ecology 10 to 13 Flashcards
what is eco-evo?
the study of how ecology change and evolutionary changes are influenced by each other
do ecology and evolution happen on the same time scale? what is the modern vs historical view?
- yes but it is very variable
- modern view is a much more rapid timescale (e.g. 10 generations) but historical view suggested that it isn’t in the same time scale (evolution acts around 500 000 years)
explain how peppered moth show rapid evolution.
- environmental changes due to pollution favored the survival of the dark form over the light form
- causes increased frequency of dark moths
- eventually the dark form constituted more than 90% in heavily polluted areas
- trend reversed back as pollution decreased
what did the predator-prey cycle study of Brachionus calyciflorous and chlorella vulgaris show?
presence of genetic variation affected cycle period and phase
explain the eco-evo dynamics between daphnia and cyanobacteria?
- daphnia graze on plankton
- eutrophication has leas to higher abundance of toxic and nutritionally poor cyanobacteria
- resistance to cyanobacteria toxins has increased through time (variation has increased in recent times, cocurrent with decreased eutrophication)
- cyanobacteria increase in abundance during eutrophication because most grazers cannot consume them (return to previoud conditions has lead to decrease of abundance of species which became more tolerant)
what is evolutionary rescue? how does this occur?
- adaptive evolutionary change restores a positive growth rate to a declining population, preventing extinction
- in the process, a rare but adaptive allele will come to dominate in the population
explain the evolutionary rescue experiment on S. cerevisiae?
- yeast exposed to 125 g/L of NaCl (150 g/L is lethal)
- u-shaped recovery curve is seen
- the population drops by 90% (very strong selection usually results in purging of a genetic variation)
what is the effect of genetic diversity on evolutionary rescue?
increased genetic diversity increased the probability of evolutionary rescue
what is pleiotropic selection?
when multiple forces act on a single trait
explain the rapid evolution of flatwing morph? what type of selection was acting on it? (Crickets)
- male crickets are lethally parasitized by O. ochracea and they find their host by sound
- pleiotropic selection acts on them
- silent males have difficulty attracting a mate but they are unlikely to be affected by the parasitoid fly
A negative correlation between rate of evolution observed in a study vs interval over which the rate is calculated is seen. What are some biological explanations for this pattern?
- when you have a purging of the genetic variant, see a rapid evolution at first, then slows down
- selection can be on both directions
- shows only minimum rate of evolution since doesn’t follow many generations
what is resistance?
the ability of a system to avoid displacement from its current state
what is resilience?
the speed and ability of a system to return to its former state after a disturbance
what ecological and evolutionary attributes affect the resistance and resilience of a population or community?
- generalist predators tend to increase resistance and resilience of a community
- a long-term stable community might be less resilient (e.g. elephant more vulnerable to changing environment then mouse)
- increase genetic diversity helps with resilience but decreases resistance
- lack of genetic diversity will often increase resistance but decrease resilience
what is the Anthropocene?
the age of human impact on he earth; the period of time during which human activities have impacted the environment enough to constitute a
distinct geological change.
rate of extinction has been increasing or decreasing in the last couple hundreds of years? what does this mean for biodiversity?
increasing, which decreases biodiversity
what are the main drivers of biodiversity loss?
- land/ water use
- direct exploitation
- climate change
- pollution
- invasive alien species
what are the two forms of land use change? which is worse?
- loss of area (smaller area)
- fragmentation (less area but it is separated) – this is worse