Ecology Flashcards
Taxis
Movement due to a stimulus
Positive taxis
Movement towards a stimulus
Negative taxis
Movement away from a stimulus
Kinesis
Uncontrolled movement due to a stimulus (scrambling)
Phototaxis
Movement towards or away from stimulus light
Chemotaxis
Movement towards or away from certain chemicals
Migration
Regular long distance chnage in location
Circadian rhythm
Mental, physical, and behavioral changes in a 24 hour period controlled by hormones
Reasons for migration:
Resources, food, water, mating, temperature, hours of sunlight
Hibernation/estivation
State of inactivity and reduced metabolic rate to survive extreme weather conditions
Hibernation happens in…
Wintertime (mammals, bears) to escape the cold and lack of food sources
Estivation happens in…
Summertime (turtles) to escape the heat and water scarcity
Phototrophism
Organisms grow in response to light so they elongate their cells in response to light
Hormone involved with phototrophism
Auxin
Photoperiodism
How sunlight affects reproductive plants
Length of what signals to plants that it is winter
Night
Habituation
Organisms get used to people and we are not a threat
Associative learning
Organisms learn certain organisms taste bad
Sickleback aggression towards red is
Innate
Body temp too hot
Proteins denature
Body temp too cold
Water in cells freezes and expands so cells burst
Endotherms
Warm blooded animals with physiological mechanisms that allow them to survive in diverse climates (sweat, shiver, vasodilation, vasoconstriction)
Ectotherms
Cold blooded animals that need less food but get their body temperature from the environment through physical mechanisms (sun bathe, shade, aggregate)
Small endotherms have higher metabolic rates because
Larger surface area to volume ratio (lose heat faster, need more energy to maintain body temp)
