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APES > Ecology > Flashcards

Ecology Flashcards

1
Q

What’s the definition of population?

A

All members of one species in a certain place

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2
Q

What’s a community?

A

Different species that interact in a certain place

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3
Q

What’s an ecosystem?

A

Everything in a certain place that interacts with each other

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4
Q

What’s the definition of a limiting factor?

A

Resources necessary for survival or reproduction

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5
Q

What are 3 examples of limiting factors?

A

Food, habitat, light

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6
Q

What determines population size?

A

The most limiting factor

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7
Q

What are tolerance limits?

A

The min and max limits beyond which a species can’t survive

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8
Q

What are 3 examples of tolerance limits?

A

Temp, moisture level, space

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9
Q

What’s a species with high tolerance?

A

Squirrels

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10
Q

What’s a species with low tolerance?

A

Pandas

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11
Q

What’s an environmental indicator?

A

A species that indicates something about the ecosystem as a whole

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12
Q

What are 2 examples of environmental indicators?

A

Trout and mayfly nymph

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13
Q

What is divergent evolution and what are 2 other names for it?

A

Members of the same species evolve in different ways

Allopatric, adaptive radiation

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14
Q

What’s is convergent evolution?

A

Different species look the same to survive in the environment

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15
Q

What happened to European pepper moths?

A

Darker moths camouflaged better on the soot-covered trees, the first time humans forced natural selection

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16
Q

What are the 5 layers of the rainforest?

A

1) ground
2) shrub
3) under-canopy
4) canopy
5) emergent layer

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17
Q

What is a niche generalist? What are 2 examples?

A

A species with a broad niche, dogs and raccoons

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18
Q

What is a niche specialist? What is one example?

A

A species with a narrow niche, pandas

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19
Q

What is the law of competitive exclusion?

A

2 species won’t occupy same niche for long, eventually one dominates the niche

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20
Q

What are producers?

A

Autotrophs, they produce their own food

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21
Q

What’s a photoautotroph?

A

A species that gets food from light

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22
Q

What’s a chemoautotroph?

A

Species that get food from inorganic materials

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23
Q

What are consumers?

A

Heterotrophs, they eat something

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24
Q

What do scavengers eat?

A

Dead things they find

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25
Q

What do decomposes/ saprophytes eat?

A

Dead organics

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26
Q

What do predators eat?

A

Living things

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27
Q

What is primary productivity?

A

The number of producers creating biomass in an ecosystem

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28
Q

What 3 ecosystems are the most productive?

A

Estuartes, swamps, marshes

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29
Q

Which ecosystem is the 2nd most productive?

A

Rainforests

30
Q

Which ecosystem is the least productive?

A

Deserts

31
Q

What is coevolution?

A

2 or more species exert pressure on each other to evolve

32
Q

What is a keystone species?

A

A species that influences the ecosystem

33
Q

What 3 types of species are usually keystone species?

A

Top predators, eco engineers, micro organisms

34
Q

What are 4 examples of keystone species?

A

Wolves, beavers, mangrove trees, sea otters

35
Q

What is symbiosis?

A

2 or more species interact

36
Q

What is commensalism? What’s an example?

A

One species is helped, there’s no effect on the other species

Cattle and cattle egrets

37
Q

What is mutualism? What’s an example?

A

Both species are helped

Fungus + algae = lichen

38
Q

What is parasitism? What are 2 examples?

A

One species is helped, the other is hurt

Lice, brown-headed cowbirds

39
Q

What is Batesian mimicry? What’s an example?

A

Harmless species resembles harmful species

Monarchs and viceroy

40
Q

What is mullerian mimicry? What’s an example?

A

2 or more harmful species resemble each other

Bees, wasps, hornets

41
Q

What’s the definition of abundance of species?

A

Population of 1 species, increases poleward

42
Q

What’s the definition of diversity?

A

Variety of different species, increases around equator

43
Q

What 3 things do trophic levels measure?

A

Number of organisms, biomass, energy

44
Q

What are the 6 levels of the trophic pyramid?

A

1) primary producers
2) herbivorous consumers
3) 1st level carnivores
4) 2nd level carnivores
5) 3rd level carnivores
6) top carnivores

45
Q

What’s an example of a primary producer?

A

Phytoplankton

46
Q

What’s an example of an herbivorous consumer?

A

Zooplankton

47
Q

What’s an example of a 1st level carnivore?

A

Jellyfish

48
Q

What’s an example of a 2nd level carnivore?

A

Larger fish

49
Q

What’s an example of a 3rd level carnivore?

A

Squid

50
Q

What’s an example of a top carnivore?

A

Sharks

51
Q

What does the law of 10% say?

A

10% of the energy eaten will be stored in the organism

A hawk eats 500kg of energy but stores only 50 kg

52
Q

What’s the difference between a food web and a chain? What’s an example?

A

A chain is one pathway through a food web

Grass>mouse>snake>owl>eagle

53
Q

What’s is the #1 law of thermodynamics?

A

Energy isn’t created or destroyed

54
Q

What’s an ecotone?

A

An area where 2 ecosystems meet

55
Q

What’s the edge effect impact?

A

Species end up with no suitable habitat bc of fractured area

56
Q

What’s succession?

A

Changes in plant or animal communities over time

57
Q

What is primary succession? What are 2 examples where it happens?

A

Growth where no ecosystem existed before

Sand bed, volcanic flow

58
Q

What is a pioneer species? What’s an example?

A

The first organisms to grow, lichen/ moss

59
Q

What’s secondary succession? What are 3 examples where it happens?

A

Growth that follows a disturbance

Fire, farming, drought

60
Q

What’s the order of primary succession?

A 
Rock
Lichen/ moss
Grass
Shrubs
Full sun trees
61
Q

What’s the order of secondary succession?

A 
Annuals
Perennials
Shrubs
Full sun trees
Shade trees
62
Q

What’s a climax community?

A

A stable community that resists further change

63
Q

What are 4 characteristics of an invasive species?

A

Fast reproduction, no predators, niche generalists, tolerance for poor habitat

64
Q

What are 3 characteristics of an extinction prone species?

A

High trophic levels, migratory, narrow habitat/ food requirements

65
Q

What’s biological control? What’s an example?

A

Use of a species to control pests

Ladybugs and aphids

66
Q

What are 2 concerns of biological control?

A

Overgrowth and infection

67
Q

What happens in photosynthesis?

A

Light + H2O + CO2 = sugar

68
Q

What happens in respiration?

A

Sugar + oxygen = CO2

69
Q

What are 3 ways humans influence the carbon cycle?

A

Fossil fuels, fires, deforestation

70
Q

What are 2 ways humans influence the phosphorous cycle?

A

Mining, eutrophication

71
Q

What are 5 ways humans influence the nitrogen cycle?

A

Fertilizers, acidification, greenhouse gases, weeds, groundwater contamination

APES (13 decks)

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