Chapter 22 Flashcards
What is landscape ecology?
The field of study that considers the spatial arrangement of habitats at different scales and examines how they influence individuals, populations, communities, ecosystems.
What is a legacy effect?
A long-lasting influence of historical processes on the current ecology of an area.
What is local/alpha diversity?
The number of species in a relatively small area of homogenous habitat.
What is regional/gamma diversity?
The number of species in all of the habitats that comprise a large geographic area.
What is beta diversity?
The number of species that differ in occurence betwen two hbaitats.
What is a regional species pool?
The collection of species that occurs within a region.
What is species sorting?
The process of sorting species in the regional pool among localities according to their adaptations and interactions.
What is the species area curve and the equation that models its relationship?
A graphical relationship in which increases in area (A) are associated with increases in the number of species (S):
S = cA^z
How do you graph the species area curve linearly?
logS = Logc +zlogA
What are stepping stones?
Small intervening habitat patches that dispersing organisms can use to move between large favourable habitats.
What is the equilibrium theory of biogeography?
The number of species on an island reflects a balance between the colonization of new species and the extinction of existing species.
What is the trend in global diversity when moving north to south?
Increases
What is potential evapotranspiration?
The amount of water that could be evaporated from the soil and transpired by plants, given the average temperature and humidity.
What is the energy-diversity hypothesis?
Sites with higher amounts of energy are able to support more species.
What is the nearctic region?
Roughly corresponds to North America.
