Ch. 40 Population Ecology And Distribution Of Animals Flashcards
Concern with the biosphere or global ecosystem which is the sum of all the planets ecosystems
Global ecology
The scientific study of the interactions between organisms and the environment
Ecology
Focuses on the exchanges of energy materials and organisms across multiple ecosystems
Landscape ecology
A mosaic of connected ecosystems
Landscape
Emphasizes energy flowing chemical cycling among the various biotic and abiotic components
Ecosystem ecology
Deals with the whole array of interacting species in a community
Community ecology
Focuses on factors affecting population size overtime
Population ecology
Studies how an organism structure physiology and behavior meet environmental challenges
Organismal ecology
The long-term prevailing weather conditions in an area
Climate
What are four major abiotic components of climate
Temperature precipitation sunlight and wind
Factors are the nonliving chemical and physical attributes of the environment
Abiotic
The other organisms that make up the living component of the environment
Biotic factors
Consists of patterns on the global regional in landscape level
Microclimate
What are global climate patterns determined largely by
Solar energy and the planets movement in space
Caused by the curved shape of the earth
Latitudinal variation in sunlight intensity
How are global air circulation and precipitation patterns initiated
By intentional radiation near the equator
Blow east to west in the tropics
Trade winds
Blowy west to east in temperate zones
Westerlies
What is Climate affected by
Seasonality large bodies of water and mountains
What is seasonality of high latitudes caused by
The tilt of the earth’s axis of rotation and it’s in you will pass it around the sun
Major life zones characterized by vegetation tape or physical environment
Biomes
Plots the temperature and precipitation in a region
Climograph
Often named for major physical or climatic factors and for vegetation
Terrestrial biomes
Area of intergradation
Ecotone
Account for the largest part of the biosphere in terms of area
Aquatic biomes
Among the most productive habitats on earth
Wetlands and estuaries
Inundated by water at least sometimes and support plants adopted to water saturated soil
Wetlands
Transition area between river and sea salinity varies with the rise and fall of the tides
Estuary
Nutrient poor and generally oxygen-rich Lakes
Oligotrophic lakes
Nutrient rich and often depleted of oxygen if ice covered in winter
More surface area relative to depth
Eutrophic Lakes
Shallow well lighted close to shore zone of ocean
Littoral zone
Waters too deep to support routed aquatic plants the primary producers are phytoplankton
Limnetic zone
Can lead to algal blooms oxygen depletion and fish kill
Human induced nutrient enrichment
Have varying environmental conditions from headwater to mouth
Streams and rivers
Periodically submerged and exposed by the tides
Intertidal zone
Formed from the calcium carbonate skeletons of corals
Coral reefs
Constantly mixed by wind driven ocean currents
Oceanic pelagic zone
Largest area of primary reproduction
Oceanic pelagic zone
Consists of the seafloor
Marina benthic zone
Consist of the photic and aphotic zone’s
Pelagic zone
The organic and inorganic sediment at the bottom of all aquatic zones
Benthic zone
The communities of organisms in the benthic zone are collectively called
Benthos
The movement of individuals away from centers of high population density or from their area of origin
Dispersal
Important environmental factors in distribution of organisms
Temperature and availability of water and oxygen
Affects the water balance of organisms through osmosis
Salinity
The energy source for photosynthetic organisms
Sunlight
Characteristics of rocks and soil that limit the distribution of plants and thus the animals that feed on them
Physical structure pH mineral composition
Number of individuals per-unit area or volume
Density
What is the most common pattern of dispersion
Clumped individuals aggregate in patches
The study of the vital statistics of a population and how they change over time
Demography
In age-specific summary of the survival pattern of a population
Life table
A graphic way of representing the data in a life table
Survivorship curve
Equation solving for change in population size
Change in population size equals births plus immigrating entering population minus deaths minus emigrants leaving population
When the birth rate equals the death rate
Zero population growth
Comprises the traits that affect its schedule of reproduction
And organisms life history
What trade-offs do organisms commit
Between survival and reproduction
Number and size of offspring
Selects for life history traits that are sensitive to population density
K selection or density dependent
Selects for life history traits that maximize reproduction
R selection or density independent
Birthrate and death rate do not change with population density
Density independent
Birthrates fall and death rates rise with population density
Density dependent
Occurs in crowded populations increasing population density intensifies this conflict
Competition for resources
Just buy a population can accumulate in the environment contributing to density dependent regulation of population size
Toxic wastes
May increase with increasing population size do you to put her preference for abundant prey species
Predation
Can limit population density when space becomes a limited resource
Territoriality
Transmission rates may increase with increasing population density
Disease
Appear to regulate population size
Intrinsic factors
Focuses on the complex interactions between biotic and abiotic factors that cause variation in population size
Population dynamics
Can affect population size overtime
Weather and predator populations
Groups of populations linked by immigration and emigration
Metapopulations
