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AP Biology > Ecology > Flashcards

Ecology Flashcards

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AP® Biology flashcards Biology 101 flashcards
1
Q

What is LUCA?

A

Last Universal Common Ancestor,

- The last shared ancestor in a species

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2
Q

What is Panspermia?

A

The theory that all life originated form of bacterial spores of viruses from an extraterrestrial source

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3
Q

What is radiometric dating?

A

Measuring the exact age of a material by using the concentrations of radioactive isotopes and their decay products (half-life)

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4
Q

What is relative dating?

A

Determining the age of a fossil by comparing its placement in layers of rock to other fossils

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5
Q

What are Probionts?

A

Collection of abiotic molecules surrounded in a membrane-like structure

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6
Q

What is a community?

A

The population of all species in a location

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7
Q

What is competition?

A

When two species compete for the same limited resource, since it is limited they are both negatively effected (-/-)

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8
Q

What is predation?

A

Predator hunts prey (+/-)

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9
Q

What is symbiosis?

A

When individuals from 2 or more species live in close contact to each other

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10
Q

What is parasitism?

A

When an organism derives nourishment from another, the host, to survive (+/-)

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11
Q

Commensulatism?

A

When one species benefits from a scenario, while the other is unaffected (+/o)

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12
Q

What is Niche?

A

How a species interacts with there environment and its functional role in a community, this can include many factors:

  • Where and why they live in a certain area,
  • Are they predator or prey,
  • What resources do they use,
  • etc.
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13
Q

What is cryptic coloration?

A

Using camouflage or different colors to confuse or predators

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14
Q

What is Batesian Mimicry?

A

When a harmless species uses the colors of a harmful species to deter predators

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15
Q

What is diversity?

A

The different types of organisms in a community

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16
Q

What is succession?

A

The changes in a community following a disturbance

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17
Q

What does Abiotic mean?

A

The non-living components of an ecosystem

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18
Q

What does Biotic mean?

A

The living components of an ecosystem

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19
Q

What is ecology?

A

The study of how living things interact with their environment

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20
Q

What is Aposematic coloration?

A

Warning colors used to deter predators

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21
Q

What is climax community?

A

The final stage of succession, when a community becomes stable because of the characteristics the plants and animals have

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22
Q

What is competitive exclusion principle?

A

No two species competing for the same resource can coexist because one will always outcompete the other

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23
Q

What is environmental disturbance?

A

Natural disasters or human activities that change the environment

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24
Q

What is interspecific competition?

A

Competition between two different species in a shared habitat

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25
Q

What is intraspecific competition?

A

Competition between members of the same species in a shared habitat

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26
Q

What are keystone species?

A

Species that are necessary for the survival and existence of biodiversity and an ecosystems community structure.

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27
Q

What is mutalism?

A

When two or more species share a symbiotic relationship where both benefit

28
Q

What is Müllerian mimicry?

A

When two harmful species use the same pattern or coloration to deter predators

29
Q

What is a parasite?

A

An organisms that uses resources from another species, the host

30
Q

What is a pioneer species?

A

The first species to appear in primary and secondary succession

31
Q

What is primary succession?

A

After a disturbance occurs, there is no soil remaining

32
Q

What is secondary succession?

A

After a disturbance occurs, there is soil remaining

33
Q

What is the long-term difference in primary and secondary succession?

A

Primary succession takes longer to revert back to a similar community before the disturbance because there is no soil to build a community on, the debris left over has to be ground down into new soil first

34
Q

What is relative species abundance?

A

When a species’ population is determined proportionally by the population of other species in a community

35
Q

What is species richness?

A

The number of species in a community

36
Q

What is speciation?

A

When a common ancestor evolves into two separate species

37
Q

What is a habitat patch?

A

Islands or suitable habitat separated from areas of unsuitable habitat

38
Q

What are dispersion patterns?

A

The spacing of an organism in a population

  • Uniform dispersion
  • Random dispersion
  • Clumped dispersion
39
Q

What is uniform dispersion?

