Ecology Test 3

Front 1

The 4 Reasons for Decline in Declining Population Paradigm:

Back 1

1)Habitat Fragmentation- decreases emigration/immigration
2)Overkill- kills beyond recovery (Carolina Parakeet, Passenger Pigeon, American Bison)
3)Introduced Species- the cause of 40% of recent extinctions, affects small island populations. (ex. Nile Perch in Lake Victoria caused extinciton of over 200 other species)
4)Chains of Extinction-Rivot Hypothesis (New Zealand Moas extinction caused Eagle decline)

Front 2

Conservation Efforts 5 methods:

Back 2

1)Habitat Preservation
2)Captive Breeding
3)Translocation
4)Education
(ex. golden lion tamarans, went from 700- 2000)
-Successful conservation requires a multipronged approach

Front 3

Wildlife Corridors

Back 3

Thin strips of land connecting two habitat fragments
-facilitate movement (ex. corridors being used for golden lion tamarans & Washington State for bears)

Front 4

Edge Effects

Back 4

1)Reduce size of habitable area
2)get larger with smaller area of environment
3)cause increased predator pressure
4)cause decrease size which cuases decrease in keystone species (keystone increase biodiversity simply by being present)

Front 5

Community

Back 5

-A group of species in one area at the same time
-can be taxon based(ex fish communites) or predator prey based

Front 6

2 types of Community Structures

Back 6

1)Closed Community (Rivot Hypothesis-Clements&Tansley said closed communities act as superorganisms)
2)Open Community (organisms loosely linked, diff species can fulfill same niche)(Gleason said species are in same environment only because they possess the same tolerances- plants follow Gleasonian)

Front 7

Community boundaries are determined by:

Back 7

-:Soil Type
-Moisture Levels
-Other Physical Conditions

Front 8

Indicator Species

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-Species which are monitored to monitor changes in the whole community, usually the flagship species (expanda bears in china)
you can measure indicator species by measuring:
-Relative Abunance (%)
-Relative Cover (biomass)
-Umbrella Species

Front 9

Succession

Back 9

-Changes in a community over a temporal scale
-Climax is rarely reached due to disturbance and climate change
Climax Community-A community which is able to replace itself

Front 10

Secondary Succession

Back 10

Changes in areas which already have organisms present due to disturbance

Front 11

Primary Succession

Back 11

Canges in a community over time in an area where organisms have not yet been established (ex. lava flows, sand dunes, glacial retreats)

Front 12

Important Succession Discoveries from Mt St Helens:

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1)Importance of large mammal movement for seed dispersal
2)Some plants disperse well(light seeds) and some disperse poorly (heavy seeds)
3)Importance of accidental plants (ex lupines fix N2 and act as nursery plants due to their larger seed size)
4)Importance of Chance Events (ex. some burrowing nocturnal species survived eruption)
5)Importance of Legacies (plants which get pulled up with a tree, they attracted birds which bring in seeds and feces)

Front 13

Sere

Back 13

?

Front 14

General Sere

Back 14

?

Front 15

Specific Seres-Great Lakes

Back 15

?

Front 16

Models of Succession

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1)Facilitation- community in place modifies conditions for the 2nd community to come in
2)Tolerance-no competition-2nd community thats moves in is better at tolerating low resource conditions
3)Inhibition-1st community holds onto the area until they die, then the 2nd community comes in
4)Ranom Association- Chance events determine the structure of the community

Front 17

Biodiversity

Back 17

The number, proportion, and interactions between species.

Front 18

Island Biogeography

Back 18

-The use of islands as models for biodiversity-a subdiscipline of ecology

Front 19

Difference Between Habitat Islands and True Islands

Back 19

Habitat Islans have a smaller number of species b/c there is a steeper boundary in true islands(you dont see sharks jumping onto land to predate)

Front 20

Dynamic Equilibrium Model of Island Biogeography

Back 20

-Based on immigration and extinction rates and how they're dependant upon size of the island and distance to mainland (source)
-Model which is used to explain the number of species
-Species richness stability is reached when immigration=extinction

Front 21

Immigration/Extinction Rates in relation to size of island and proximity to mainland

Back 21

Macarthur and Wilson
-The larger the island, the lower the extinction rates
-The closer to the mainland, the highter the extinction rates

