Biology midterm 1-8 Flashcards
Species tolerance
There is ranges of tolerance along environmental gradients. Looks like a bell graph. There main parts, a species can be surviving, growing and reproducing. Reproduction is the smallest and the hardest
Model organism
These are the species that scientist use to model all other organism off of when doing experiments. Mice for vertebrates , Flies for bugs, Arabidopsis thaliana (Thale cress) for plants
Population
Community
Ecosystem
- A group of a single species in one area
2.A group of species all living in one area - A group of all the species AND nonliving things in one area (water,dirt)
What limits species ranges
Dispersal
Climatic ( or other inexhaustible conditions,
e.g., temperature, salinity)
Food or other exhaustible resources, e.g.,
nutrients, space, etc.
Species interactions, (e.g., competition,
predation, or mutualism)
The sixth extinction
Human may be facing a 6th extinction due to climate change. extinction beforehand were based on natural things (asteroids, volcanoes)
Hutchinsonian niche
The niche is “an n-dimensional
hypervolume” in which each
axis is an “ecological factor”
important to the species being
considered
Temperatures and Latitude connection
Higher latitudes are colder; seasonality is a function of temperature (summer-winter)
Lower latitudes are warmer; seasonality is a function of rainfall; ( wet season-dry season)
What does rain depend mostly on
atmospheric circulation, offshore ocean currents, rain shadows
Rain shadow
a patch of land that has been forced to become a desert because mountain ranges blocked all plant-growing, rainy weather.
What factors determine biome?
Seasonality(winter-summer or dry season-wet sesaon), rain, latuatuide and atmospheric circulation
Atmospheric movement, simple definition
the movement of air around the planet. It explains how thermal energy and storm systems move over the Earth’s surface.
Hadley cells
Warm moist Air is rising at the equator and then moving up before dry cool air is sinking at about 30 degrees latitude(negative or postive)
Ferrell cell
The middle part of poral and Hadley Cells, like the gear and will flow the warmer equator air from the Hadley and the cold polar air from the polar cells. It’s not based on temperatures leading to semi-perimeter places with high and low pressure. Where air is raising, it’s low pressure, where the air is descending, it’s high pressure and lead to our desserts. Between 60 and 70 degrees (north or south)
Polar Cells
Th smallest cell, the cold dense air circulates at low levels and then begins to warm as it leave. Located at 60-70 latuatide.
Intertropical Convergence Zone
This is when the positions of the direct sunlight which hit the equator causes the low pressure and rain and then the area around it gets high pressure which causes no rainfall. This is what causes wet and dry seasons. It shifts from the different tropics as the earth rotates around the sun which is why not place is always in the wet seasons or dry season.
Coriolis effect
the Earth’s rotation deflects winds
Objects (including hurricanes) appear to be deflected eastwards as they move away from the equator and deflected westwards as they move towards the equator
Horse latitudes
A part of the subtropics known for little wind and perception (30 N and S) Here the air descends back to Earth’s surface at about 30 degrees’ latitude north and south of the equator. This is known as the high-pressure subtropical ridge.
Doldrums
A belt around the Earth near the equator where sailing ships sometimes get stuck on windless waters
Northeast and southeast
These are the strongest winds that are also known as the “trading winds”
What is special about the latitude 40?
It is called the roaring 40’s as it’s known for being extremely rough and dangerous for ships. It’s like this because as the temperature gradient decreases, air is deflected toward the poles by the Earth’s rotation, causing strong westerly and prevailing winds at approximately 40 degrees. Stronger in the south than in the north due to the north having more ocean.
What are the common biome trends
That latitude determines most biomes. Rain and temperatures as play a major factor, rain more so. The higher the production of rain, the warmer the biome, the more vegetation produced. (ex: almost all deserts are at latitude 30S/N)
Orographic precipitation
air forced up mountainsides
undergoes cooling, precipitates on upper windward slopes
How doe oceans affect rain?
The driest deserts occur inland of cold-water, upwellings: cold water = dry air
What is Range of tolerance
environmental condition which limit where a species can live
What can looking at an organism physiology features tell you about it?
They reflect the climate and other conditions that the organism has adapted to. It can also tell you where is lives when comparing to other organism in the area. Different environments lead to different solution and Similar environments often lead to similar adaptations(convergent evolution)
Where is temperature variation the lowest?
Near the equator. This explains why animals have a wider array of adaptations in higher latitudes.
