Ecology Flashcards
What is ecology?
The study of interactions between living organisms and the living and nonliving components of the environments
What are the levels of organization?
Organisms, Population, Community, Ecosystem, Biosphere
What is organism
individual living thing
what is population
group of organisms of one type that live in the same area
what is community
population that live together in a defined area
what is ecosystem
community and its nonliving surroundings
what is biosphere?
the part of earth that contains all ecosystems
What is biotic?
Living
what is abiotic?
nonliving
What is range of tolerance?
range of conditions in which a species can survive (survival vs. conditions)
what is acclimation
process by which an organism can adjust their tolerance
What are conformers?
change with environment
what are regulators?
use energy to control internal conditions
What are two forms of escape?
Dormancy and migration
What is a niche?
Role of a species within an enviornment
What does a niche include?
range of tolerance, resources, methods to obtain resources, interactions
What is a generalist?
large range of tolerance
What is a specialist?
tiny range of tolerance
what are the four consumer levels?
Tertiary, secondary. primary, and producers
What are producers?
autotrophs
what are primaries?
herbivores
what are secondaries?
carnivores, omnivores, detrivores
what are tertiaries
carnivore, omnivore, detrivore
What are the four major nutrient cycles?
water, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus
what is the water cycle needed for?
chem reactions
what is the carbon cycle?
backbone of organic materials
What is the nitrogen cycle?
proteins and nucleic acids
what is the phosphorous cycle?
skeletal structure, DNA, RNA
What are the three characteristics of population ecology?
size, density, dispersions
what is size
number of individuals
what is density
crowdedness of population
what is dispersion
spatial distribution
what is the formula for growth rate?
birthrate - death rate (over 1000)
what is a limiting factor
anything restricting growth
what is a logistical modle
accounts for limiting factor
what are the effects of inbreeding
decreased genetic variation and survivability
what is mutualism?
everyone benefits
what is commensalism?
one benefits, nothing happens to the other
what is parasitism?
one benefits, one harmed
what is predation?
killing prey
what is competition?
both are harmed
what is richness?
the number of species in an environment
what are disturbances?
events that change communities, alter/ destroy organisms, alter resource abilities
what is stability?
tendency of a community to maintain relatively constant conditions
what is primary succession?
growth in an area not supporting life previously (ex. volcano)
what is secondary succession?
sequential replacement of a species (ex. grassland to forest)
what are the four aquatic ecosystems?
ocean, estuaries, lakes + ponds, streams
what are the four levels of water depth?
Necritic, euphoric, bathyal, abyssal
what is the necritic zone?
high oxygen, sunlight
what is the euphotic zone?
sunlight, high oxygen
what is the bathyal zone?
semi-darkness
what is the abyssal zone?
pitch black, high nutrients, mostly scavengers
what are estuaries?
where fresh and salt water meet
what do rivers and streams rely on for oxygenation?
agitiation
what are the four freshwater lake regions?
littoral, limnetic, profundal, benthic
what is the littoral zone?
upp to where ground drops off
what is the profundal zone?
dark zone
what is the benthic zone?
bottom
