Chapters 52-53: Introduction to Ecology and Populations Flashcards
populations
groups of the individuals of the same species
communities
groups of populations
ecosystems
groups of communities
landscapes
groups of ecosystems
biosphere
the Earth
evolutionary time
populations change to adapt to their environments
ecological time
response of organisms, populations, etc. to their environments
organismal ecology
focuses on how the organism reacts to environment
population ecology
focuses on how and why populations changes over time
community ecology
focuses on interactions between species and their populations
ecosystem ecology
focuses on energy/nutrient flow between communities and their environment (emergent properties)
landscape ecology
focuses on changes in energy, nutrients, and organisms across ecosystems
global ecology
focuses on how components of the biosphere interact to influence global change
factors that determine distributions
dispersal, behavior, biotic, abiotic
biotic
other living things; predators, prey, pathogens, competitors, etc
abiotic
physical factors; temperature, light, water, etc.
dispersal
movement of individuals to new areas
habitat selection
may choose to avoid a livable habitat; psychological barrier
species distributions limited by other species
food, host, pollinator is missing; predator, parasite, competitor is present
abiotic factors (physiological tolerances)
temperature, water (limit or excess), sunlight, geology
climate
long prevailing weather conditions
broad climatic patterns
curved surface of earth, tilted axis, pattern of heating/evaporation, rotation of the earth
local variations in climate
proximity to water, mountain effects (rain shadow), altitude and temperature, seasonality
biomes
major habitat types, determined by both biotic and abiotic factors
ecotones
areas of transition between biomes
disturbance
leads to community variation, patchiness; e.g. fire, hurricanes
aquatic biomes
freshwater, marine, pelagic (open water), benthic (bottom)
photic v. aphotic
areas with and without light that allow photosynthesis to occur
major abiotic drivers
precipitation and temperature
biome overlap
overlapping characters may mean that averages do not indicate they type of biome present; disturbance is a major factor
population features
conspecific individuals occurring in a particular area; same environment, resources, and interact/breed with each other
gain individuals
births and immigration (arriving)
lose individuals
deaths and emigration (leaving)
characteristics to describe populations
density, dispersion, and demographics
density
number of individuals per unit area
mark-recapture method
method to estimate size/density of a population
dispersion
pattern of spacing among individuals
clumped
aggregated in patches; attracted to resources
uniform
evenly spaced; repulsed by each other, as with territories
random
independent of other individuals
demographics
age and sex-structure of the population
life table
age-specific summaries of survival in population; constructed by following a single cohort from birth to death
cohort
the group of individuals all born together that are studied
survivorship curve
number alive plotted v. each age; know type I, type II, type III
life history
pattern of reproduction and survival
reproductive table
fertility schedule; follow reproductive output of cohort
iteroparity
repeated reproduction; multiple reproductive periods
semelparity
all reproduction concentrated in a single effort
trade-offs
can’t maximize all reproductive patterns at the same time; eg. more offspring means smaller offspring with less care
