Ecology Adaptation Flashcards
Adaptation
Is any behavioral, morphological, or physiological trait that is assumed to be the result of natural selection that results in an increased fitness for the environment.
Fitness
The fates of individuals hinge on genetically determined characteristics that enable organisms to cope with the physical and biological environment
Laws of Tolerance
V.E. Shelford incorporated the concept of environmental limitations to organisms’ ability to reproduce, grow, and survive
too little of a nutrient or other resource, such as light, may be harmful; but too much of a good thing can be just as bad, and thus limiting
Adaptation in an environment
the adaptation of an organism to its environment is exhibited by its ability to function between some upper and lower limits in a range of environmental conditions
the law of limiting factors
Observed by F.F Blackman, a maximum quantity of a resource tolerated by organism would limited its response as well.
Shifting Tolerance
the range of tolerance is not fixed. As seasons and conditions change, individuals may acclimate to them and shift their tolerance curves.
Acclimatization
this plastic, relativity short-term response of an individual to exposures to different or changing natural environments
Homeostasis
The maintenance of a relatively constant internal environment in a varying external environment
Autotrophs
are organisms that utilize inorganic source of carbon, primarily carbon dioxide
(plants, algae, some bacteria)
use energy derived from solar radiation to fix carbon dioxide into organic compounds
heterotrophs
organisms such as animals, bacteria, and fungi that use organic sourness of carbon by consuming other organisms or their by-products
secondary producers and are further classified as consumers and decomposers
