Ecology 6 Flashcards
What is the main definition of ecology?
The study of the interactions of organisms with each other and their environment
What is Thomas Malthus role in ecology?
1798 ‘An essay on the principle of population noted interaction between population and resources and to highlight the resulting competition
What is Charles Darwin’s role in ecology?
In 1859, he wrote the description of adaption to the environment and competition between species for resources
How do individual organisms adapt to their environment? (3)
- natural selection and fitness of genotype
- ability of organisms to reproduce and leave the greatest number of descendants
- better match of characteristics suited their environment will leave more descendants
Define an ecotype
a group of indivuals whose characteristics are suited to their environment where they are found often the beginning of speciation
What factors affect adaptations?
- climate
- food quality
- pH
- salinity
Define a niche
the set of conditions exploited best by one species
Define fundamental niche
a set of optimal environmental conditions for a given species which has neither competition nor predation
Define realised niche
the actual set of environmental conditions under which a species exists
what is natality?
the reproductive output (births) of a population
What is mortality?
the number of deaths of organisms in a population
What is the difference between immigration and emigration?
- Immigration is the number of organisms moving into the area occupied by the population
- Emigration is the number of organisms moving out of the area occupied by the population
How is intraspecific competition caused?
driven by the limited supply of some resource e.g. water in arid areas
Describe interspecific competition
Occurs between 2 different species which have habitat overlap and require the same limited resource