Poikilotherms
“cold blooded animals” they can’t deviate from the external elements. lack physiological means to deviate from environmental temperature (although they use behavioral means like movement or going into water): their temperatures fluctuate. Mostly reptiles, fish and invertebrates
Homeotherms
“Warm blooded animals” When an animal heat themselves through internal means (they are still affect by external elements but they are less effected) must regulate heat balance to keep internal temperature within a very narrow range.
Which has a lower energry requirement, Homeotherms or Poikilotherms. Why?
Poikilotherms. Because they use less engery maintaining their interal body temp.
5 modes of heat gain/ loss
○ Radiation-Heat transfer by electromagnetic radiation
○ Conduction-hear transfer by direct contact (like touching a dog to warm up or putting your feet on the floor)
○ Convection heat transfer mediated by moving fluid (normally air or water) (warming up in a hot bath or cooling down in a cool river)
○ Evaporation-cooling from wet surfaces (this is why we sweat it’s to take advantage of this process)
○ Redistribution-circulatory systems redistribute heat among body parts
Why does size matter(heat)
Heat balance is based on surface. The smaller the animal, the faster the animal can lose heat.
What is Bergmann’s rule
Organisms at higher latitudes should be larger and thicker than those closer to the equator to better conserve heat
Why does size matter(SA)
Sometimes SA(surface area) needed for functions
Sometimes shape is needed for function
The size may be a trade off
How can animals keep warm in cold places?
Fur, blubber, feathers.
Which is more important Shape, size, or insulation?
Insulation even though is a ton of work on the animals with fur and blubber because it’s so heavy and cost a lot of space and energy to produce. It’s costly but it’s deathly not to do this.
What is Countercurrent circulation.
Countercurrent flow maintains gradient, so heat is always flowing from outgoing blood to incoming blood. This can also be reversed and hot blood can be brought from the core into the limbs so that the heat can leave the body and be brought into the environment.
Trade off- animals
Natural selection build on what is there making imperfect adapting. example: hares, big ear make sensing danger easier, but they are larger and can be seen easily by a predator.
How is plant physiolgocial differnt than animals (in the unobvouis way)
Plants cant evade stress moving but they can make their own food.
They require light, CO2 and water and a reasonable temperatures.
Leaf, stem, and root traits reflect adaptation to their environments, with examples of adaptations in desert plants
How many sexes do flowers normally have.
Both female and male and they depend on animals to pollenate them.
Net primary productivity (NPP)
The amount of biomass or carbon produced by primary producers per unit area and time, obtained by subtracting plant respiratory costs C gained via photosynthesis – C lost via respiration,
The Photosynthesis
To photosynthesize a plant must bring in CO2, light, water and enzymes that regulate temperature. Photosynthetic (green) structures are usually leaves (but can be stems)
SA:V in plants
Leaf size and shape ratio is important too plants.
Pros: Good for good for harvesting light, CO2, and have lots of stomates
Cons: bad for overheating, water loss by transpiration through stomata
Plants don’t want to gain too much heat and want to stay cool
How do plants deal with overheating/waterloss
C4 photosynthesis: the enzyme PEP carboxylase first accepts CO 2, reducing photorespiration, it is better than rubisco
Stoma
Meaning, little mouth. Sometimes plants need to cool down and they can do that by evaporating, that involves loosing valuable water. They can stop this process by closing their stoma.
But this cuts off all gas exchange, including CO2 input, so photosynthesis shut down. Which then risks overheating and tissue damage. Plants who do with will have to get their food from moonlight
Roots
Roots are shallow because there is a shallow layer of nutrient-rich soil due to delaying animals and leaves which the trees want
Plant also so root foraging, where the roots go for the soil with better conditions. Legumes also “search” for nitrogen-fixing bacteria in soil
What is N
The number of individuals in the population
Why is N imporant
Natryal resource management, Conservation, Health
Species interactions
Competition: two species fighting for resources,
Predation: two species fighting with one being the predator and one the prey,
Mutualism: two species coexisting together in an environment
Competetion terinology
Intra-specific competition: competition among members of the same species, inter-specific competition, Completion among member of different species among heterospecific), Scramble/ exploitative competition, depletion of a shared resource
Lotka-Volterra
The equation for two species competing for resources
What are the possible outcomes of Lotka-Volterra Competition
- Two species may stably coexist
- species 1 will gain all the resources which will cause it to species 2 to die and species 1 will reach max capacity
- species 2 will gain all the resources which will cause it to species 1 to die and species 2 will reach max capacity
N meaning in equation
total population
r
birthrate-death/n which will show you the populations growth rate
k definition
Carry capacity of the environment
K speices
A species that will hit it’s carrying capacity and then stay around that number. Characteristics of these species, is they will send more time caring for offspring and will normally have a longer lifespan
r species
A species that will go up and down in a boom and bust cycle. Characteristics of these species, is they will send less time caring for offspring and will normally have a shorter lifespan.
