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ENVS-230 > Chapter 1: The Nature of Ecology > Flashcards

Chapter 1: The Nature of Ecology Flashcards

1
Q

What is ecology?

A

The scientific study of the relationships between organisms and their environment.

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2
Q

What is included in the environment?

A
  • Abiotic factors (physical, chemical)
  • Biotic factors (biological)
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3
Q

Why do we need to understand the world around us?

A
  • Improve our environment
  • Manage natural resources
  • Protect human health
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4
Q

What is natural history?

A

The descriptive study of the natural world.

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5
Q

What is the cornerstone of ecology?

A

Darwin’s theory of natural selection (1859)
- Organisms evolve by adapting to changing environmental conditions

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6
Q

Who is Ernst Haeckel?

A

Coined the term ecology (1866) and popularized Darwin’s work.

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7
Q

Who is Justus von Liebig?

A

The father of organic chemistry who created an apparatus for measuring carbon content. Discovered that plants use CO2 from the air and not the soil.

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8
Q

What is Liebig’s Law of the Minimum?

A

Plant growth is limited by a nutrient that is shortest in supply.

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9
Q

How does climate change affect food supply?

A
  • Warming and increased CO2 in the biosphere may help plants grow faster. But, more extreme weather events reduces crop yields.
  • Water warming and pollution causes fish to move north, changing communities.
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10
Q

What is environmentalism?

A

A social movement that advocates the preservation, restoration, and improvement of the natural environment, and may be referred to as a movement to control pollution or protect plant and animal diversity.

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11
Q

What is the hierarchy of ecological systems from smallest to largest?

A

Individual, population, community, ecosystem, biome, biosphere.

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12
Q

What emergent properties exist at the individual level?

A
  • Metabolism
  • Regulated growth
  • Reproduction
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13
Q

What subdivision is studied at the individual level?

A

Physiological ecology: The functioning of an individual organism.

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14
Q

What is an example of an experiment at the individual level?

A

A species of coral disintegrates as a result of more CO2 in the biosphere -> weak carbonic acid in the ocean -> higher acidity -> more breakdown.

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15
Q

What is an individual?

A

The basic unit of ecology.

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16
Q

What is a population?

A

A group of individuals of the same species that occupy a given area.

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17
Q

What are the emergent properties of a population?

A
  • Birth and death rates
  • Distribution of individuals
18
Q

What subdivision is studied at the population level?

A

Population ecology: Studies structure and dynamics of populations and factors affecting populations.

19
Q

What is an example of population ecology?

A

Warming and pollution decrease the population of 2 different coral species. The hybrid of these 2 species is better adapted to these conditions.

20
Q

What is a community?

A

All populations of different species living and interacting within an ecosystem.

21
Q

What are the emergent properties of an ecosysem?

A
  • Species interactions
  • Relative abundance of species
22
Q

What subdivision is studied at the community level?

A

Community ecology: Studies factors that influence biodiversity, community structure, and the distribution and abundance of species.

23
Q

What is an ecosystem?

A

The biotic community plus the physical environment (abiotic).

24
Q

What are the emergent properties of the ecosystem?

A

Flow of energy and nutrients through the physical and biological systems.

25
Q

What are examples of ecosystem ecology?

A
  • Ocean warming and pollution causes bleaching (algal symbionts leave) in corals.
  • Corals in the Pacific survive better than those in the Atlantic because there are more diverse fish (eat nutrients off coral)
26
Q

What subdivision is studied at the ecosystem level?

A

Ecosystem ecology: Studies how the living and nonliving components interact with each other and how both natural and human-induced changes affect how they function.

27
Q

What is a landscape?

A

An area of land (or water) composed of a patchwork of communities and ecosystems.

28
Q

What subdivision is studied at the landscape level?

A

Landscape ecology: Factors that influence the spatial distribution of ecosystems and the effect on organisms.

29
Q

What is a biome?

A

Broad-scale geographic regions with similar geological and climatic conditions and dominated by similar types of ecosystems.

30
Q

What subdivision is studied at the biome level?

A

Biogeography: Patterns ob biological diversity with geography, biome level.

31
Q

What are examples of ecosystems within a biome?

A

Foothills of Brooks Range and Beaufort Coastal Plain are ecosystems that both exist in a Tundra biome.

32
Q

What is the biosphere?

A

The thin layer at the surface of Earth that supports all life.

33
Q

What subdivision is studied at the biosphere level?

A

Global ecology: Functioning of Earth’s environment as a whole, interactions between ecosystems and the atmosphere.

34
Q

What is the scientific method?

A
  • Observations
  • Question
  • Hypothesis
  • Predictions
  • Experiments
  • Analysis
35
Q

What are the 2 main types of experiments in ecology?

A
  • Lab experiments
  • Field experiments
36
Q

What are models?

A

Abstract, simplified representations of real systems that provide a basis for predictions. Can be mathematical or verbal/conceptual.

37
Q

What are the types of categorical data?

A
  • Nominal: Unordered (hair color)
  • Ordinal: Ordered (post-reproductive)
  • Binary: 2 categories (sex)
38
Q

What are the types of numerical data?

A
  • Discrete: Certain values (integers)
  • Continuous: Any value (height)
39
Q

What is a theory?

A

An integrated set of hypotheses that together explain a broader set of observations than any single hypothesis.

40
Q

What are the 4 crucial areas in problems facing humanity?

A
  • Human population growth
  • Biological diversity
  • Sustainability
  • Global climate change

ENVS-230 (1 decks)

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