Ecology & Evolution

Question 1

what is the modern definition of ecology?

Answer 1

The scientific study of the distribution and abundance of organisms and the interactions that determine distribution and abundance (Begon et. al. 2006)

Question 2

name the 4 scales of ecology

Answer 2

Landscape /geo-ecology

Community / ecosystem ecology

Population ecology

Autecology

Question 3

define landscape ecology

Answer 3

ecology with a focus on large-scale interactions between populations of different species and their environment

Question 4

define geo-ecology

Answer 4

ecology with a focus on large-scale interactions between populations of different species and their environment

Question 5

define community ecology

Answer 5

ecology with a focus on interactions between populations of different species and their environment within the ecosystem

Question 6

define ecosystem ecology

Answer 6

ecology with a focus on interactions between populations of different species and their environment within the ecosystem

Question 7

define population ecology

Answer 7

ecology with a focus on populations of the same species

Question 8

define autecology

Answer 8

ecology with a focus on single individuals

Question 9

name 2 alternate names for autecology

Answer 9

ecophysiology

biochemical ecology

Question 10

describe the approach taken by holistic/top-down ecology

Answer 10

focus on ecosystems and processes acting therein, trying to gain an overall understanding, often without exact analysis of details (nutrient or energy fluxes, key species,…)

descriptive approach

Question 11

describe the approach taken by reductionistic/bottom-up ecology

Answer 11

focus on individuals and single populations; interactions with each other and with the environment often analysed in controlled experimental settings

experimental
approach

Question 12

what is the scientific name of the peppered moth

Answer 12

Biston betularia

Question 13

describe the 3 morphs of the Biston betularia?

Answer 13

typica - mostly white

insularia - speckled white and black

carbonaria - mostly black

Question 14

how is the Biston betularia a descriptor for natural selection?

Answer 14

industrial revolution = air pollution, so the trees turned darker

carbonaria became better camouflaged, so the others were predated on more

more carbonaria existed.

as air pollution reduced, the light coloured forms now once again dominate

Question 15

which basic facts form the basis for evolution through natural selection

Answer 15

1) individuals of a population vary
2) these variations are inheritable
3) ancestors will leave different numbers of breeding descendants (depends on factors like fertility & offspring survival)
4) ability and success of descendants to breed are dependant on interactions between traits and environmental conditions

so, if these heritable traits change over generations, natural selection has occurred

Question 16

in survival of the fittest, what qualified the ‘fittest’?

Answer 16

leaving the greatest number of descendants relative to other individuals

Question 17

why doesn’t survival of the fittest result in a ‘perfect’ individual

Answer 17

environmental conditions are constantly changing, so what is most ‘fit’ changes

physiognomic variability especially of multicellular organisms is restricted

Question 18

why do ecotypes exist

Answer 18

Along environmental gradients, local populations may vary according to the prevailing set of environmental conditions at their occurrence – ecotypes evolve

Question 19

give experimental evidence for the existence of ecotypes

Answer 19

Comparison of
ecotypes of Achillea
lanulosa originating
from different
heights along a
transect in the Sierra
Nevada and grown
under identical
condition show that they still vary in height dependant on the elevation of where the seeds were taken from (Nentwig et al 2004)

Question 20

which 5 mechanisms cause changes within a population

Answer 20

mutations

migration

genetic drift

natural selection

coevolution

Question 21

what is a mutation

Answer 21

changes in the genome of individuals

Question 22

how does migration cause changes in populations

Answer 22

exchange of individuals between different populations,

individuals starting new populations; gene flow

Question 23

what is genetic drift

Answer 23

accidental removal of a part of a population,
accidentally favouring certain characteristics, especially
powerful in small populations

Question 24

how does natural selection cause changes in populations

Answer 24

Mortality selection: peppered moth example;

fecundity selection by producing more/less fertile offspring

Question 25

what is coevolution

Answer 25

traits evolve in two different species due to

interspecific interaction

Question 26

give 2 examples of mutualistic coevolution in plants

Answer 26

ornithophilic & chiropterophilic plants

Question 27

what are ornithophilic plants

Answer 27

plants evolved to be pollinated by birds

Question 28

what are chiropterophilic plants

Answer 28

plants evolved to be pollinated by bats

Question 29

describe pouyannian mimicry

Answer 29

emit pheromones and look like the females of an insect species. when the male tries to copulate, pollen is transferred

Question 30

which journal paper refers to the population change of the peppered moth

Answer 30

Cook et al 1999

Question 31

Which journal paper refers to the evolution of ecotypes

Answer 31

Nentwig et al 2004

Question 32

What is natural selection

Answer 32

mortality selection (e.g. peppered moth) + fecundity selection (producting more/less fertile offspring)

Question 33

Give an example of mutualistic coevolution in sphingophilic plants

Answer 33

(plants pollinated by moths)

Hawk moth’s long noses + long flowers of the flowers they pollinate, so most pollinators cannot reach their nectar”

Question 34

Give an example of mutualistic coevolution in ornithophilic plants

Answer 34

(plants pollinated by birds) bright colours so birds can see them, very robust flowers so only beaks can break in

Question 35

Give an example of coevolution through chemical mimicry

Answer 35

Orchids that release the same pheremone as female wasps