DAT Ecology Cheat Sheet Flashcards
Members of same species living in the same area
population
A group of populations living in the same area
community
Area where organisms in a community interact
with their physical environment
ecosystem
Consists of all regions of earth containing living things
biosphere
Type of place where organism usually lives, including
other organisms as well as physical, chemical environment
habitat
Most survive to middle age and die quicker after that… what survivorship curve
type i
Length of survivorship is random… what survivorship curve
type 2
Most die young, and few survive to reproductive age and beyond what curve
type iii
When two species compete for the same resources (or occupy the same niche), one is
likely to be more successful and the other will be eliminated
competitive exclusion principle
Organism that kills and eats another
predator
Organism that spends most of its life living on host and consuming nutrients from it
parasite
Organism that eats plants;
herbivores
Set of conditions & resources an organism needs and interactions it has with other species
niche
Niche that an organism occupies when there are no competing species present
fundamental niche
Smaller subset of the niche that species occupy when competition is present
realized niche
Interaction between organisms that occurs when resources are limited, and multiple organisms requiring
the same limited resources
competition
describes energy proportion represented at one trophic level that is transferred to the next
Ecological/trophic efficiency
On average, an efficiency of about… what is transferred to next
10%
Energy, biomass, and quantity of organisms is highest at
the 1o producer level
Autotrophs that convert sun energy into chemical energy
primary producer
Herbivores that eat primary producers
primary consumer
Primary carnivores that eat primary consumers
secondary consumer
Secondary carnivores that eat secondary consumers
tertiary consumer
Consumers that obtain energy by consuming detritus
Detritivores:
(dead matter consisting of leaves, animal remains, and
waste products)
detritus
Both organisms benefit
mutualism
Interactions between two species
symbiosis
One benefits, other is unaffected
Commensalism
Benefits at the expense of the host
parasitism
Most extreme
temperature
fluctuations biome
desert
Tropical grasslands
with scattered trees
savannah
Long cold winters
* Low precip in form of heavy ❄
* Largest terrestrial biome
taiga
Cold forests
temerpate coniferous
Warm summers, cold
winters, moderate rain
temperate deciduous
nitrogen cycle Describes how nitrogen moves from the…
environment to
living organisms and from living organisms back into the
environment
Nitrogen must go through WHAT to be converted
from its environmental form to a form usable by
organisms:
fixation
Nitrogen must go through WHAT to be
converted from the form used by organisms to the form
that exists in the environment
denitrification
Change in composition of ecological community over time
succession
occurs on substrates that never previously supported living things
primary succession
occurs where communities were entirely/partially destroyed by damaging event
secondary succession
first to colonize a newly exposed habitat; they are usually opportunistic
pioneer species
As one organism eats another, toxins become more concentrated at
higher trophic levels
biological magnificaiton
Process where water becomes enriched with excess nutrients and biomass
increases
Eutrophication:
