Animal Ecology ch 38 Flashcards
38.1 What is the hierarchy of ecology?
-Organism
- Population
-Community (Species Diversity)
- Ecosystem(Communities + environment)
- Biosphere
38.2 Distinguish between biotic and abiotic factors in an environment and give some examples.
– Abiotic = nonliving factors (e.g. water)
– Biotic = living factors (e.g. predators)
38.3 How is a habitat different from a niche?
- Habitat = physical space an animal lives in
- Niche = unique relationship of species with their environment; their
role
38.4 How does the fundamental niche differ from the realized niche
Fundamental niche is the entire set of conditions under which an animal (population, species) can survive and reproduce itself. Realized niche is the set of conditions actually used by given animal (pop, species), after interactions with other species (predation and especially competition) have been taken into account.
fundamental niche(potential role)
realized niche (actual role)
Parasitism
a nonmutual relationship between two organisms in which one benefits at the expense of the other.
Commensalism
a relationship between individuals of two species in which one species obtains food or other benefits from the other without either harming or benefiting the latter
Mutualism
a type of symbiotic relationship where all species involved benefit from their interactions
Competition
the direct or indirect interaction of organisms that leads to a change in fitness when the organisms share the same resource.
Carrying capacity
a species’ average population size in a particular habitat
Biomass
stored energy
38.7 Distinguish between density-independent and density-dependent extrinsic factors to population growth.
2 types of extrinsic factors
Density-independent (abiotic)
E. g. flood, fire, storm
Density-dependent (biotic)
E.g. predation, parasitism, competition
38.8 Describe the ways in which species reduce competition.
Competition (-,- or 0,-)–Reduce competition by reducing niche overlap–One outcompetes the other (Competitive Exclusion)–Coexist by specializing (Resource Partitioning)
38.9 What is the difference between Batesian and Müllerian mimicry.
Batesian mimicry: harmful model is mimicked by harmless species
*Műllerian mimicry: multiple models mimic each other
–Neotropical butterflies are mimics of each other
–Mimicry ring: toxic & nontoxic species are mimic
38.10 What is a keystone species?
an organism that helps define an entire ecosystem. Without its keystone species, the ecosystem would be dramatically different or cease to exist altogether. Keystone species have low functional redundancy.
38.11 What are trophic levels and how do they relate to food webs?
primary producers-algae, plants
herbivores- eat plants
consumers- heterotrophs
decomposers- bacteria, fungi
