b50 Flashcards
a resource or environmental condition that limits the growth, distribution, or abundance of an organism or population within an ecosystem
limiting factor
set of environmental conditions in which an organism can live and reproduce
niche
what does n indicate in the Hutchonsonain niche/n-dimensional hypervolume
n indicates the number of different environmental conditions that determine where an organism can survive and reproduce
what describes the phenomena of how an organisms performance is low near the extremes of a limiting factor and optimal optimal at some intermediate value
performance curve
the set of environmental conditions where the species ACC occurs
realized niche
the set of environmental conditions that a species COULD tolerate
fundamental niche
convert the energy of sunlight or inorganic compounds into chemical energy stores in the carbon-carbon bonds of organic compounds
autotrophs
obtain energy by consuming organic compounds from other organisms
heterotrophs
what is the definition of ecology?
ecology is the study of the interactions that determine the distribution and abundance of organisms
a group of interacting organisms AND their physical environment
ecosystem
the number of individuals in a population; sometimes also called population size
population abundance
the number of individuals in a population within a defined spatial area.
also it is synonymous with what?
defined by the term N
population density
population abundance
what is the mark recapture formula?
M/N = R/C
their traits and behaviors alter habitats in ways that affect the other species that share their ecosystem
ecosystem engineers (ex. beavers)
a phenomenon in which individuals in a population reproduce less and have lower probabilities of survival within a given time period as population density increases. these reductions in reproduction and survival will slow the population growth through time
density dependence
what competition leads to density dependence
intraspecific competition
what are common limiting resources/limiting factor
food, shelter, water, light availability (for plants)
a populations maximum per capita growth rate in a particular habitat
intrinsic rate of increase or rmax
what determines what resources are available to organisms and, thus where they can live?
the physical environment
is weather the same as climate?
no
current state of the atmosphere at any given time
weather
long-term description of weather, including average conditions and the full range of variation
climate
directional change in climate over a period of at least three decades
climate change
which latitudes get more sun rays
lower latitudes (towards the middle of the earth) because its a direct hit
vs at higher latitudes (near poles), the suns rays hit at an angle and therefore the sun rays are spread out more and less concentrated
why does the sun/solar energy hit the earth at different degrees?
because the earth is round
annually the earth gets the most solar energy where?
at the equator
the earth tilts at what degrees
axial tilt of 23.4 degrees
why do we have seasons
due to the earth’s journey around the sun, variation in solar radiation across latitudes
twice a year, the sun hits the equator at 90 degrees, this is called what and in what months
March and September, this is called the equinox
how do we know that the equator gets the most solar radiation annually? what is the evidence
there is no cold season at the equator
which weighs more, a volume of hot air or a volume of cold air?
cold air
because heat rises, aka hot air balloons rise
how does atmospheric pressure change with altitude?
pressure decreases as altitude increases …. bag of chips in an airplane expands
WHY? because the pressure around decreases so the pressure outside the bag is less than the sealed pressure inside the bag
- higher pressure inside the chip bag than on the outside
does compression and expansion change air temperature?
compression heats air up
expansion cools air down
which hold more water, warm air or cold air?
warm air holds more water
HOW DO WE KNOW?
- water vapor is visible in breath on cold days
desserts are defined by what
being dry NOT HOT, its defined by amount of precipitation
coriolis effect describes what?
circulating air is deflected toward the right in the Northern Hemisphere and toward the left in the Southern Hemisphere
- clockwise movement in the Nothern Hemisphere
-counterclockwise movement in Southern Hemisphere
coriolis effects what
wind patterns and oceanic circulation, resulting effects on temperature and precipiation
the shape and features of the Earth’s surface in a particular area
topography… it influences the local climate, for example, via rain shadows
how much energy needs to be added to a substance to raise its temperature
heat capacity
continental effects leads to what
hotter summers and colder winters INLAND than along a coast
why do the interiors of continents experience large seasonal temperature swings instead of coastal areas?
because the ocean buffers temperature changes, creating cooler summers and warmer winters for coastal areas
- water has a higher heat capacity than soil (about 5 times higher)
how do plants cool the environment
via transpiration (when plant tissue heats up, they release excess
what is the difference of ecology
interactions of organisms with themselves, other species and their physical environment
another name for positive density dependence is
the allele effect
population growth slows as the population increases due to factors like competition for resources
negative density dependence
population growth is positively correlated with population density at low population levels, meaning that growth rates increase as the population becomes larger
allele effect, positive density dependence
large geographic areas affected by similar climatic and physical factors, leading to distinctive formations of animals and plants
biomes
each biome is characterized by
a typical climate
what can be used to visualize how temperature and precipitations interact to determine plant growth, and how these factors vary across biomes
climate diagrams
what biome is hot but more wet than hot (in terms of climate diagram), there is lots of precipitation
tropical rainforest
which biome:
- hot
- not so much precipitation
- precipitation is seasonal
tropical dry forest
terrestrial biomes are defined by what (2)
temperature and precipitation
aquatic biomes are defined by (5)
light and nutrient availability, physical movement of water, temperature, salinity, and surface (like sandy, rocky etc)
on mountains temperature and precipitation change with _______
elevation, ice and snow on top then tundra, boreal forest, temperate forest, tropical rainforest at bottom
marine zones are characterized based on: 4
- light penetration
- proximity to the shore line
- physical location (benthic =on the bottom surface, pelagic = in the water column)
- depth of pelagic zones
where rivers meet oceans
estuaries
- have fluctuating salinity, pH
- rich environment
describe the sandy bottom zones
- not much plants because plants can’t attach to the sand
- less rich environment
freshwater systems can be characterized as what (3)
lotic, lentic, aquifer
flowing rivers and streams
lotic
stationary ponds and lakes
lentic
subsurface water (subsurface meaning beneath the earth)
aquifer
what is the greenhouse effect
warming of Earth by atmospheric absorption and re-radiation of infrared radiation emitted by Earth’s surface
- this effect is due to GREENHOUSE GASES in the atmosphere
- water vapor
- carbon dioxide
- methane
- nitrous oxide
what is climate
an expected pattern in the physical factors that make up the world (ex. precipitation, wind, etc)
what is weather
the day to day variation in physical factors that make up the world
the longest and shortest days of the year are
the solstices, June 21 and December 21
we receive lots of sunlight during
the summer solstice
we receive very little sunlight during
the winter solstice
at each ________ the tilt of the Earth points directly toward the sun
solstice
refers to the evolutionary compromises organisms make when allocating limited resources to different aspects of their survival and reproduction
life-history trade off
what is optimization
the maximization of benefits to costs
overall goal of optimization is
increased fitness
why doesn’t negative density dependence contribute to the extinction vortex
because negative density dependence is the phenomena in which the population growth rate decreases as population size (N) or DENSITY increases, in the extinciton vortex, the population density is decreases!
also extinction vortex drives small populations to extinction
negative density dependece discusses large pops
