Ecology Flashcards
nonliving components of the environment
abiotic
living components of the environment
biotic
one or more organisms plus the external environment with which they interact
ecological system
ecosystem
a group of individuals of the same species living in the same place at the same time
population
interacting populations of different species
community
of individuals of a species per unit of area
population density
In ecology, “N” represents…
population size
particula kind of environment in which an individual lives
habitat
the change in a population size per unit if time
growth rate
(births - deaths) per unit time
growth, development, reproduction, and death of an individual
life history
fraction of individuals that survive from birth to different life stages
survivorship
materials and energy (and the time available to acquire them)
resources
“Once an organism has acquired a unit of some resource, it can be used for only one function at a time.” This is referred to as:
Principle of Allocation
resources must be divided between maintenance, foraging, growth, defense, and reproduction
“multiplicative growth” is also referred to as:
exponential growth
population growth that slows and usually reaches a more or less “steady state”
logistic growth
The number of individuals the environment can support
carrying capacity (K)
resources that are in short supply relative to demand
limiting resource
examples include: food, water, space, sunlight, inorganic nutrients, pollinators, etc
Give 3 examples of “consumer-resource” interactions
- predation
- herbivory
- parasitism
a symbiotic relationship that benefits BOTH participants (+/+)
mutualism
a symbiotic relationship in which ONE participant benefits while the other is unaffected (+/0)
commensalism
symbiotic relationship in which ONE participant is harmed while the other in unaffected (-/0)
amensalism
where different species use a particular resource in slightly different ways and therefore can coexist
resource partitioning
species that reproduce rapidly and spread widely because they are introduced to a region where their natural enemies are absent
invasive
consumer-resource interactions where energy and materials flow through a community
“trophic” interactions
trophic levels refer to an organism’s particular feeding level
organisms that convert solar energy into a form that can be used by the rest of the community
producers
or
autotrophs
species that obtain energy by breaking apart organic compounds that have been assembled by other organisms
consumers
or
heterotrophs
organisms that consume producers
primary consumers (herbivores)
organisms that consume herbivores
secondary consumers
organisms that consume carnivores
tertiary consumers
organisms that consume other consumers
carnivores
could be secondary, tertiary, etc
organisms that consume producers and other consumers
omnivores
organisms that feed on wastes or dead bodies of organisms
decomposers (detritivores)
diagrams that show the feeding relationships in a community
food web
food webs show the direction of the energy/nutrient flow
total amount of energy that primary producers capture and convert to chemical energy during a period of time
gross primary productivity (GPP)
the amount of energy that is available for consumption
net primary productivity (NPP)
the total biomass of each trophic level is about 1/10 that of the level it feeds on
“10% rule”
this applies roughly to biomass, energy; and population number)
movement of matter among and between the biotic and abiotic components of an ecosystem
biogeochemical cycles
