Ecology Flashcards
Define biotic and aboitic
Biotic is living factors in environment which affect ecosystems and abiotic is non-living chemical and physical factors in the environment which affect ecosystems
What are the biogeochemical cycles?
Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and water
What is the carbon cycle?
co2 in air through photosynthesis is brought into plants, which animals than eat and forms cycle of respiration back to air
What is the nitrogen cycle?
N2 in air gets fixated in roots, water and ground. Through decomposition and dentrification gets back into air
What is the phosphorus cycle?
Phosphates in animal tissue, through decomp/excretion become soluble phosphates in soil which uptake in roots. Animals then eat this
What is the water cycle?
Water evaporates and transpires and then condenses in clouds and precipitates
What is the inefficient energy transfer?
Sunlight gives loads of energy to , primary producers gets lots by energy is lost up to tertiary consumers
What are the organisational levels of ecology?
Global, Landscape, Ecosystem, Community, population, organismal
What are the characteristics of global ecology?
All ecosystems within biosphere and external factors. Include seasonality, latitudinal variation, global air circulation, ocean currents, terrestrial biomes and aquatic biomes
What are the characteristics of landscape ecology?
Group of ecosystems affecting eachother. Biotic and abiotic, flow of energy, recycling nutrients and trophic levels
What are the characteristics of ecosystem ecology?
Biotic and abiotic factors within an ecosystem, flow of energy, recycling nutrients and trophic levels
What are the characteristics of community ecology?
Ecological niche concept, species interaction, predator-prey relationships and food chains/webs
What are the characteristics of population ecology?
group of individuals within species, responding to environmental changes, natural selection and growth rates
What are the characteristics of organismal ecology?
behaviour to external/internal stimuli, individuals
What are biomes (terrestrial and aquatic)?
Biomes are differences in same type of thing. Terrestrial is different land (dessert, ice) and aquatic is different water (lakes, oceans)
What is the food chain?
Detrivores (decomposers/scavengers, secrete to soil-ants, flies, beetles), Primary producer (autotrophs-plants), Primary consumers (heterotrophs-herbivores), Secondary consumers (heterotrophs-carnivores), Tertiary consumers(heterotrophs-carnivores)
What is a food web?
All possible energy paths
What is prey-predator relationship?
Consummation of 1 organism by another
What is a population?
All inhabitants of 1 place
What is symbiosis?
long term permanent interactions
What is the difference between Parasitism, Mutalism and Commensalism?
Parasitism- 1 organism benefits and other is harmed. Mutalism- both organisms benefit and Commensalism- 1 benefits and other is unaffected
What is the difference between a dominant and keystone species?
Dominant is most abundant and keystone is less abundant but exerts disproportionate influence on community (wolves in yellowstone)
What is a succession?
Orderly progression of changes in community composition that takes place through time
What is primary succession?
Establishment (pioneer species)(weeds), facilitation (less weedy), Inhibition (original species may become inhibited by later species), Climax vegetation (final stage of succession, stabilisation)
What is secondary succession?
existing community disturbed but organisms remain. Small scale- fallen tree, large scale-volcanic acitivity
What is animal behaviour?
Nature- instinct, how it is born, allows for learning and nuture-how it is raised
How does an animal learn?
Habituation (non associative learning), Conditioning (associative learning, classical- 2 stimuli and operant- reward/punish), Spatial (location), Imprinting (certain age), Cognition (using tools)
What do animals communicate?
Visual (colour, vision, dance), Auditory (calls, language, songs), Chemical (Pheromones, food odours), Tactile (play fight, grooming) and Other senses (electric-eel, whales-sonar)
