APES - Ch 4 Ecosystems Flashcards
Random Dispersal
-consistent resources leads to random grouping
Clumped Dispersal
-patchy resources causes grouping of a population
Uniform Dispersal
-equal spacing due to competition or territoriality
Ecological Niches
-particular area occupied by an organism
Law of Tolerance
-existence of a species depends on its tolerance of factors
Limiting Factor
-anything that limits the growth of a population
Resource Partitioning
-splitting up of resources between species
Ammensalism
-one suffers, the other isn’t affected
Commensalism
-one benefits, the other isn’t affected
Competition
-one benefits, the other suffers, attempt to gain a resource
Mutualism
-both benefit
Parasitism
-one benefits, the other suffers
Predation
-one species hunts another
Saprotrophism
-eating of a dead organism
Keystone Species
- contributes to diversity of life
- extinction would cause major problems for an ecosystem
Edge Effect
-how an ecosystem is altered by an edge - created by tree harvesting
Benthos (biome)
- bottom of ocean
- no sunlight
- energy comes from dead organisms
Freshwater Wetlands
- many ecosystem services
- at risk of habitat destruction
Hydrothermal Vents
- deep ocean
- vents rich in sulfur provide energy
Autotrophs
-make their own energy
Heterotrophs
-consume autotrophs for energy
10% Rule
-10% of energy goes on to the next trophic level
2nd Law of Thermodynamics
-some energy is lost to surroundings
Gross Primary Productivity
-amount of energy plants convert
Net Primary Production
-amount of energy available from plants to the next trophic level
Biodiversity
-genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity
Natural Selection
-determines how organisms evolve
Stabilizing Selection
-the extremes of the population are removed
Directional Selection
-one end of extreme does well, the other does poorly
Disruptive Selection
-two extreme ends do well, splits the population
Evolution
-change in genetic composition of a population across generations
Speciation
-segment of a population becomes so isolate that gene flow stops
Convergent Evolution
-species develop similar traits even though they live in varying ecosystems
Evolutionary Relay
-species develop similar traits in similar ecosystems even though they are very different
Parallel Evolution
-two species develop same traits in the same ecosystem
Ecosystem Service
-environment produces a resource for us
Ecological Succession
-development towards climax community
