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1st Year MCQ > Ecology > Flashcards

Ecology Flashcards

1
Q

what 6 things are consider when calculating population growth?

A
  1. Time
  2. Population
  3. Birth
  4. Death
  5. Immigration
  6. Emigration
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2
Q

What is discrete population growth?

A

Population growth that occurs in spurts and period with no growth and periods with no growth/lots of growth.
Often caused by discrete breeding (species that breed in a specific time of year or season)

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3
Q

What is continuous population growth?

A

When population increases over time without stopping.
No matter how small the time interval is, the population is always growing.

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4
Q

What is the carrying capacity?

A

The maximum number of animals that can survive within a certain area. due to size, resources (food and water) and territory.
When carry capacity of an area is reached, the death count increases and birth count decreses- due to competition (food, breeding resources and disease)

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5
Q

What is life histories?

A

Patterns of an organism growth, development, reproduction and survival through its lifetime.
Shows evolution of species

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6
Q

What are life history traits? and examples

A

Various traits that all together define organisms life history and are directly related to its fitness (Reproduction and survival)
e.g. size at birth, growth pattern, sex ratio and number of offspring.

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7
Q

What are the 2 types of growth types?

A

Determind- Stop growing after a certain size of life point, e.g. insects
Indeterminate- Continuously growing through there life.

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8
Q

What are 2 types of reproductive stratergies?

A

Semelparity- Species that only reproduce once
Iteroparity- Species that reproduce multiple times

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9
Q

What does the term ‘trade off’ mean?

A

The term used in life histories when investing in one thing/area results in a cost in another

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10
Q
A

R- high reproductive rates and low parental care, low survivorship and life span
K- low reproducitve rates and high parental care, longer lives

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11
Q

What are Degree days?

A

Measures the amount of heat required for an organism to develop from one life cycle point to another.
Use- to schedule insecticide sprays and calculate pests most vunerable time

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12
Q

What is interspecific vs intraspecific?

A

Inter- Individuals of different species
Intra- Same species

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13
Q

5 main forms of interactions?

A

Consumer resource- Interactions between species, where the consumer uses resources to survive
Mutualism- 2 or more species benefit each other
Commensalism- 1 organism benefits and the other is depreived or just not benefited
Amensalism- 1 organism benefits and other is unaffected
Neutralism- neither species is effected.

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14
Q

What is competition? and what are the 4 types?

A

Species or individuals wanting/fighting for the same resources.
Usually occurs due to- wate, nutrition, food, light (Plant and photosynthesis).

Exploitation- 1 species denies another access to a resource by consuming it first
Interference- 1 species actively inhibits the foraging, survival or reproduction of the other species e.g. through behaviour or chemically.
Scramble- Resources are equally available to all
Contest- Resources are able to be monopolised by an individual, 1 organism fight and wins

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15
Q

What is the lotka-Volterra Model?

A

Model of competition in a logistic equation.
If A12 (effect of Species 2 on species 2) is less then 1, then effect of S2 on S1 is less then the effect of S1 on it own members
If A12 is more then 1, the effect of S2 on S1 is greater then the effect S1 in its own members

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16
Q

What are the 3 types of food webs?

A

Connectedness web
Energy flow web
Functional webs

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17
Q

What are flagship species and umbrella species ?

A

Flag- Represents a cause or charity for a good cause, often cute and fluffy animals
Umb- Species whose conservation allows for protection to a larger scope of naturally co occuring species

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18
Q

What is an indicator species, dominant species and keystone species?

A

Ind- may serve as a signpost to indicate the presence of another species, Shows area is environmentally sensative and has fragile ecosystem
Dom- Species whose strong interactions are a result of their superior biomass within a community
Key- Species whose effect on the community are disproportionately large relative to their abundance e.g. sea otters reduce the number of grazing sea urchins which allow kelp forrests to flourish.

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19
Q

What is classic population ecology?

A

Constant population growth and assumes uniform population processes, ingnores colonisation, migration and extinction.

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20
Q

What is island biogeography?

A

Exaplains how the number of species on an island is determined by island is determined by island size and distance from mainland.
Depends on:
-Colonisation rate
-Extinction rate
-Area size
-Isolation

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21
Q

What is metapopulation dynamics?

