Chapter 15: Ecology Flashcards
Population
A number of a species in the same area that can breed
Ecology
The abundance and distribution of a population
Factors that affect population density
Immigration, emigration, natality, mortality
Dispersion pattern
How a species is laid out
Three forms of dispersion and at their definition
Clumped: find a populations clumped into groups
Uniform: the populations are evenly spaced
Random: no pattern at all
Three types of survivorship curves
Type 1,2,3
Type one definition
Rate of survival goes down with age, happens in large mammals, parents invest energy in survival of young
Type two definition
Rate of mortality is no higher or lower with age, happens in lizards
Type three definition
Hi mortality in the beginning, happens when parents can’t invest energy and young, scene with sea creatures like fish
Life tables
Allows us to look at chances of survival for populations based on a given age
Logistic growth
Populations don’t grow at a mathematical rate
Carrying capacity
The limit at which the population is no longer growing or shrinking
Resource competition
Organisms fight for resources but no one wins or loses
Interference competition
An organism blocks another organism from a certain resource usually through violence. One is the loser
The difference between interspecific and intra-specific competition
Inter-is between more than one species and intra-is within one species
Predation is important because:
Restricts and reduces abundance of prey
A major selective force, and arms race
A major type of interact action that can influence the organization of a community
Drives the movement of energy and nutrients in ecosystems
