Chapter 14/15 Flashcards
In a graph that plots prey population (Nprey) on the x-axis against the number of predator offspring produced per unit of time on the y-axis, the slope represents the
efficiency with which food is converted into predator population growth or reproduction (b)
What is considered a nonlethal effect of predation?
reduced activity of prey
What is an example of Mullerian mimicry?
A wasp with black and yellow bands
The profitability of a prey item increases as…
its E/Th increases
What caused massive declines in U.S commercial fish populations?
huge factory trawlers
In the basic Lotka-Volterra equations that describe predator-prey interactions, the growth rate of the prey population (dNprey/dt) is zero when the density of predators (Npredator) is equal to…
r/c
With a highly abundant prey population size, which component of the functional response is most reduced?
search time
According to the Red Queen hypothesis…
prey must continually evolve emans of avoiding capture to avoid extinction
The maximum number of prey consumed per predator per unit time is limited by..
T/Th
Define predation
The consumption of living organisms by a heterotroph. (excluding scavengers and decomposers)
What kinds of tissue do carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores eat?
Carnivores - animal tissue
Herbivore - plant/algal tissue
Omnivore - plant and animal tissue
Define true predator
Kill its prey immediately upon capture.
Why are grazers and browsers (types of herbivores) not considered true predators?
They consume only part of an individual plant, they do not kill it immediately upon eating it.
Population growth equation
dN/dt = rN
What do the variables: Nprey , c , and cNprey mean?
Nprey - size of prey population
c - capture efficiency of predator
cNprey - per capita prey consumption rate (# of prey consumed per predator per unit time)
What does (cNprey)Npred tell us?
The total rate of predation for the population
What is the equation for predation on a prey population?
dNprey/dt = rNprey - (cNprey)Nprey
What is the equation for population growth of predator population assuming it is a function of the amount of prey consumed?
dNpred/dt = b(cNprey)Npred - dNpred
In the equation for predation on prey population and for predator birth rate, what two variables show up in both and what does this mean?
(cNprey)Npred shows up in both. This is what causes the cyclical nature of predator/prey populations.
Define search image
Ability for a predator to recognize a species as potential food.
Define prey switching
When a predator switches from a preferred prey to a more abundant species it can hunt more profitably
Define microparasites
Very small, short generation time, develop and multiply rapidly within the host. Associated with the term disease
Define macroparasites
Larger size, longer generation time, transmits directly from host -> ost or through a carrier.intermediate host.
Define ectoparasites
Live on the outside of the host
Define endoparasites
Live within the host
How can host to host transmission occur?
air (viruses), water (roundworms), direct contact(fleas)
How do roundworms transmit?
Eggs leave the digestive tract and disperse via water and then are consumed. They then burrow into blood vessels and move into the lungs.
Define vector
Organism that transmits virus between hosts
Define definitive host
Parasite becomes an adult (reaches sexual maturity) in this host
Define intermediate host
Host during a stage in the parasite’s life cycle. Will stay at this host until ready for next part of life cycle, then will transfer hosts.
How does parasite population tie into population dynamics and species interactions?
A parasite can only develop through their life stages if it has been transmitted to the appropriate intermediate host.
Explain the Meningeal worm life cycle.
Deer eats an infected snail/slug while grazing -> once in stomach, the infected larvae leave the snail and puncture the stomach wall to enter the abdominal membranes -> travel via spinal cord to the brain where they mate and produce eggs -> eggs move through bloodstream to lungs and break airsacs to enter the lungs. -> eggs are coughed up, reswallowed, then passed through digestive tract -> snails/slugs come into contact with deer feces
What are the adaptations that hosts have to mimize parasites (6)
Behavioral defenses
Inflammatory response
Immune response
Internal Cysts
Scab/Cyst formations in plants
Form Galls
What are the behavioral defenses of hosts?
Grooming, changing locations
Define galls?
Galls are abnormal structures created by plants that expose insect larvae to predation. Each insect type has a unique gall that is formed
Difference between inflammatory and immune response
Inflammatory is when WBCs and other cells attack parasite/infection
Immune is antibodies that trigger a response