Three types of suriver ships
Type 1: These species have a very high early survivorship then it slowly begins to decrease around middle-age and the chance of death getting higher the older they get. Nomrally K speices (ex: humans!!)
Type 2: They are species are born with a high survivorship and then from that moment on their chance of survival decrease at a constant rate. (ex: some types of birds)
Type 3: These species have a very low early survivorship then it slowly begins to increase around middle-age and the chance of death getting lower the older they get. Normally R spieces (ex: oak trees)
Cohart life table
-Follows a cohort of individuals from birth to death and is age specific. Normally for species with a short life span.
Static life table
- Used to estimate the age structure of a given population at one point in time. Normally for species with long life spans
Which model makes the famous s shaped graph
Logistic model
Net reproductive rate
Average amount of female offspring produced by all females in a population in reproductive life of a female
Age specific fertility rate
the proportion of female offspring that are born to females of reportative age
What is R(0)
How many daughters on average does a female have
Relationships among R 0 , λ, r
These parameters indicate the factor by
which a population changes during a discrete
interval of time, but those intervals are
different`
Fecundity definition
the ability to produce an abundance of offspring or new growth; fertility.
“multiply mated females show increased fecundity”
What are the 3 types of seasons of grows for plants
What is the difference between iteroparous and semelparous
semelparous: characterized by a single intensely fertile reproductive episode before death
iteroparous: characterized by multiple less intensely fertile reproductive cycles over the course of its lifetime
Carnivory v Herbivory
Carnivory: the organism is killed and the predator is normally larger than the prey.( eating plant CAN be carnivores if the plant is fully killed)
Herbivory: the plant normally survives
Parasitism/disease
Host may or may not survive
Host is generally larger than the parasite
(normally) Multiple parasites per host
Lutka-Volterra model for predator-prey interaction cycle
Predict coupled lagged population cycles because predates are eating a lot of prey, the population of the prey decreases until the predator population is so low that the prey population is allowed to spike until the amount of prey is enough to repeat the cycle
Is the Lutka-Volterra model for predator-prey interaction cycle accurate in nature? What’s an example if so
Normally not. Nature doesn’t normally follow cycles on a perfect cycle and when it does, it’s normally short-lived. There also may be other factors than cause these cycles, like maybe the prey population falling is due to plant life death from winter and not predator growth. Also, predators don’t typically eat ONLY one prey, they will eat many different types. But there are some wildlife examples, like the lynx and hare.
What is the “Red Queen hypothesis”
Prey are always evolving as fast as they can to stop prey from eating them and predators are always evolving to be able to eat prey as fast as they can. No one will ever win this race as predators will eat prey at the same rate
What is Antagonistic co-evolution
Coevolution = reciprocal adaptation which means that Prey evolve defenses; predators evolve counter-adaptations to overcome defenses.
Life Dinner Principle
These evolutions we see are not equal. Prey is under stronger selection to make defense than predators are to make these adaption to catch the prey because if a predators does not catch a prey, it can still reproduce and live on but no prey have ever reproduced after being caught by a predator.
What are the 3 types of plant defenses?
Often inducible (turned on in response to threats or attacks) Form in many ways( Prey morphology, chemistry, behavior)
How is predation important to species richness?
predation maintains the species richness of its prey as the predators keep the population low enough so that other competitive species can grow too
Niche
Role and position of a species in its environment.
What is the enemy release hypothesis:
When an invaders’ impacts
result from having fewer natural enemies (predators, parasites, or pathogens) in their
new range, compared to their native range
Density dependent
Factors have varying impacts according to population size. Includes, diseases, competition, and predation
Density Independent
Factors have the same effect independents of population size and normally are outside the species control. Includes thunderstorms, heat death and floods.
Delayed density dependence
delays in the effect that density has on population size. They can contribute to population fluctuations and lead to time lags.
Environmental Stochasticity
The randomness of environmental changes which influences how a population size changes over time
Demographic stochasticity
the chance a sequence of births or deaths in a small population, which can add variability to population dynamics
What does “α” mean
diversity on a local scale, describing the species diversity (richness) within a functional community.
Metapopulation
a “population of populations” distributed in discrete habitat patches that are linked by occasional dispersal.
