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84 Cards in this Set
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Ecology |
The scientific discipline that is concerned with the relationships between organisms and their past, present and future environments. These relationships include physiological responses of individuals, structure and dynamics of populations, interactions among species, organizations of biological communities and processing of energy and matter in ecosystems |
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Biotic |
the study of relationships between organisms |
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Abiotic |
the study of relationships between organisms and their environment |
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Landscape Ecology |
related by overall weather patterns and plant make-up |
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Systems Ecology |
math, modeling |
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Biogeochemical Ecology |
nutrient cycling, primary productivity, decomposition |
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Community Ecology |
species diversity, competition, succession |
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Population Ecology |
size, speciation, evolution, competition, energy allocation |
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Physiological Ecology |
species responses to the environment answers the why questions |
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Succession |
changes in plant community over time |
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Entropy |
In thermodynamics, a measure of the number of specific ways a thermodynamic system may be arranged, commonly understood as a measure of disorder. |
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Synergy |
the sum of the whole is greater than its constituent parts |
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Environmental Science |
a "true" science, a sub-discipline of ecology studying man's impact on nature |
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Environmentalism |
NOT a "true" science; incorporates aesthestics and values (can shade your interpretation of data) |
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E.P. and H.T. Odum |
fathers of modern ecology |
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John J. Bartram |
America's first naturalist who described the ecosystem he encountered in North America |
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Ellen Swallow |
first woman ecologist, recognized that technology and development were affecting the environment |
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Peter Kalm |
first person to understand plant succession |
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F.E. Clements |
father of plant ecology |
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Aurthor Tansely |
coined the term "ecosystem" in 1935 |
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Henry Cowles |
pioneered ecosystem studies concerning community concepts |
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Victor Shelford |
father of animal ecology |
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G.E. Hutchinson |
introduced stats |
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LTER |
long term ecological research network |
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Rule 1 of Ecology |
There's an exception to every rule |
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Rule 2 of Ecology |
For every problem in nature, there are multiple ways to solve it |
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Rule 3 of Ecology |
Extremes are more important than averages |
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Rule 4 of Ecology |
Use it or lose it |
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Rule 5 of Ecology |
For every adaptation, there are advantages and disadvantages |
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Microclimate |
a local atmospheric zone where the climate differs from the surrounding area. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square feet up to several square miles. |
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light attenuation |
reduction of light intensity decreases exponentially with water depth |
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intertidal zone |
ocean zone, above water at low tide an below during high tide |
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neritic zone |
ocean zone, the relatively shallow part of the ocean above the drop-off of the continental shelf |
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epipelagic zone |
ocean zone, the surface layer of the ocean that extends from the surface to 200m. lots of gas exchange and light, therefor high productivity |
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mesopelagic zone |
ocean zone, extends from a depth of 200 to 1000m, sometimes referred to as the twilight zone as this is where bioluminescence starts to occur |
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bathypelagic zone |
ocean zone, extends from a depth of 1000m to 4000m, no light reaches this zone |
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abyssal zone |
ocean zone, extends from 4000m to 6000m, continuous cold and lack of nutrients |
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hadal zone |
ocean zone, extends from 6000m to bottom of ocean floor |
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thermocline |
change in temperature |
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pycnocline |
change in pressure |
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salinity |
change in salt concentration |
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tides |
the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and sun and the rotation of the earth |
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spring tide |
highest highs and lowest lows, occurs when sun, moon and earth are in alignment at new an full moons |
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neap tide |
small amplification and lowest availability, occurs at 1st an 3rd quarter moons |
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water column |
conceptual column from surface to the bottom sediments |
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benthic zone |
lowest level of a body of water including the sediment surface |
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hyporheic zone |
region beneath and alongside a stream bed, where there is mixing of shallow groundwater and surface water, there is slight flow |
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phreatic zone |
the area in a body of water below the water table, in which relatively all pores and fractures are saturated with water |
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Ernst Haeckel |
coined the term ecology in 1866 |
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solstice |
extreme of either long days or nights |
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equinox |
equal light day and night |
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lotic |
flows |
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lentic |
stagnant |
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specious |
rich in number of species |
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riparian zone |
flanks the water itself |
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epilimnion |
sunlight penetrates and warms lake water |
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metalimnion |
temperature and other physical and chemical factors change rapidly with lake depth |
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hypolimnion |
lake water is cold and dark and may lack dissolved oxygen |
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littoral |
close to shore |
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limnetic |
well-lit, open surface water |
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wetlands |
at least periodically, the land supports predominantly hydrophytes, the substrate is predominantly undrained hydric soil and the substrate is nonsoil and is saturated with water or covered by shallow water at some time during the growing season |
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basin |
wetland, a topographic depression |
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riverine |
wetland, periodically flooded areas along streams-floodplains |
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fringe |
wetland, coastal areas of oceans and large lakes |
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ground water |
the water located beneath the earth's surface in soil pore spaces and in fractures of rock formations |
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diaheliotropic |
angle leaves toward sun throughout the day |
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paraheliotropic |
angle leaves away from sun throughout the day |
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latent heat of vaporization |
enthalpy change required to transform a given quantity of a substance from a liquid to a gas at a given pressure |
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latent heat of fusion |
the change in enthalpy resulting from heating a given quantity of a substance from a solid to a liquid. |
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acclimation |
a reversible change in morphology and/or physiology within an individual in response to a change in the environment |
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adaptation |
an evolutionary response at the population level that involves changes in gene frequencies. May be morphological, physiological or behavioral |
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Hcd |
heat of conduction, transfer of heat through physical contact, gain or loss depending on temperature of the other object |
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Hr |
radiation |
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He |
evaporation |
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Hm |
metabolism |
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Hcv |
convection |
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torpor |
shut down metabolism to a basic level, conserves energy |
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thermal neutral zone |
temperature range in which no metabolism is needed to maintain a constant body temperature |
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ectotherm |
maintains body temp solely by gaining heat from the environment |
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endotherm |
can maintain body temp by the metabolic generation of heat |
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poikilotherm |
body temp fluctuates with environmental temperatures |
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homeotherm |
body temp remains constant when environmental temperatures fluctuate |
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aestivation |
lowered metabolic rate in response to high temepratures |
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diapause |
arrested development |