Ecology Flashcards
List the 5 levels of ecological study and give examples of the focus of inquiry at each level
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Give an example of a purposefully introduced species and an accidentally introduced species that have become pests in North America
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Describe mountains’ influence on solar radiation
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Describe mountains’ influence on temperature
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Describe mountains’ influence on rainfall
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Oligotrophic lake
O2 level:
Nutrient Content:
Productivity:
Eutrophic lake
O2 level:
Nutrient Content:
Productivity:
Headwater of stream
O2 level:
Nutrient Content:
Productivity:
Turbid river
O2 level:
Nutrient Content:
Productivity:
Estuary
O2 level:
Nutrient Content:
Productivity:
ecology
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What methods are used to answer ecological questions?
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biomes
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What accounts for the similarities in life forms found in the same type of biome in geographically separated areas?
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Many animals breed in the spring and early summer. What is a probable proximate cause of this behavior? Probable ultimate cause?
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What is the sign stimulus for attack behavior in male stickleback fish?
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Give an example of a FAP in a human infant and the sign stimulus that elicits it
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Explain how Zack’s study of whelk-eating crow supports the optimal foraging theory
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Sow bugs are placed in experimental chambers that are either humid or dry and have both light and dark areas. In the humid chamber, the sow bugs move into the dark area and stop moving. In the dry chamber, they move into the dark area and continue to move about in that area. Explain these experimental results
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Why are many interactions between members of the same species agonistic?
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What mechanisms reduce violent encounters between members of the same social group?
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Explain the basis for the distinction between male competition and female choice in courtship behavior.
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Natural selection has resulted in exclusive male and parental care being much more frequent in species with external fertilization, where the male’s genetic contribution to the offspring is more certain. Explain how such behavior could evolve.
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Why is most communication among mammals olfactory and auditory, whereas communication among birds is visual and auditory?
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According to kin selection, would an individual be more likely to exhibit altruistic behavior toward a parent, a sibling, or a first cousin? Explain your answer in terms of r in Hamilton’s rule.
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How does the nature vs. nurture controversy apply to behavior?
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How does this concept of Darwinian fitness apply to behavior?
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In a mark-recapture study, an ecologist traps, marks and releases 25 voles in a small wooded area. A week later she resets her traps and captures 30 voles, 10 of which were marked. What is her estimate of the population of voles in the area?
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Identify the types of survivorship curves shown below and give examples of groups that exhibit each curve.
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Mortality, number of offspring per reproduction, and prenatal investment are usually interrelated. On the following graphs, sketch the relationship you would predict between the variables.
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Label the exponential and logistic growth curves, and show the equation associated with each curve. What is K for the population show with curve b?
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List some density-dependent factors that may limit population growth.
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List some abiotic factors that may cause population fluctuations.
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Species composition and distribution in most plant communities appear to be individualistic. What may explain the occasional occurrence of sharp delineations in species composition between communities?
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Harmless species resembling a poisonous or distasteful species
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Mutual imitation by two or more distasteful species
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Experimental data from tree hole communities showed that food chains were longest when food supply at the producer level was greatest. Which hypothesis about what limits food chain length do
these results support?
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Many freshwater lake communities appear to be organized along the top-down model. What
actions might ecologists take if they wanted to use biomanipulation to control excessive algae blooms in a lake with four trophic levels (algae, zooplankton, primary predator fish, and top predator fish)?
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Describe the effects of the alder stage of succession on soil pH and fertility
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List some ecosystems with high rates of production
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List some ecosystems with low rates of production.
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The open ocean has low net primary production yet contributes the greatest percentage of earth’s net primary production. Explain.
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Antarctic seas are often more productive than most tropical seas, even though they are colder and receive lower light intensity. Explain
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Why is production efficiency higher for fishes than for birds and mammals?
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Assuming a 10% trophic efficiency (transfer of energy to the next tropic level), approximately what proportion of the chemical energy produced in photosynthesis makes it to a tertiary consumer?
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In which natural ecosystem do nutrients cycle the fastest? Why?
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In which natural ecosystem to nutrients cycle the slowest? Why?
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What is the effect of loss of vegetation on nutrient cycling?
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List some of the potential consequences of global warming:
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Two processes that emerge at the ecosystem level of organization are energy flow and chemical cycling. Develop a concept map that explains, compares, and contrasts these 2 processes.
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Describe four or five human intrusions in ecosystem dynamics that have detrimental effects.
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Is the effective population size usually larger or smaller than the actual number of individuals in the population? Explain.
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Explain the basic premise of the small population approach. What conservation strategy is recommended for preserving small populations?
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Describe the declining-population approach to the conservation of endangered species
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What are some potential benefits of corridors? How may they be harmful?
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What factors would favor the creation of larger, extensive preserves? What factors favor smaller, unconnected preserves?
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What are the major threats to biodiversity, listed in order of importance?
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How does the loss of biodiversity threaten human welfare?
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What do edges and movement corridors have to do with habitat fragmentation?
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Describe the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis and how it relates to fragmentation of habitats.
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