Ecology - Population Ecology

Front 1

Autecology tradeoffs

Back 1

food sources, size, growth rates, defenses, reproductive strategies, mobility, home range

as opposed to

Stoichiometry (elemental composition), allocation to hard structure vs soft tissues, age at first reproduction

Front 2

Phylogenetic constraint

Back 2

(historical baggage): traits derived from ancestor that may end up hindering the organisms instead of helping it to adapt

Front 3

Life history

Back 3

organism's lifetime pattern of growth, differentiation, storage, reproduction

Front 4

Life cycle

Back 4

sequence of stages through which organism passes to develop from zygote to a reproductive adult producing more zygotes

Front 5

Semelparous

Back 5

individual reproducing once per lifetime (salmon, bamboo, Century plant)

Front 6

Iterparous

Back 6

reproducing more than once

Front 7

Reproductive effort (allocation)

Back 7

proportion of available resources an individual allocates to reproduction, and parental care for some species, over a given time period

Front 8

Unitary organisms

Back 8

develop from zygote to adult from determinant form

Front 9

Modular organisms

Back 9

grow by repeated interations of its parts (modules) into an adult of indeterminate form (coral, poison oak)

Front 10

Genet

Back 10

genetic individual, all the biomass that derived from single embryo. In the unitary organism, the individual is the genet. In the modular organism, it is the entire mother individual.

Front 11

Ramet

Back 11

subunit of genet that is physiologically viable as an autonomous fragment.

Front 12

tradeoffs of starting growth early

Back 12

get a head start on competition but entails risk of freezing

Front 13

tradeoffs of larger seeds

Back 13

larger seeds have more nutrients and protection, but a plant makes fewer, so more predation risk, and risk of bad luck (unfavorable microsites)

Front 14

tradeoffs of dispersal

Back 14

reduces competition with parent, but increases risk of unsuitable habitat

Front 15

tradeoffs of reproduction

Back 15

Of course organisms want to reproduce. But, if resources are stored rather than spent on offspring, a plant can quickly replace tissue lost to grazing, fire, wind, and can survive over periods of starvation (e.g. Deciduous trees in winter)

Front 16

Why does a plant get big?

Back 16

Plants often compete for the same resources (water, light, nutrients), and the big guys (bigger stems and leaf canopies, bigger root systems) usually win.

Front 17

How does a plant get big?

Back 17

Rapid growth, starting early, large seeds, successful adaptations (avoiding stress, grazing), luck (e.g. Propagule (seed, fragment) ended up in favorable microsites)

Front 18

Liebig's Law of the Minimum

Back 18

Plants are limited by one factor (e.g. Nutrient) at a time. Plants should allocate to the function that most strongly limits growth.

Optimal plants should be co-limited because if light limited, grow more leaves, and if nutrient limited, grow more roots. However, because environments change, becoming properly co-limited takes time.

Front 19

If organism predicted to be present in the right conditions and environment, but isn't, why?

Back 19

possibilities:
dispersal limited
excluded by species interactions

Front 20

If organism predicted to be absent in the wrong conditions and environment, but is present, why?

Back 20

possibilities:
relict population
sink population

Front 21

Relict populations

Back 21

residual population left over from time when environment could support its survival and reproduction, which can no longer replace itself locally

Front 22

Sink habitat

Back 22

habitat where death rates exceed birth rates, and organisms are present only because of immigration from Source Habitats (where births exceed deaths)

Front 23

Resource subsidy

Back 23

Resources produced in one habitat that support consumers in a second habitat