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128 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
ecology
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the scientific study of the interactions between organisms and their environment
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biotic factors
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behaviors
interactionswith other species alive stuff |
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abiotic factors
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not alive
chemical+physical components ex: temperature water salinity sunlight soil |
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macroclimate patterns
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work on global regional or local level
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microclimate patterns
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work on small-cale environment variations
ex: under a log, inside a tree, etc. |
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biomes
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major types of ecosystems that occupy broad geographic regions
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aquatic biomes
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water biomes, 75% of the earth
2 types: freshwater and marine biomes |
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vertical stratification forms these 4 ecologically unique areas:
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photic zone
aphotic zone benthic zone (with detritus) thermoclines |
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photic zones
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enough light for photosynthesisin water
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aphotic zones
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very little light penetrates
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detritus
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organic sediments include it, made of dead organic matter
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benthic zones
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bottom of the biome, made up of sand, organic sediments and inorganic matter
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thermoclines
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the narrow layers of fast temp change that seperate warm upper and cold lower waters
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two types of freshwater biomes
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standing bodies (lakes and wetlands)
moving bodies (rivers and streams) |
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littoral zone
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well lit shallow waters near shore wiht plenty of plant life
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limnetic zone
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well lit pen surface waters farther from shore with phytoplankton
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oligotrophic lakes
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deep nutrient poor phytoplankton poor oxygen rich lakes
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eutrophic lakes
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shallow nutrient and phyto rich with poor oxygen lakes
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prominent physical attribute of streams and rivers
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currents
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estuaries
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areas where freshwater streams or rivers merge with the ocean
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marine biomes include what zones?
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intertidal
neritic pelagic coral reef |
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intertidal zone
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land meets water, periodically submerged and exposed by 2xtides
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neritic zone
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beyond intertidal, shallow water past continental shelves
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pelagic biome
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realm of open blue water past continental shelves
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coral reef
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biome created by cnidarians who secrete calcium carbonate and supports algae coral and sponge growth, one of the most productive ecosystems on earth
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ecological time
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minute to minute daily interactions that set up for evolution
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evolutionary time
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the time it takes for an organism to adapt to its environment through natural selection
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dispersal
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movement away from areas of origin or high population density
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climate
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long term prevailing weather conditions in a certain area
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turnover
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semi annual mixing of water where oxygen rich water goes to the bottom and nutrient rich water rises to the top
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disturbance
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an event like sotrm, fir, flood, etc, that changes a community by removing organisms from it or altering resource availability
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ecotone
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area of intergradation, may be wide or narrow, between terrestrial biomes
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organismal ecology
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how organism structure physiology and behavior meet environmental challenges
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population ecology
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analyzes factors that affect pop size and change factors
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community ecology
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how species interactions affect community
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ecosystem ecology
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emphasizes energy flow and chemical cycling between organisms and enviro
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landscape ecology
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focuses on factors controlling material energy and organism exchanges across ecosystems
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global ecology
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examines how regional exhcange of energy and materials influences distributions of organisms
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density
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number of indiivudals per unit area or volume
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dispersion
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pattern of spacing among individuals within population
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demography
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study of the vital statistics of populations and how they change over time
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cohort
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a group of individuals of the same age
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survivorship curve
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a plot of the proportion or numbers in a cohort alive at each age
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reproductive table
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fertility schedule: age specific summary of the reproductive rates in a population
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life history
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the traits that affect an organisms schedule of reproduction or survival
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big bang reproduction
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semelparity: one shot pattern of reproduction
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iteroparity
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repeated reproduction: exact opposite of semelparity
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equations
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change in pop/time interval=
#births-#deaths xbirths/xpopulation number=0.0 (34/100=0.34) per capita birth rate bN=B .34(500)=17 per capita death rate dN=D change in pop/time interval= bN-dN r=b-d change in pop/time interval= rN dN/dt=r inst N dN/dt=r max N |
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ZPG
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zero population growth
occurs when births and death are equal |
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K selection
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density dependent selection: selects for traits sensitive to pop density and keeping organisms alive with fewer resources
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r selection
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density independent: selects for traits that speed up reproduction
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density dependent
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a birth or death rate that changes due to population density
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density independent
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a birth ro death rate that doesn't change due to pop density
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population dynamics
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study that focuses on complex interactions between biotic and abiotic factors that cause variations in pop size
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metapopulation
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when a number of local pops are linked
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demographic transition
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movement toward second configuration
from highb-highd to lowb-lowd |
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age structure
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relative number of individuals of each age in a population
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ecological footprint
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the concept that summarizes the aggregae land and water area required by eahc person/city/nation to produce all consumed resources and absorb all generated wastes
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interspecific interactions
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competition
predation herbivory symbiosis (parasitism, commensalism and mutualism) |
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competitive exclusion
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evne a slight reproductive advantage will lead to local elimination of the inferior competitor
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resource partitioning
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the differentiation of niches that enables similar species to coexist in a community
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character displacement
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tendency for characteristics to diverge more in sympatric populations of two species than allopatric populations of the same two species.
