Ap Biology- Ecology

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Define: Ecology

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The Study of the interactions between organisms and the environment

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Define: Population Ecology

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The studo of populations in relation to the environment including: environmental influences on density and distribution, age structure (demography) and variations in pop. size

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Population Distribution

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The pattern of spacing among individuals within the boundaries of a population.

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Pop. Distribution: Clumped

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individuals aggregate into patches because of specific environmental factors, mating behaviors, or the effectiveness of foraging

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Pop. Dist: Uniform

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individuals are evenly spaced because of direct interactions between individuals, alleopathy, or territoriality.

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Pop. Dist: Random

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unpredictable spacing, least common.

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Density independent limiting factors

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the number of organisms present does not influence the degree of the effect, typically abiotic such as fires, hurricanes, drought, pollution, slides, tsunamis

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density dependent limiting factors

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the number of organisms present does influence the effect, typically biotic such as competition, disease, humans, predators

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intrinsic factors

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the factors possessed by the organisms within the population suchas anatomy, physiology, behavior

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r-strategists

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allocate energy toward production of young, short lifespans, small individuals, fast maturation, many offspring, little to no care of young, common in environments with fluxuating variablesdon't go extinct,

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k-strategist

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allocate energy toward growth and survival of themselves and their young, long lifespans, large individuals, slow maturation, few offspring, much care of offspring, common in stable/predictable environments, can go extinct, Type I.

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demography

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the stuydy of the vital statistics of populations and how they change over time

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cohorts

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a group of individuals of the same age within a population (generation)

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Type I survivorship Curve

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Low death rate for early and middle life then death increases at the later years(k-strategists aka. humans)

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Type II survivorship curve

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constant death rate throughout organisms life span

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Type III survivorship curve

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high death rates at the beginning of life span with a decline later (r-strategists)

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community ecology

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assemblage of populations interacting with one another in the same habitat, focuses on community structure and interactions

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Biodiversity

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the variety of different kinds of organisms that make up a community, based on species richness, species evenness, and the variety of diversity

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species richness

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the number of different species that occupy a community

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species evenness

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the relative abundance of organisms of each species

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What is the importance of Biodiversity?

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the more diverse an ecosystem, the ore productivity there is within it (diverse ecosystems function more effectively), they are more resilient to damage (elastic)

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Dominant Species

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those populations that are the most abundant or have the highest biomass, they exert a powerful control over the occurrence and distribution of other species in the community

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Keystone Species

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not necessarily abundant in a community, but they do exert strong control because most species within the community either rely directly or indirectly on them

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habitat

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where a population lives and reproduces.

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niche

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role a population plays in its community including its habitat (abiotic) and the interactions with other populations (biotic)

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intraspecific competition

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competition between members within a population

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interspecific competition

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members of different populations utilize a limited resource (light, space, water, nutrients)

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competition exclusion principle

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-/- no two populations can occupy the same niche at the same time- eventually one population will force the other out by using the resources more efficiently

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resource partitioning

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2 or more species decrease competition by dividing a niche into separate areas

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predator prey interactions

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+/- the population of the predator is affected by the prevalence of the prey and visa-verse, results in cyclical populations instead of a steady rate where the predator is smaller in size and lags behind in time.

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camouflage

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method from hiding from predators in which organism's behavior, form, coloration, allow it to blend into the habitat (cryptic coloration and aposematic coloration)

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aposematic coloration

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bright coloration of animals with effective physical or chemical defenses that acts as a warning to predators

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cryptic coloration

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camouflage of an animal used to blend in with its surroundings

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mimicry

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when one species resembles another that possesses an anti-predator defense and expresses aposematic coloration (batesian and mullarian)

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batesian mimicry

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a mimic that lacks the defense of the organism it resembles

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mullarian mimicry

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mimics that share the same protective defense

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symbiotic relationships

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interactions where there is a close intimate relationship between members of two populations (parasitism, commensalism, mutualism)

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parasitism

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+/- similar to predation but parasitic which derives nourishment from the host, lives within the host for most of its life

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commensalism

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+/0 one species is benefited and the other is not affected (home, transportation, food)

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mutualism

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+/+ relationship where both species benefit (cleaning, symbiosis, protection)

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ecological succession

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a change within a community following a disturbance

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primary succession

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occurs in virtually lifeless area, where there were originally no organisms and where soil has not yet formed

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secondary succession

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occurs where an existing community has been cleared by some disturbance that leaves the soil intact

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pioneer species

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the first species to begin succession of a newly disturbed sight (lichen, moss)

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climax community

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a community that undergoes little to no succession

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trophic structure

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the feeding relationships, flow of energy, food chain

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autotrophs

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(producers) obtain energy through inorganic substances (sun), either photosynthetic or chemosynthetic

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photosynthetic autotrophs

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autotrophs that use sunlight to transform energy

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chemosynthetic autotrophs

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use geothermal energy to transform energy

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heterotrophs

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(consumers) obtain energy through the consumption of organic substances (carnivores, herbivores, omnivores, detrivores), form food chains and food webs based on their feeding relationships

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primary productivity

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the amount of light energy converted to chemical energy by autotrophs during a given time period

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gross primary productivity

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total primary production of an ecosystem, amount of light energy converted per unit time

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net primary production

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equal to gross primary production minus the energy used by the primary producers for respiration and other cellular tasks, represents storage of chemical energy that will be available to consumers

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secondary production

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amount of chemical energy in consumer's food that is converted to their own new biomass during a given time period

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CHON

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Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen, the chemical elements that make up 96% of life

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1st law of thermodynamics

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energy can neither be created nor destroyed

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Water Cycle

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plants absorb water, animals drink and eat plants, respire, transpire,and evaporate puts water into atmosphere, condensation causes precipitation

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Carbon Cycle

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found in atmosphere as CO2, photosynthesis, respiration, decomp of dead materials put carbon back into soil, burning fossil fuels puts CO2 back into atmosphere