Front 22

Evidence for Dynamic Equilibrium Model of Island Biogeography

Back 22

Simberoff & Wilson
-looked at FL islands,measured size and distance from mainland'
-counted richness, then killed all insects and observed recolonization overtime
-Found that species which were closer to the mainland had more species overtime, this proved the dynamic model

Front 23

Metapopulation Model

Back 23

-Model which explains populations that are spatially isolated but are linked due to occasional immigration
-Metapopulation model is a changing mosiac of occupied and unoccupied areas
-With this model you must look at occupied and unoccupied areas that are suitable for colonization
(ex. alaskan lakes- streams connect the lake occasionally only when snow melts)

Front 24

Latitudinal Biodiversity Trends:

Back 24

Birds, Mammals-more in West than in East (more niches in west due to more mountains)
Reptiles-More in East than West(b/c reptiles dont do well at higher elevations)
Plants-More in SE than West

Front 25

Longitudinal Biodiversity Trends:

Back 25

Birds and Mammals- More in South than in North hemisphere

Front 26

SLOSS

Back 26

-A conservation acronym
-Single Large or Several Small
(on islands it has been found that several small islands results in more biodiversity, so argument over SLOSS is still debated-Mixed Strategies are probably the best approach)

Front 27

Six reasons why tropic are so diverse?

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1)More Evolutionary Time
2)Large Geographic Space
3)Interaction Between Species (more interaction=more specialization=more species)
4)Increased Productivity (b/c stable rainfall, temperature, and sunlight)
5)Intermediate Disturbance(results in more biodiversity)
6)vertical complexity-more canopy=more niche to fill

Front 28

Value of Biodiversity:

Back 28

Tilman(Yellowstone Wildfires)
More bodiversity causes more stability in a community (more bodiversity has been shown to cause a decrease in locust swarms)
(ex. Yellowstone Wildfires of 1981 showed us that areas with more previous biodiversity recovered much faster from the fires)

Front 29

Energy Transfer

Back 29

Is simply the movement of energy from one organism to the next
-Energy Transfer in some ways follows the laws of thermodynamics

Front 30

1st law of Thermodynamics

Back 30

-No energy can be created nor destroyed

Front 31

2nd Law of Thermodynamics

Back 31

-With each Reaction, you get an increase in disorder (entropy)

Front 32

Assumption with the 2 laws of Thermodynamics:

Back 32

-Assumes we're dealing with a closed system, Organism dont always have closed systems
-The only true closed system is the universe

Front 33

The different Trophic Levels:

Back 33

-primary producer (autotroph)
-primary consumer (herbivore)
-secondary consumer (carnivore)
-etc....

Front 34

Guild

Back 34

-Not a specific species, but the role the organism plays in the environment (ex. nectar feeders)

Front 35

Mite

Back 35

One genus of an organism that goes out to several different guilds

Front 36

Food Chain

Back 36

the sequence of links from a primary producer all the way to the top consumer

Front 37

Types of Food Chains

Back 37

-Grazing-producers feed consumers, consumers feed other consumers, and all three give energy to decomposers
-Detrital Food Chain- 90% of terrestrial producers end up contributing to this chain

Front 38

Food Web Links are not always:

Back 38

Linear-omnivores feed at different trophic levels at the same time
-The number of links in a chain is dependent upon the efficiency of energy transfer(more efficiency=more links)

Front 39

As you move up the food chain, you see:

Back 39

-increase size
-decrease number of species
-decrease number of individuals

Front 40

Terrestrial Food Chains:

Back 40

GFC-10%
DFC-90&

Front 41

Marine Food Chains:

Back 41

-GFC-more than 10%
-DFC-less than 90%

Front 42

Energy Pyramid Generalizations:

Back 42

1)you lose 85-90% energy with each step
2)less species and less individuals with each step
3)less Ro with each step

Front 43

Pyramid Size Controls:

Back 43

Top-Down Control-predator feeding controls the size of the pyramid below

Bottom-Up Control-Size of previous level determines size of next level (ex. harriers predate on mice but the predation has no affect on the population size of the mice)

Front 44

Primary Production

Back 44

Refers to the amount of biomass in a squeare meter over a year.