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predation
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+/- interaction between species in which one species (predator) kills and eats another (prey)
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cryptic coloration
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camouflage
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aposematic coloration
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warning coloration of chemical defenses
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batesian mimcry
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harmless mimicking harmful
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mullerian mimicry
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harmful mimcking harmful, sort of aposematic coloration
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herbivory
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+/- interaction where an organism eats parts of a plant or alga
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symbiosis
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relationship where individuals of two ro more species live in direct and intimate contact with one another
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parasitism
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parasite derives nutrition from the host, harming it in the process
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endoparasites
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parasites that live within the body of theirhost
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ectoparasites
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parasites that feed on the external surface
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mutualism
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+/+, benefits both species
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commensalism
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an interaction between species that helps one but has no affect on the other
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species diversity
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the variety of different kinds of organisms that make up the community
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species richness
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number of different species in the community
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relative abundance
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of the different species :]
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trophic structure
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the feeding relatonships between organisms
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food chain
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autotrophs (primary producers)
herbivores (primary consumers) carnivores (2,3,4 consumers) decomposers |
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food webs
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arrows linking species to who eats whom
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energetic hypothesis
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suggests that food chain is short b/c it is limited by the inefficiency of energy transfer along the chain
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dynamic stability hypothesis
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proposes that long food chains are less stable than shorter ones
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biomass
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total mass of all individuals in a population
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dominant species
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species in a community that are most abundant or with the greatest biomass
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keystone species
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species that exert control through ecological roles in their environment (niches and their importance)
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facilitators
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help survival and reproduction of other species
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foundation species
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speceis that dramatically alter their physical environment ona large scale
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bottom up model
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postulates a unidirectional influence from lo to hi levels; N-->V-->H-->P, affecting bottom affects the rest, affecting top affects none
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top down model
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says predation mainly controls organization
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biomanipulation
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using the top down model, it is an approach that alters the density of higher level consumers in an attempt to lower algal blooms and pollution instead of using chemical treatments
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nonequilibrium model
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describes most communities as constantly changing after being affected by disturbances
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ecological succession
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disturbed areas colonized by a variety species, then replaced, then re-replaced, etc.
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primary succession
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succession where there has never been life before
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evapotranspiration
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the evaporation of water form soil and transpiration from plants
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pathogens
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disease causing microorganisms, viruses, viroids and prions
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zoonotic pathogens
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pathogens that are transferred from other animals to humans either by contact or a vector (parasites, mosquitoes, etc)
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species area curve
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all other factors being equal, larger the geographic area, the more species
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ecosystem
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sum of all organismss living within its boundaries and all the abiotic factors with whihc thye interact
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law of conservation of mass
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matter like energy cannot be created ro destroyed
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primary producers
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the autotrophs on the bottomost trophic level
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primary consumers
secondary consumers tertiary consumers detritivores/decomposers |
eat plants
eat herbivores eat carnivores eat waste and detritus |
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primary production
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amount of light energy converted to chemical energy by autotrophs during a given time period
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gross primary production
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GPP; amount of light energy converted to chemical energy by photosynthesis per unit of time
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net primary production
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NPP; is GPP-R (energy used ofr repsiration by an organism) and is about 1/2 of GPP
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limiting nutrient
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an element that must be added for production to increase
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eutrophication
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cyanobacteria and algae grow rapidly in response to added nutrients, reducing oxygen adn clarity of water
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actual evapotranspiration
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annual amount of water transpired by plants and evaporated from landscape in mm
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secondary production
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the amount of chemical energy in a consumer's food that si converted to their own new biomass during a given time period
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production efficiency
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the percentage of energy stored in assimilated food that is not used for respiration
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trophic efficiency
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percentage of production transferred from one trophic level to the next
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turnover time
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small standing crop in comparison to production (SC/P)
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green world hypothesis
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herbivores held in check by plant defenses, low nutrient concentrations in plant tissues, abiotic pressures and certain types of competition
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biogeochemical cycles
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nutrient cycles that involve both biotic and abiotic components
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critical load
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amount of added nutrient that can be absorbed by plants without damaging ecosystem integrity
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biological magnification
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process in which accumulated toxins become more concentrated in successive trophic levels of a food web
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greenhouse effect
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greenhouse gases retain & re-reflect infrared light, retaining solar heat
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conservation biology
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integrates ecology, physiology, molecular biology, genetics and evolutionary biology to conserve biological diversity on all levels
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restoration biology
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applies ecological principles to return ecosystems that have been disturbed by human activity to a condition as similar as possible to their natural state
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endangered species
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a species in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range
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threatened species
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those that are considered likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future
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ecosystem services
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encompass all the processes through which natural ecosystems help sustain life on earth
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extinction vortex
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a downward spiral towards smaller and smaller pop size until none exist
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minimum viable population
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MVP; the min pop size at which a species is able to sustain tis numbers and survive
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movement corridor
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a narrow strip or series of small clumps of habitat connecting otherwise isolated patches are important for conserving biodiversity
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biodiversity hotspot
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a relatively small area with an exceptional concentration of endemic species and often a large number of endangered and threatened species
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zoned reserve
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an extensice region that includes areas relatively undisturbed by humans surrounded by areas that have been changed by human activity and are used for economic gain
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bioremediation
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the use of organisms to detoxify and restore polluted and degraded ecosystems
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biological augmentation
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an approach to restoration ecology that use organisms to add essential materials to a degraded ecosystem
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