this causes cations to be released in soil where plants can take them up.
Differences in temperature between dallas and San diego?
Affected by the water. Land Cools and heats faster than water for 4 reasons:
1. Water has high specific heat (takes energy to heat)
2. Transmission: how deep heat can penetrate
3. Mobility: water has waves/motion, distributing the heat.
4. Evaporation: faster moving causes it.

1. San diego is on the pacific making it cooler because of precipitation and weather currents coming of the ocean. dallas is warmer because there are no currents productng moisture.
Define: evolution by natural selection
A population can become more adapted to it's environment via natural selection.
Utisols are most commonly found in?
Ozark Highlands
Very low levels of precipitation are associated with all the following regions except?
upper middle latitudes, along the west coasts.
In a population of birds, the average beak size is selected against the large and small beaks. what is this an example of?
Disruptive Selection
Which of the following reduces genetic diversity between populations?
Migration and gene flow
Atmospheric and Oceanic Circulation patterns
Create wsterlies and explain why our weather comes predominantly from the west. Explains why tropics recieve so much rainfall, as well as why there are deserts at 3-degrees north and south latitudes. Distrubtes warm air and water poleward and thus moderates climate throughout globe.
Guppy population, male fish vary from one another considerably. ... Which of the following is true?
C. The proportions of guppies having different traits within a population will change
Which of the following is not an important determinant of seasonal and latitudinal temperature differences?
The variable earth-sun distance
T/F-soil is comprised of 50% solid material adn 50% pore space. Pores may be filled with air or water; the more saturated the soil, the less oxygen available for soil orgnisms
True
T/F on the december solstice the sun's rays at noon are perpendicupar to the tropic of cancer
False
T/F volcanoes, glacers, oceans, uplift and erosion have all shaped missouri's landscapes
True
T/F relative humidity and temperature have an inverse relationship; this is because warm air has a greater capacity to hold water than cold air
True
T/F heritability determines the potential for evolutionary change in a trait
TRUE
T/F a mild climate gradient exists across missouri; precipitation travels from NW missouri to SE missouri
True
T/F the work of the grants showed that evolution could not ocur quickly enough to observe in a few field seasons.
True
t/f Topographic barriers force air to ascend. Ascending air cools causing water vapor to condense and precipitation to fall on the windward side of the barrier
True
t/f Soil texture is a measure of both the inorganic and organic components of the soiil
Falso
t/f most of missouri's natural communities are dependent on periodic fires to maintain community structure
True
T/F selection pressure refers to the influence of a particular factor has on the ability of an organism to survive and reproduce
True
T/F endemic means that the species has very specific habitat requirements
False
T/F fitness is determined byt he ability of an organism to survive, grow and reproduce in a particular habitat
True
Test 2
Questions
Given a landscape photo.
Altitude: higher altitudes have thiner, cooler air due to less molecule collisions
Aspect: the NE slopes are cooler and more moist than SW slopes
Microtopography: burrows and concave surfaces have different climates
Vegetation:trees/vegetation affect wind, moisture and temp
Color of Ground: albedo affect; light reflection and absorption
Proximity to water: ** 4 factors of water
Relationship between temp and animal performance given a graph
shows acclimation or physiological adjustment to temperatures. This can be reversible. Animals must tolerature the temperature or evolve. The graph shows that animals perform best at a narrow range of temperatures.
Plants & animal adaptations w/ water
Plants= water from roots, lost through transpiration, waxy cuticle, closed stomata

Animals= water from food and drink, lost through secretions/excretions, produce thick excretion of feces
Feeding types of
Animals
Plants
Protist
Prokaryotes
Aniamls=Heterotrophic
Plants= photosynthetic and heterotrophic
Protists= photo and hetero
Prokaryotes= chemosynthetic, photo and hetero
Hyposmotic environments vs. Isosmotic
Hyperosmotic is more favorable for plants.

Isoosmotic is better for animals
Acclimation
physiological (not genetic) changes in response to temperature; are generally reversible
PAR
involves visible light. UV light carries too much energy, infrared carries too little for photosynthesis
Plant tissues with high C:N ratio have ________ nitrogen content
have low nitrogen content
When vapor pressure deficit is high the rate of water loss by an organism is __________
the rate of water loss by an organism is high
An increase in matric forces within plant cells/within soils, water pressure evaporating from the leaf generates a ________________ pressure that _____________ water potential and the addition of solutes ______________ watrer potential
reduces
reduces
reduces
Torpor
state of slow metabolic rate
CAM
carbon fixatino occurs at night
the boundary layer
a still layer of air adjacent to surface of a leaf. is thicker under flowing conditions.
How do plants defend themselves?
physically and chemically. Give examples.
T/F
light quality and quantity change with lattitude, seasons, weather, time of day, landscapes, water and organisms
True
T/F
in animals, the surface temperature is the same of that of the boundary layer
T
T/F
All heterotrophs are challenged by the quality of there food
False
T/F
The relationship between PAR and the rate of photosynthesis is a linear one
Falso
T/F
The 5 elements that make up biomass are C, O, H, N, Potassium
Falso
T/F Seasonal patters experienced on earth are a factor of the distance between the earth and sun along with the earth's rotation along it's axis
Falso
T/F
during photorespiration, rubisco interacts
True
Artic vs. Alpine plants
Arctic: low growth form, perpendicular leaf orientation, dark pigments

Desert: open growth form, small leaves with light pigments. Parallel leaf orientation, tall plants farther from ground.