Front 45

Gross Primary Production

Back 45

-amount of energy assimilated (tissue) plus the amount of energy required for aerobic respiration

Front 46

GPP efficiency to amount of available sunlight:

Back 46

GPPefficiency to availabe sunlight=low (.002-.2%)

Front 47

GPP efficiency to amount of sunlight absorbed by pigments:

Back 47

GPP efficiency to sunlight absorbed=1/3

Front 48

GPP=__________

Back 48

NPP + A.R.

Front 49

NPP=__________

Back 49

-Tissues
-NPP-the amount of available energy for the next trophic level(usually about 50% of GPP)

Front 50

Loss to Aerobic Respiration in Grasslands=_________

Back 50

40-45%

Front 51

Loss to Aerobic Respiration in Forests=________

Back 51

50-75%

Front 52

Greatest to Least productive terrestrial environments:

Back 52

1)swamps
2)tropical rainforest
3)temperate forest
4)boreal forest
5)savanna
6)cultured fields
7)grasslands
8)tundras
9)deserts

Front 53

Greatest to least productive aquatic environments:

Back 53

1)algal beds/reefs
2)estuaries
3)lakes/streams
4)continental shelf
5)open ocean

Front 54

Production Limits of a Terrestrial Environment

Back 54

-precipitation
-temperature
-nutrient (mostly N, and P)
-sunlight

Front 55

Limiting Nutrient of Marine Environment:

Back 55

-Fe. Nitrogen is imortant too

Front 56

Aquatic Light Types:

Back 56

1)Eutrophic-more production less visibility (increased N and P)
-and O2 depleted zone develops at the thalweg, resulting in increased death
2)Oligotrophic Lakes- less nutrients, less productivity, greater visibility(ex. lake tahoe)

Front 57

Eutrophication

Back 57

-increased production, increased N&P, dead zones occur

Front 58

Shindler

Back 58

-worked on small lake of Canada
-added N to one side, saw no difference in sides
-added N & P to one side, saw a large increase in biomass

Front 59

the two factors involved in measuring biomass:

Back 59

1)fat tissue
2)reproduction

Front 60

Growth=

Back 60

New tissue

Front 61

Egested

Back 61

consumed food not broken down to be used by the body(ex. herbivores eating too much cellulose)

Front 62

Assimilation Efficiency:

Back 62

D/C (C=consumed, D=digested)
-carnivores have best efficiency, herbiovores have least efficiency
-Assimilation efficiency increases as trophic level increases

Front 63

Production Efficiency

Back 63

P/D (P=production(biomass), D=digested)
-production efficiency decreases as trophic level increases due to increased metabolic activity from predation

Front 64

Poikilotherms

Back 64

vary in body temp depending on environment(fish, insects)

Front 65

Homeotherms

Back 65

stable temp-internal mechanism regualutes heat production

Front 66

Ectotherms

Back 66

Outside temp determine body temp

Front 67

Endotherms

Back 67

Internal mechanism for heat

Front 68

General slope of metabolic rate slope line of homeotherms

Back 68

3/4, as body size increases, metabolic rate increases
-there's a minimum size for homeotherms b/c if they're too small they cant produce heat as quickly as it is lost via diffusion or convection.

Front 69

Biogeochemists

Back 69

work with nutrient cycling

Front 70

The Carbon Reservoirs are:

Back 70

-Atmospheric Reservoir (b/c most C exchange involves the atmosphere
-Living Organisms
-Sediment

Front 71

Ca and K reservoir is

Back 71

-a lithosphere reservoir (in rocks)

Front 72

H and O reservoir is:

Back 72

-a hydrosphere reservoir (in water)

Front 73

Scaling

Back 73

Refers to what level of cycling is being discussed

Front 74

local scaling

Back 74

-level of cycling within the immediate environment

Front 75

global scaling

Back 75

-level of cycling within the whole biosphere

Front 76

Nitrogen Reservoirs:

Back 76

-Atmosphere
-Soil
-Living Organisms

Front 77

Nitrogen forms:

Back 77

-N2 (gas)
-NH4+(ammonium)
-NO3-(nitrate)

Front 78

Steps of NItrogen Cycle in which bacteria are involved:

Back 78

-Nitrogen Fixation
-Nitrification
-Denitrification
-Ammonification

Front 79

Trohic Efficiency:

Back 79

Pn/Pn-1

Front 80

The general trophic efficiency is:

Back 80

about 10%
(ex. Tuna are 4th trophic level, so .1mg tuna---1mg squid---10mg Parrotfish---100mg Sea grasses

