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Biology 101 > Ecology > Flashcards

Ecology Flashcards

1
Q

What is ecology?

A

Study of the abundance and distribution of organisms.

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2
Q

Biogeography

A

Emphasis on historical events that affect organism distribution and abundance.

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3
Q

Define Dispersal and give two reasons

A

Movement away from high population centers or origin, due to natural movement, or due to human activities.

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4
Q

Biotic Homogenization

A

Making more of the same

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5
Q

Kinlan and Gaines 1/4

A

The scale of dispersal is highly variable among taxa

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6
Q

Kinlan and Gaines 2/4

A

Multiple trophic levels are involved in dispersal.

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7
Q

Kinlan and Gaines 3/4

A

Herbivores often disperse further than plants

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8
Q

Kinlan and Gaines 4/4

A

Dispersal is greater in water than terrestrial plants.

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9
Q

Why might species X not be in a given area? (General 4 topics)

A

Dispersal, Behavior, Biotic Factors, Abiotic Factors

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10
Q

Biotic Factors (4 main)

A

Predation, parasitism, competition, disease

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11
Q

Behavior

A

Habitat selection, choose not to live there

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12
Q

Abiotic Factors

A

water, oxygen, salinity, pH, soil nutrients, temperature, sunlight, wind

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13
Q

A biome can be defined by 2 major variables:

A

Temperature and Precipitation

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14
Q

Levels of Ecological Research

A

Population, community, ecosystem, landscape, global

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15
Q

Population Ecology

A

explores biotic/abiotic factors and their effect on size, density, distribution, and age of populations

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16
Q

Define a population

A

same species, same place and time

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17
Q

Define dispersal vs. dispersion

A

dispersal= movement of a population, dispersion=pattern of population

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18
Q

Clumped dispersion

A

spurred by resource location, mating, social interation.

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19
Q

Uniform dispersion

A

spurred by territorial demands, and competition within species

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20
Q

Random dispersion

A

null model

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21
Q

Demography

A

study of population attributes like sex ratio and age

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22
Q

Pyramid diagrams: Urn shaped (larger on top)

A

non growing/declining population

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23
Q

Pyramid diagrams: Pyramid shaped

A

rapidly growing population

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24
Q

Pyramid diagrams: Bell shaped (large in middle)

A

slow, non growing population

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25
Q

Generation Time

A

time needed to mature a generation

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26
Q

Generation time is linked to ___ ___.

A

Generation time is linked to body size.

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27
Q

Cohort

A

group of individuals of the same age

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28
Q

Survivorship

A

tracks the number of individuals in a cohort over time

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29
Q

Survivorship Types

A

low y, high o | constant death rate | high y, low o.

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30
Q

Under idealized conditions, all organisms are capable of _____ growth

A

exponential

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31
Q

Density Independent inhibition

A

natural disasters, weather

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32
Q

Density dependent inhibition

A

normal, biological factors such as overcrowding, or consumption of a resource

33
Q

Logistic growth

A

a more realistic growth model containing a carrying capacity, K

34
Q

Carrying capacity

A

limit of growth on a population

35
Q

Interspecific Interactions

A

Interactions between species, such as predation, symbiosis, competition for resources…

36
Q

Intraspecific interactions

A

interactions between members of the same species.

37
Q

Predation can be considered an ____ ____.

A

Predation can be considered an evolutionary force.

38
Q

In the coevolutionary arms race, _____ are always a little ahead of ____.

A

prey are ahead of predators, because life is more important than a meal.

39
Q

Defenses: Cryptic Coloration

A

disguises, and can interfere with other animal’s senses.

40
Q

Defenses: Aposematic Coloration

A

bright colors indicate poison (dart frog)

41
Q

Defenses: Batesian Mimicry

A

harmless species mimic harmful ones.

42
Q

Defenses: Mullerian Mimicry

A

harmful species mimics another harmful one (double l’s)

43
Q

Defenses: Hard to eat

A

self explanatory

44
Q

Defenses: Group

A

let someone else be caught, and predator mobbing

45
Q

Defenses: Scare of confuse

A

self explanatory: eyespots, ink…

46
Q

Defenses: Vigilance

A

self explanatory

47
Q

Defenses: Active Defense

A

offense

48
Q

Defenses: Fleeing

A

fleeing

49
Q

Symbiosis: Parasitism

A

(+/-)

50
Q

Symbiosis: Mutualism

A

(+/+)

51
Q

Symbiosis: Commensalism

A

(+,0)

52
Q

Competitive Exclusion Principle (CEP)

A

2 species sharing limited resources cannot coexist forever.

53
Q

(Intra/Inter) species competition is more common

A

Intraspecies competition is more common because organisms share the same resources when part of the same species.

54
Q

Niche

A

sum of total organism use of environment resources, including habitat, food, temperature, reproduction.

55
Q

CEP Version II

A

No 2 species can have the same niche if resources are limited.

56
Q

Over time, natural selection will ___ ___.

A

decrease competition.

57
Q

Character Displacement

A

tendency for characteristics of sympatric populations to diverge more than allopatric populations. This is because of the CEP.

58
Q

Definition of Community

A

group of populations in the same area/habitat.

59
Q

Trophic Structure

A

who eats what/whom, food chains, food webs.

60
Q

Top Down Control

A

Predators dictate lower trophic levels.

61
Q

Bottom Up Control

A

Trophic levels controlled by abundance of primary producers/ nutrients

62
Q

Trophic Cascades

A

Indirect effect of predators on lower autotrophic levels.

63
Q

Dominant Species

A

most abundant, great biomass

64
Q

Keystone Species

A

exert strong ecological control by their niches, often the main predator., example, beaver.

65
Q

Biodiversity

A

variety of life in all forms, genetics, and ecosystems

66
Q

Richness

A

total number of species in community

67
Q

Evenness

A

distribution of individuals among different species

68
Q

Biodiversity Crisis

A

extinctions increasing, and trophic downgrading.

69
Q

Causes for Modern Extinction: Habitat Destruction

A

loss of habitat, and fragmentation

70
Q

Fragmentation

A

destruction of habitat decreases possible gene flow.

71
Q

Causes for Modern Extinction: Introduced Species

A

invaders can alter habitat, reduce/displace native species via competition, predation, etc.

72
Q

Invasive Species must have:

A

wide environmental tolerances, large native range, high population growth, predator resistance.

73
Q

Overexploitation

A

harvesting at higher rates than population growth.

74
Q

Solutions to Biodiversity Crisis

A

awareness, biodiversity reserves, restoration, and policy/economics.

75
Q

Ecosystem Level Ecology

A

focus on what organisms do, energy matter, chemical cycling,

76
Q

Ecosystem Level Ecology view on organisms

A

how they obtain energy, how that energy is transferred.

77
Q

Photosynthesis/Respiration

A

CO2+H2O–>G + O2

78
Q

Energy Pyramids

A

decreases by 10% each level up.

79
Q

Nutrients essential for growth

A

C,N,P, H2O

Biology 101 (12 decks)

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