Ecology Midterm 2

Front 1

what are the uses of life tables?

Back 1

make survivorship curves and assess survival rates, make projections, create human insurance policies

Front 2

what is lambda ( λ )?

Back 2

finite rate of increase

Front 3

how does a stable age distribution population grow?

Back 3

geometrically

Front 4

what causes population growth?

Back 4

immigration and birth

Front 5

what causes a population to decrease in size?

Back 5

emigration and death

Front 6

what are the aims of population ecology?

Back 6

generate general principles that explain population patterns, mix principles with models, conservation

Front 7

what was significant about the Wolves in Michigan and Wisconsin?

Back 7

number of wolves increases due to amount of prey present while other predators were absent (wolves the only predators)

Front 8

what are the assumptions of discrete population growth?

Back 8

closed population (0 immigration & 0 emigration)

Front 9

what is the discrete population growth equation?

Back 9

Nt+1=λNt

Front 10

what is competition?

Back 10

an interaction between individuals over a resource in short supply

Front 11

in discrete population growth, what happens to the population over time if λ>1?

Back 11

the population increases exponentially

Front 12

in discrete population growth, what happens to the population over time if λ<1?

Back 12

the population decreases exponentially

Front 13

in discrete population growth, what happens to the population over time if λ=1?

Back 13

the population stays the same

Front 14

what are the 5 assumptions for exponential population growth?

Back 14

no emigration or immigration (closed population), constant per capita births and deaths (b&d&r), infinite resources, all individuals (on average) are the same, and there is continuous growth

Front 15

what is the difference between B and b?

Back 15

B=total births

b=per capita birth

Front 16

what is the difference between D and d?

Back 16

D=total deaths

d=per capita death

Front 17

what are density dependent factors?

Back 17

environmental factor whose impact depends on population density

Front 18

what are density independent factors?

Back 18

environmental factors that impact birth and death rates, but whose impact is independent of population density

Front 19

what is intraspecific competition?

Back 19

competition between individuals of the same species

Front 20

what are the results of competitive exclusion?

Back 20

one will go extinct while the better competitor lives on

Front 21

what are the results of resource partitioning?

Back 21

coexistence: each species specializes on a different part of the resource spectrum

Front 22

what is competition's effect on two different species?

Back 22

it is negative for both species involved

Front 23

what does the presence of a K indicate?

Back 23

presence of a limiting resource

Front 24

what does environmental complexity cause?

Back 24

increased niche space/increased species diversity

Front 25

how can predation increase diversity?

Back 25

if they suppress a dominant competitor or consumer species

Front 26

what influences biodiversity?

Back 26

environmental complexity, species interactions, disturbance, history

Front 27

what are the physical structure parts of a community?

Back 27

size and shape, horizontal and vertical, and boundaries, patchiness and proximity

Front 28

what are the parts of boundaries?

Back 28

abrupt, diffuse, mosaic

Front 29

what is a community?

Back 29

group of populations of different species occurring together at the same place and time

Front 30

how can competition increase diversity?

Back 30

if it causes resource partitioning

Front 31

how does soil affect niche space?

Back 31

it divides niche space and reduces the effects of competition

Front 32

what is a disturbance?

Back 32

discrete event in time that disrupts community structure, changes resources or physical environment (fire)

Front 33

what are the different kinds of disturbance?

Back 33

high, low, and intermediate

Front 34

what is high disturbance?

Back 34

favors dominance of few weedy species

Front 35

what is low disturbance?

Back 35

favors few competitively dominant species

Front 36

what is intermediate disturbance?

Back 36

wide variety of organisms to colonize; not enough time for competition (FIRE)

Front 37

what is highest at intermediate level disturbance?

Back 37

diversity

Front 38

what are the 3 ways to calculate diversity?

Back 38

species diversity, genetic diversity, ecosystem diversity

Front 39

what is species richness?

Back 39

number of different species (not number of individuals in a species)

Front 40

what is the difference between beta and gamma diversity?

Back 40

beta: number of unique species

gamma: number of species overall in an area

Front 41

what does the shannon index of diversity do?

Back 41

it's a technique to measure uncertainty. Higher the value, higher the uncertainty

Front 42

what will species abundance in a community follow

Back 42

a lognormal distribution

Front 43

what is a realized niche?

Back 43

where species actually occurs due to species interaction (overlap)

Front 44

what is a fundamental niche?

Back 44

full range of conditions and resources under which a species can survive and reproduce

Front 45

what is the difference between parasitoidism and parasitism?

Back 45

parasitetoidism kills the host when it emerges

Front 46

interspecific competition results in:

Back 46

competitive exclusion or coexistence

Front 47

what are the 3 parts of coexitence?

Back 47

character displacement, resource partitioning, predator mediated coexistence

Front 48

results of barnacle experiment?

Back 48

realized niche is smaller, no difference in niches; caused by interference, (asymmetric competition)

Front 49

what are the four outcomes of lotka-volterra competition prediction?

Back 49

SP1 wins, SP2 wins, coexistence, SP1 or SP2 wins based on initial abundance

Front 50

where does K1 go on the lotka volterra graph?

Back 50

x-axis