Front 81

Energy Through Trophic Levels

Back 81

has a one way flow

Front 82

Nutrient Cycles

Back 82

are element cycles which are imprtant for living organisms

Front 83

Nutrient Cycles=

Back 83

True Cycles

Front 84

Nutrient Elements can be found in both:

Back 84

-organic matter
-inorganic matter

Front 85

The two types of nutrient exchanges:

Back 85

1)biological processes
2)geological processes

Front 86

Biological nutrient processes:

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1)inorganic to organic (assimilation and photosynthesis)
2)organic to inorganic (dissimilation, respiration, excretion, and leaching)

Front 87

Geological nutrient processes:

Back 87

-weathering (root growth breaks rocks down, water freezing and thawing can cause rocks to break down)
-erosion
-sedimentary rock formation (compaction)
-burning of organic to inorganic (ex. burning oil makes the carbon available in the atmosphere)

Front 88

The 6 Carbon processes include:

Back 88

1)assimilation (photosynthesis & water diffusion)
2)dissimilation(burning of fuels, volcanic activity, aerobic respiration, diffusion from oceans back into atmosphere, methanogenesis, weathering)
3)

Front 89

Compaction of living organisms produces:

Back 89

1)coal
2)oil
3)peat

Front 90

Ways to remove more CO2 from atmosphere:

Back 90

1)increase autotroph productivity (only mature forests that still sequester alot at maturity are sequoia forests)
2)pump CO2 deep into oceans (combines with water to make an acid which could change the natural pH overtime-lower pH will affect organisms with CaCO3 shells)
-pump CO2 into sediments, also known as sequesteringq

Front 91

Nutrient Storage in Boreal Forests:

Back 91

-20% above ground
-80% below ground b/c cold enviroment causes slow turnaround

Front 92

Nutrient Storage in Decidous Forest:

Back 92

-more nutrients found above ground due to faster turnaround rate b/c of hot environment

Front 93

Nutrient Storage in Tropical Rainforest

Back 93

-most nutrients living in biomass due to very fast turnaround, this causes the soil nutrients to be poor

Front 94

Forestry Application:

Back 94

By leaving branches and bark behind at the cut site, they actually help the nutrient cycle by putting nutrients back into soil

Front 95

Cost of Fertilizers

Back 95

Runoff into streams lakes and oceans causes dead zones

Front 96

Evpotranspiration

Back 96

Evaporation at ground level terrestrial habitats

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transpiration

Back 97

water vapor formation that is released from plants

Front 98

sublimation

Back 98

evaporation into water vapor directly from ice

Front 99

infiltration

Back 99

water moves below ground surface and accumulates(groundwater)

Front 100

Drinking Water makes up

Back 100

less than 2.4 % of global water reservoir
-2.08% of that is in glaciers

Front 101

Sulfur Reservoirs

Back 101

-Atmosphere
-Living Organisms (in the form of two amino acids)
-Soil
-Oceans

Front 102

When organisms die, they convert organic to inorganic which causes a release of

Back 102

hydrogen sulfide
-also bacteria convert to mineral sulfur in hot pools and in the soil

Front 103

SO2

Back 103

A byproduct of fossil fuel burning, can also be added to atmosphere via volcanic activity
-fossil fuels responsible for 160% of the natural sulfur release to the atmosphere
-SO2 gets converted to SO4-2 and gets removed via precipitation (this is an issue b/c acid precipitation can reach a pH of 2-3)

Front 104

1980s European Forests Study on affects of Low pH

Back 104

-found that 25% of europes forests are moderate to severley affected by low pH
-low pH leaks Ca out of the soilso when pH is low, plants dont get enough Ca

Front 105

Low pH with lake trout adults:

Back 105

juvenile die at pH less than 5.4, this halted recruitment by lake trout. This shift of community structure allowed perch to take over

Front 106

SO2 and Clean Air Act

Back 106

-So2 emmisions are decreasing after 1970 Clean Air Act, which requires the use of smokestack scrubbers

Front 107

SO4 in Ocean

Back 107

-Oceans accumulates SO4 via runoff
-dimethyl sulfide is emitted by phytoplankton and reoxidized into SO4 where it gets deposited into sediment, uplifted, and weathered back to atmosphere

Front 108

Phosphorous has no

Back 108

gas phase(solely a sedimentary cycle)