A

Groups(/subpopulations) of populations of the same species which are seperated by space (as they live in different places) but still interact with each other (individuals may visit another group, could be mating purposes).
Relies on colonisation and extinction rates to occur.

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22
Q

What are the 3 conditions and cases of metapopultiosn

A

CON:
- All populations in a patch have a risk of extinction
- Local population dynamics are not synchronous
- Isolation does not prevent recolonisation
CASES:
- From mainland to island
- From core (species which are common in the region) to satellite (species which are sparsely distributed)
- From source (High quality habitat where population increases) to sink (low quality habitat that cant support the population on its own)

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23
Q

4 types of predation:

A

True predation- predators kills and eats prey e.g. lions with zebras
Grazing and browsing- Predators cosume part of plants but dont kill them e.g. cattle graze on grass
Parasitism- Parasites live in or on a host, usually without killing it e.g. tapeworm
Cannibalism- Predator and prey are the same species

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24
Q

What is competition and niche?

A

Com-2 or more organisms or groups strive for a limited resource that cannot be shared
Niche- Specific ecological job role or an individual to complete which benefits the local ecosystem, allows the individual to survive and reproduce

25
Predator adaptations x3? and 3 prey adaptations?
PRED: Morphological- claws, sharp teeth and speed Sensory- eyesight, echolocation Behavioural- ambush, pack hunting PREY: (Anti predator defence) Physical- spines, shells, thick skin Chemical- toxins, chemical deterrents Behavioural- Group living, camouflage and fleeing.
26
Herbivories adaptations? x3
Digestive- Specialised stomachs (Ruminants and hindgut fermenters) Detoxification- Ability to cosume toxic plants Behaviural- Selective feeding to advoid plant toxins
27
What is the Evolutionary arms race?
Race where competing species and animals genes co evolve to continue to counteract each other.
28
What is predator and prey dynatmics? also called coupled population oscillation
Somes prey number are high and pred number are low, but pred have large food source leading to decrease in prey, this results in less food for pred causing decreasing number which then means less attacks on prey causing higher numbers/.
29
What is selective foraging?
Animal picks and choses what to spend time and energy on as they dont want to waste energy on a risky move thats energically expernisve.
30
Whats trophic cascase and top down control?
TRO- series of indirect effects that occur when a pred limits the density or behaviour of there prey which enhances the survival of the next lower trophic level TOP- Species at a higher trophic level (e.g. preds) control species underneath it at lower trophic levels (e.g. prey). an example of this is trophic cascade.
31
Definition of a community and an ecosystem?
COM- multiple species living together with properties which are all the properties of an individual and the populations together including their interactions ECO- system formed by both the biological communities and the abiotic physical and chemical elements of the environment in which the communities are located
32
What is community ecology? and what are 5/8 community features
looks at patterns and key properties due to the interactions within the community, tries to understadn the rules to why communties are together. FEATURES- richness (number of species), abundance (number of individuals either per species or groos abundance), diversity, Evenness (Provides a measure of the relative dominance of an individual species), community similiarity, Trophic levels, endemism (Describes when a species is found in a specific geographical location), vertical structures.
33
What is Diversity Indices?
Used to measure the biodiversity of a community. consider species diversity- communitues differ in their number of species (species richness) and in the relative abundance of those species (Species evenness) Measures with simpsons index and shannon wiener index
34
What is Simpson's index?
Measures the chance that 2 individuals chosen at random from the same community belong to the same species Sensitive to changes in proportions of common species Not as good at assessing rare species
35
What is the shannon wiener index?
Assumes individuals were sampled from a very large population that all species are represented in a sample. Requires knowing the true number of species Useful if goal is to assess the importance of rare species
36
What are the 4 types of hypothesis?
Redundacy- Suggest the most species are equal and thus their loss has no significant effect on the ecosystems functions once it has succeeded a certain threshold. Rivet popping- Suggest that the loss of a few species would have little effect on the ecosystem functioning but beyond a certain point the ecosystem will fail to function completely. Idiosyncrasy- Suggets that ecosystems functoning fluctuates with changes in species diversity, saids the direction and magnitude of change is largely unpredictable due to the varied roles a species has within an ecosystem.
