Eco+Cons definitions Flashcards
Term 1 2023
ecology
interactions between organisms and their environments
organismal ecology
physiological, evolutionary + behavioural ecology based on an organism’s structure, morphology and behaviour (survival and reproduction)
Population ecology
Species population dynamics eg. climatic variations, resources (bottom-up(, predation (top-down)
community ecology
interactions between populations eg. predation, competition, parasitic relationships, symbiosis
ecosystem ecology
Ecological community and physical factors eg. energy fluxes/flows and nutrient+chemical recycling
Landscape ecology
mosaic of connected ecosystems, focused on factors that control exchanges of energy, materials + organism across ecosystems
Global ecology
The biosphere, regional changes + global processes eg. gas exchange
biome
major life zone characterised by vegetation type
ecotones
transition zones between biomes
climograph
shows the distribution of biomes
disturbance
event (storm, fire or human activity) that changes a community (removes organisms/ changes resource availability)
chaparral
Mediterranean biome
seasonal turnover in lakes
oxygenated water from the surface is send to the bottom and the nutrient-rich water from the bottom is brought up in spring and autumn, recycling
demography
study of birth, death + migration rates that causes pops to vary
life tables
show survivorship curves relating to reproductive strategy and typical cause of death
carrying capacity
the limit on the number of organisms that an ecosystem can sustain
logistic population growth
dN/dt = rN((k-N)/k)
life history
an organism’s scheduled reproduction and survival
semelparity
only reproduce once in life history
iteroparity
reproduce multiple times in life history
ecological footprint
land + water area needed to produce all resources that a person consumes and to absorb all their waste
biogeography
aims to understand processes that shape spatial patterns in biodiversity
resource partitioning
differentiation of ecological niches that allow species to live together (rely on different resources)
inference
one species has a competitive edge in food obtaining
fundamental niche
total area/niche a species can occupy
actual niche
actual area/niche a species can occupuy (due to competition)
abscission
leaves dropping as a defense response
endoparatism
live in hosts body eg. tapeworm
ectoparatism
live on external surface of host eg. fleas+lice
holohparasites
obligate parasites that can’t complete a life cycle without a host
schistosoiasis
disease caused by flukes in humans
trophic structure
structure and dynamics of a community shaped by feeding relations between organisms
stability
tendance of a community to maintain relativly constant composition in the face of disturbance
climax community
final stage of succession, remain stable despite disturbances
ecological succession
disturbed areas colonised by lots of species that are replaced
primary succesion
new, lifeless areas are colonised eg.volcanic island
secondary succession
species that colonise areas with disturbances that have destroyed most but maintained its soils eg. wildfire
dominant species
the most abundant + have the largest biomass in the community
keystone species
not the most abundant but play a disproportionatly large role in the food web
ecosystem engineers/foundation species
physically alter environmnet facilitating other species to cohabitat
bottom-up control
organsism’s abundance limited by nutrient supply (producers)
top-down control
organism’s abundance limited by predators
intermediate distrubane hypothesis
medium levels of dsturbance alter biodiversity more than extremes (open up habitats for occupation)
entropy
measure of disorder within a system
Gross PP (GPP)
rate of conversion of light into chemical energy by photosysnthesis
net PP (NPP)
the rate of chemical energy production after respiration is considered
Primary Productivity
the amount of energy that autotrophs convert into usable chemical energy (used by detrivore, herbivores + carnivores)
NEP
Net ecosystem production - GPP of all roganisms (community respiration)
standing stock
organisms currently present
GSP
gross secondary production - total energy of consumers AFTER defecation(=eaten-fecal loss)
NSP
net secondary production - total ernegy of consumers (=food eaten)
detrivores
ogranisms that breakdown matter via ingestion eg. bacteria., fungi, protoctists
coprovores
organsisms that break down matter by consuming and redigesting watse eg. dung beetle
fossilisation
formation of peat (oil+coal)
bioremediation
taking organsims (usually prokaryotes, fungi + plants) to detoxify polluted ecosystems
biological augmentation
uses organisms to add essential nutrients to degraded ecosystems
species level conservation
conservation focused on specic crises and endangered species eg. ICUN red list
population level conservation
conservation focused on genetic diversity of populations (extinction vortex)
extinction vortex
where small populations evolve genetic problems in breeding> lower genetic variability> lower individual fitness + population adaptibility> lower reproduction rates + higher mortality> smaller popuation> extinction
Habitat and landscape level conservation
conservation that focuses on core general threats to biodiversity (gamma diversity) and its habitats
Global level conservation
conservation focused on protecting biodiversity hotspots
Effective population
How much of genetic variation in populations is carried over
