Ecology Flashcards
Ecolgical niche
Gap in a food web which could be filled by another species
Demes
Population isolated by geographical area, cant breed or mingle with other populations (king cheetah)
Scales
The measurement of how you would measure a fluctuations
Population shift
A change in the numbers of different groups of individuals
Drought
Prolonged dry period in which there is a lack of water and rainfall
Famine
Lack of food resources
Speciation
The formation of a new species through evolution
Individual
Looking at a specific individual within a population
Species
A group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals
Dissolution
Dissolving of a population
Fecundity
The ability to produce an abundance of offspring or new growth
Natility
The rariom of the number of births to the size of population; birth rates
Genetic variability
Measure of the trend of individual genotypes in a population to vary from one another
Continuity of time
As species evolve certain traits are changed while other traits are retainer over time
Dispersal
The action or process of distributing things or people over a wide area
Metapopulation
A regional group of connect populations of a species
Stochastic
Predictable changes
Mortality
Death
Growth
The process of increasing in size
Migration
Movement of a species over some distance
Emerging disease
Infectious diseases that have appeared in a population or have existed in but are rappidly increasing
Zoonotic
Climate change
A change in global or regional climate patterns
Fluctuations
A irregular rising and falling in number or amount
R breeding strategy
R selection species are those that emphasise high growth rates, typically exploit less crodwd ecological niches and produces many offspring esch of which has a relatively low probability of surviving to adulthood (lots) (honey bee, coconut crabs)
K breeding strategy
K selection species possess relatively stable populations and tend to produce relatively low numbers of offsprimg however indivudual offspring tend to be quite large in comparison with r selected species (less) (chimpanzee)
Immigration
Move into a non native country or region to live
Emmigration
Leave one locatioj such as ones native country or region to live in another
Divergent evolution
Two different species do not share a common ancestor but have developed siikar characteristics
(Shark and dolphin body)
Divergent evolution
Two different species share a common ancestor but have developed different characteristics
(Darwin finches)
Parallel evolution
Developent of related species from a common ancestor, species evolve at the same rate over time due to similar environmental pressures
Primary consumer
Animal that eats the primary product
Sheep and grass
Secondary consumer
Animal that eats a primary animal
Natural selection
The process through which populations of living organisms adapt and change, desirable characteristics are passed onto offsprimg