A
  • Individuals are evenly spread out
  • potentially because of toxin secretion, so prevents other members of the same species to grow around
  • or penguins/ any aggressive organism to prevent fighting
  • Not very common
40
Q

What is random dispersion?

A
  • Common in wildflowers
  • no set distance between organisms\
  • Not generally common in nature
41
Q

What is clumped dispersion?

A
  • When organisms stick together in groups,
  • tend to surround a resource
  • Most common in nature
42
Q

What does the change in population size depend on?

A

Number of births and deaths over a duration of time
N_t+1 = N_t + B - D

B = Birth
D = Death
- Change in population size can only be measured in small countable groups, like zoo animals

43
Q

What are some of the ways that population information can be described?

A

Per capita birth rate (b) - No. offspring an average individual produces

Per capita death Rate (d) - average individual chance of dying

Per capita growth rate (r) = (b-d) - average individual’s contribution to total population growth rate

44
Q

What is demography?

A

Study of process influencing birth, death, and population growth

45
Q

What is life history?

A

Timing of key events such as growth and development, reproduction, and death during an average individual’s life
- Key events in a life cycle

46
Q

What is survivorship?

A

How likely an organism is to survive

47
Q

What is Fecundity?

A

The average number of offspring each individual contributes to the population

48
Q

What is type I of the survivorship curve?

A

Expected to live through most of their life, then die rapidly when older
- this happens because there is a lot of care and nurturing to offspring
(humans)

49
Q

What is type II of the survivorship curve?

A

A very consistent rate of death in

songbirds

50
Q

What is type III of the survivorship curve?

A

Lots of offspring are produced, most of which die early, the ones that do survive live long
(frogs/fish/turtles)

51
Q

What is the relationship between the abundance of a resource and the usage of the resource?

A

When there is more of a resource, the organism can use it more

  • More Sunlight = more photosynthesis
  • More food = more consumption of food
52
Q

What is the relationship between resource abundance, average fecundity, survivorship, and per capita growth rate?

A

When the organism has access to more resources, the survivorship, fecundity, and per capita growth rate all increase
- more resources = faster population growth

53
Q

What are the disadvantages of large population growth in a species?

A
  • Large population growth means there cannot be simultaneously a great investment in defense
  • If high mortality rates are likely, so it makes sense to invest in early reproduction
54
Q

What is the relationship between population density and population growth?

A

As population density increases, population growth decreases

55
Q

What is the relationship between population density and birth and death rates?

A

As the population density increase/ becomes more crowded, birth rates decrease and death rates increase

56
Q

When does a population reach equilibrium?

A

When population growth = 0/ stops changing

- This is called the carrying capacity

57
Q

What is an ‘r selected organism’?

A
  • Unstable environment
  • Small in size
  • Energy used to make individuals is low
  • Lots of offspring/ early maturity
  • Short life expectancy
  • Reproduces only once
  • Density independent
  • Follow type III survivorship curve
    (Roach, Insect)
58
Q

What is a ‘k selected organism’?

A
  • Stable environment
  • Large size
  • Energy used to make individuals is high
  • Less offspring/ late maturity
  • Long life expectancy
  • Each individual reproduces more than once
  • Density-dependent
  • Follow type I or II survivorship curve
    (Kangaroo, Human)
59
Q

What is amensalism?

A

When two species interact, one is harmed and one is unaffected (-/0)

60
Q

What are adaptive traits?

A

Traits that provide an advantage in an environment

61
Q

What is heritability?

A

When adaptations can be passed onto offspring,

- helpful traits are passed on

62
Q

What are some examples that organisms compete for?

A
  • Food
  • Mates
  • Shelter/Territory
  • Light
63
Q

What is fitness?

A

An organism’s ability to survive and reproduce

64
Q

What is selective pressure?

A

Factors that can cause natural selection

65
Q

What are some examples of selective pressure?

A
  • Climate change
  • Habitat loss
  • Natural disasters
  • Human interferance
  • Predation
  • Change in food source
66
Q

What are deleterious traits?

A

Traits that reduce the chance of survival and reproduction

67
Q

What organisms have higher mutation rates?

A

Pathogens

AP Biology (19 decks)

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