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Biology > Ecology > Flashcards

Ecology Flashcards

1
Q

Ecology

A

The study of the interactions between organisms and their environment

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2
Q

Environment

A

All that is external to the organism and is necessary for its existence

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3
Q

Abiotic environment

A

The physical or nonliving

Climate, temperature, availability of light and water, local topology

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4
Q

Biotic environment

A

All living things that directly or indirectly influence the the life of the organism

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5
Q

Organism

A

The individual unit of an ecological system

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6
Q

Population

A

A group of organisms of the same species living together in the same location

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7
Q

Species

A

Any group of similar organisms that are capable of producing fertile offspring

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8
Q

Community

A

Consists of populations of different plants and animal species interacting with each other in a given environment

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9
Q

Biotic community

A

A population and not their physical environment

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10
Q

Ecosystem

A

The interaction between living biotic communities and the nonliving environment

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11
Q

Biosphere

A

All portions of the planet that support life, the atmosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere

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12
Q

Water

A

The major component of the internal environment of all living things

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13
Q

Sunlight

A

The ultimate source of energy for all organisms

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14
Q

Physical Environment

A 
Water
Temperature
Sunlight
Oxygen supply
Substratum (soil or rock)
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15
Q

Photic zone

A

Top layer of water through which light can penetrate where all aquatic photosynthetic activity takes place

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16
Q

Aphotic zone

A

Layer in water where only animal life and other heterotrophic life exist

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17
Q

Substratum

A

Soil or rock
Determines the nature of plant and animal life
Acidity, texture, minerals, humus quantity

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18
Q

Loams

A

Contain each type of soil

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19
Q

Niche

A

The functional role of an organism in its ecosystem

No two species can ever occupy the same niche in the same location

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20
Q

Habitat

A

The physical place where an organism lies

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21
Q

Outcomes of competition

A

One species is competitively superior and drives the second to extinction.
One species is competitively superior in some regions resulting in the elimination of one species in some places.
The two species may rapidly evolve in divergent directions under the strong selection pressure resulting from intense competition.

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22
Q

Autotrophs

A

Organisms that manufacture their own food

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23
Q

Heterotrophs

A

Organisms that eat other plants or animals for energy and nutrients.