37
What are 4 drivers of local richnes?
Area biotic and abiotic factors Indirect and direct effects topography (physical features within an area)
38
What is ecosystem services?
benefits that people obtain from ecosystem, the good and services of nature.
39
What is the Millennium ecosystem assessment?
Shows the importance of ecosystems services for human wellbeing and buisness development.
40
What are 4 catergories of the Millennium ecosystem assessment?
Provisioning services- Products obtained from the ecosystem e.g. food, fresh water, fuelwood, fibre and biochemical Regulating services- Benefits obtained from regulation of ecosystem processes e.g. climate, disease and water regualtion, pollination Cultural services- Non material benefits obtained from ecosystems e.g. Spiritual and religous, recreation and ecotourism, aesthetic, education, cultural heritage. Supporting services- Services necessary for the production of all other ecosystem services e.g. soil and formation.
41
What are 5/12 of the ecosystem approach principle?
-Recognise objectives as societys choice -Understand the economic context and aim to reduce market distortion -Involve all relevant stakeholders -Manage for long term - Bring all knowledge to bear
42
What is Biofumingation?
use of brassica green manures to suppress soil bourne pests and diseases Example crops (of brassica green manures)- indian mustard, rocket and oil raddish The crop manures are incorporated into the soil which aids in releasing biologically active volatiles which defends against bad things.
43
Primary productivity?
The amount of energy captured by autotrophs throught photosysnthesis Mainly plants and algae. The energy is essentail for growth and reproduction of primary organism
44
Gross Primary Productivity (GPP)
Rate at which plants convert sunlight into chemical energy
45
Net Primary Productivity (NPP)
Represents the energy available within an organism for higher trophic levels after energy is used in key proccess like repiration
46
2 factors that can inlfuence primary producers?
Climate- effects rate of photosythesis, often ecosystems in trophical rainforests have higher producitvity then deserts Nutrients availability- Reduced nutrients will effect primary productivity.
47
Energy transfer efficiency? and whats is the 10% rule?
Quantifies the loss of heat through trophic levels Around 90% of energy lost at each level meaning that only 10% is transferred to the next level. used in energy transfer efficiency
48
Limitations of trying to calculate energy transfer ? 1
Sometimes not all of a plant is eaten by a herbivore. Therefor not as much energy is going into the higher trophic levels and instead is returned to the soil.
49
What do decomposeres do?
Play a key role in recyling nutrients liek carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. Break down organic matter from plants and animals, and release energy and nutrients back into the soil.
50
3 ways humans impact energy flow in an ecosystem?
Agricultural practicies deforestation land use
51
What is sampling unit and sampling frame in field ecology?
Unit- Individuals within a population which are selected for the study. Frame- A list do all the members within a population Example: University, Unit = a single student, Frame = A list of all enrolled students at the uni
52
What are 4 types of sampling in field ecology?
Simple random- Selected at random Stratified- Divides habitats into zones and takes an equal amount of data from each Systematic and grid- Data taken at regular intervals of an area or of time Cluster- Data is dived into cluster then selected randomly from each cluster.
53
3 Types of insect traps?
Butterfly nests Pitfall traps- Fall traps at surface level Light traps
54
What is ecology genetics?
Study of how genetics and the environment interacts with natural populations Combines genetics, evolution and ecology Allows genetics to be used to answer ecological questions
55
What is parthenogenesis and what are the 2 types?
Reproduction without fertilisation Obligate- Solely use parth for reproduction Facultative- Individuals can switch between parth and sexual reproduction depending on males abundance
56
6 costs of sexual reproduction
- Time and efforrt to attact and defend mate - Risk of predation during mate or courtship - Risk of disease - Competition - breaks up successful combination of genes - Could have sibiling rivalry
57
4 benefits of sexual reproduction
- New gene combination (natural selection and genetic variation) - New gene combination to resist predation and parasites - DNA repair in diploid organisms - Biparental care
58
What is ESD?
Environmental sex determination Sex is determined after fertilisation by environment Often temp- too high cause one gender, too low causes other
59

1st Year MCQ (3 decks)

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