Chapters 3, 4, 8 Flashcards
What is a species?
A species is a group of similar organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring.
What is a population?
A group of the same species living in a particular area at the same time.
What is a community?
All populations interacting in a given habitat.
What is an ecosystem?
It is composed of living and nonliving factors all interacting.
What is biodiversity?
It is the number and kind of organisms that exist in an ecosystem. It also encompasses genetic information.
What is the food web?
It describes feeding relationships in the ecosystem. Basically, who eats who.
What is speciation?
The process in which new species emerge.
True or False: All speciation is the result of mutation and favorable environmental conditions.
True.
How does resource partitioning influence speciation?
Animals within a species must adapt to new food sources, which leads to a new species.
How does geographical separation influence speciation?
Physical division of a species causes them to evolve differently over time.
What are some examples of species that have evolved over time?
Polar bears, dogs, and bacteria.
What is extinction?
A species completely disappears from earth.
What is mass extinction?
50% of species or more are wiped out.
What does the “C” mean in “CHIPO?”
Climate change.
What does the “H” mean in “CHIPO?”
Habitat loss (most influential in destroying species).
What does the “I” mean in “CHIPO?”
Invasive species.
What does the “P” mean in “CHIPO?”
Pollution.
What does the “O” mean in “CHIPO?”
Over harvesting.
What are limiting factors?
They are factors that control population growth. An example is disease.
What is carrying capacity?
The maximum number of individuals an environment can support.
What is interspecific competition?
Competition between different species. Usually based on feeding relationships.
What is intraspecific competition?
It is competition within the species. Usually over mates and food.
What are invasive organisms? Why are they bad?
They are non-native species that were introduced by humans. They are able to out compete native species.
What is mimicry?
A species mimics another to avoid predation.
What is parasitism?
One species uses another for food. A tick drinking a dog’s blood for example.
What is a generalist?
They have a large niche. They eat many foods and can live in more diverse areas. They are fairly adaptable.
What is a specialist?
They have a small niche. They eat a particular food or live in a limited habitat. They aren’t very adaptable outside of their niche.
What is symbiosis?
Interactions between different organisms living in the same space.
What is a keystone species?
They are predators that keep prey population in check. An example is deer populations exploding because we eliminated native wolves/a keystone species.