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24
Q

Herbivores

A

Organisms that consume only plants or plant foods

Long digestive tracts for greater SA and time

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25
Carnivores
Organisms that eat only other animals
26
Omnivores
Organisms that eat both plants and animals
27
Interspecific interactions
Symbiosis, predation, saprophytism, scavenging
28
Symbiosis
Symbionts live together in an intimate association which may or may not be beneficial to both participants Commensalism, mutualism, parasitism
29
Commensalism
+/0 | One organism is benefited by the association and the other is not affected
30
Mutualism
+/+ | Both organisms derive some benefit by the association
31
Parasitism
+/- | One organism benefits at the expense of the host
32
Ectoparasite
Parasites that cling to the exterior surface of the host
33
Endoparasite
Parasites that live within the host
34
Saprophyte
Organisms that decompose (digest) dead organism matter externally and absorb the nutrients
35
Scavengers
Animals that consume dead animals | Require no adaptations for hunting and killing their prey
36
Osmoregulation
Animals have developed many adaptations for maintaining their internal osmolarity and conserving water
37
Thermoregulation
Poikilothermic vs homeothermic
38
Poikilothermic
Cold-blooded Heat energy escapes to the environment Body temp very close to that of their surroundings
39
Homeothermic
Warm-blooded Physical mechanisms that allow them to make use of the heat produced as a consequence of respiration Maintain body temp higher than the temp of the environment
40
Energy flow
The transfer of energy through the living components of the ecosystem mapped in the form of a food chain or web
41
Food chain
A single chain showing the transfer of energy
42
Producers
Autotrophic green plants and chemosynthetic bacteria Utilize the energy of the sun and simple raw materials to manufacture carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids Always initial step in any food chain
43
Primary Consumers
Animals that consume green plants (herbivores)
44
Secondary Consumers
Animals that consume primary consumers (carnivores)
45
Decomposers
Bacteria and fungi decompose the organic wastes and dead tissues to simpler compounds which are returned to the environment to be used again by living organisms
46
Food web
An intricate collection of interconnected food chains of a community to form a web The greater the number of pathways, the more stable the community
47
Pyramid of energy
Each level of the food chain utilizes some energy it obtains from food for its own metabolism and loses some additional energy as heat Producers = greatest amount of energy Top consumers = least amount of energy
48
Pyramid of mass
Since organisms at the upper levels of the food chain derive food energy from organism at lower levels and since energy is lost, each level can support a successively smaller biomass
49
Pyramid of numbers
Greatest number of organisms (great total mass) at the base and smallest number at the top
50
Nitrogen Cycle
Nitrogen is chemically inert and cannot be used by most organisms. Lightning and nitrogen-fixing bacteria change the nitrogen to usable, soluble nitrate. Nitrates are absorbed by plants and used to synthesize nucleic acids and plant proteins. Animals eat plants and synthesize specific animal proteins from plant proteins. Nitrogen locked up in waste and dead tissues is released by the action of bacteria of decay, covert proteins into ammonia Some ammonia is nitrified to nitrites by chemosynthetic bacteria and usable nitrates by nitrifying bacteria Some ammonia is denitrified, broken down to release free nitrogen which returns to the beginning of the cycle
51
Carbon Cycle
Plants use gaseous CO2 to produce glucose via photosynthesis then use glucose to make starch, proteins, and fats. Animals eat plants & use digested nutrients to form carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. A part is used as fuel in respiration. The metabolically produced CO2 is released into the air. Organic carbon remains within an organism until death and decay processes by bacteria to return CO2 to the air.
52
Conditions for Ecosystem Stability
Relatively stable physical environment and biotic community. Constant energy source and living system incorporating energy into organic compounds. Cycling of materials between the living system and its environment
53
Ecological succession
``` The orderly process by which one biotic community replaces or succeeds another until a climax community is established Each stage (sere) is identified by a dominant species ```
54
Climax Community
The stable, living (biotic) part of an ecosystem, in which populations exist in balance with each other and with the environment Persists until a major climactic or geological change disturbs the abiotic factors or a major biotic change affects the populations
55
Biome
Distinct communities inhabiting a geographic region existing in the major climate areas
56
Climax vegetation
The vegetation that becomes dominant and stable that determine the nature of the inhabiting animal population
57
Terrestrial Biomes
``` Desert Grassland Rainforest Temperate deciduous forest Temperate coniferous forest Taiga Tundra Polar ```
58
Desert Biome
Fewer than 10 inches of rain/year within a few heavy cloudbursts for main growing season Plants actively conserve water Animals live in burrows
59
Grassland Biome
``` Low rainfall (10-30 inches/year) No shelter for herbivorous mammals from carnivorous predators Land animals developed long legs, many hoofed ```
60
Rainforest Biome
Torrential rains Moderate (temperate) - high (tropical) temperatures Climax communities with dense growth of vegetation that does not shed its leaves Trees grow closely together and sunlight hardly reaches the forest floor Floor inhabited by saprophytes which live off dead organic matter
61
Temperate deciduous biome
Cold winters, warm summers, moderate rainfall | Deciduous trees that shed leaves in winter
62
Temperate coniferous forest biome
Cold, dry Inhabited by trees that do not lose their leaves Vegetation evolved for water conservation with needle-shaped leaves Largest biomass
63
Taiga biome
Less rainfall than temperate forests Long, cold winters Inhabited by trees that do not lose leaves Forest floors are characterized by thin soil covered in moss and lichens
64
Tundra biome
Treeless, frozen plain found between the taiga and northern ice sheets Ground covered in snow and ice described as permafrost Very short summer and growing season, ground becomes wet and marshy
65
Polar region
Surround polar ice caps and are frozen areas with no vegetation and few terrestrial animals Little precipitation Considered deserts
66
Marine biomes
Oceans connect to form one continuous body of water which controls the earth's temperature by absorbing solar heat Intertidal, neritic, pelagic, photic, aphotic
67
Intertidal zone
Region exposed at low tides that undergoes variations in temperature and periods of dryness
68
Neritic zone
Region on the continental shelf that contains ocean with depths up to 600 ft and extends several hundred miles from the shore
69
Pelagic zone
Typical of the open seas | Divided into photic and aphotic zones
70
Photic zone
Sunlit layer of the open sea extending 250-600 ft Contains plankton, passively drifting masses of microscopic photosynthetic and heterotrophic organisms, nekton Chief autotroph is diatom (alga)
71
Aphotic zone
``` Beneath photic zone Receives no sunlight No photosynthesis, only heterotrophs Organisms have adaptations to survive in very cold water with high pressures and in complete darkness Nekton and benthos ```
72
Nekton
Active swimmers
73
Benthos
Crawling and sessile organisms
74
Freshwater biomes
Rivers, lakes, ponds, marshes Links between the oceans and land Hypotonic creating diffusion gradient resulting in water passage into the cell strong, swift currents favoured the survival of fish with strong muscles Affected by variations in climate and water

Biology (17 decks)

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