Ecology Exam Flashcards
Population vs. Community
Population- same species
Community- diff species
The biome with the most diversity is
Tropical Rainforest
Which biome has a permanent layer of ice?
Tundra
What causes seasonal patterns in the northern hemisphere?
The tilt of the earth and annual rotation around the sun
Which of the biomes have the richest soil?
Temperate grasslands
Very fertile soil
Many biomes have grasses maintained by
Fire
T&F Deserts are dry because the suns heat evaporates all the water
False
Dry because little to no precipitation
Name the biosphere where you live
Earth
What is the biome in Las Cruces?
Desert
There are 2.2 mil white winged doves in texas meaning about 7 birds per square mile what is this a measure of?
Density
Density
number of individuals per unit area
Dispersion
Pattern and the way animals are spaced in a population
Distribution
Where you find the individuals
where they are located
How might you measure population density of dandelions in this field?
count a subset and estimate the population for the area
Bushes are evenly spaced in a habitat in new mexico what is this called
Uniform dispersion
Humans are found in all continents in the world, what is this called
Distribution
Dispersion types
Uniform- an even pattern dispersion
Clumped- individuals are aggregated
Random- unpredictable spacing
The J shaped growth curve where populations grow at a constant factor over time is called
Exponential
Which is the formula for the exponential growth curve?
rN
What is the formula for the logistic growth curve?
rN (K-N/K)
Logistic growth rate is slowed by
Carrying capacity (K)
The growth rate (r) is 0.25 the birth rate is 0.65 what is the death rate
0.40
birth rate - growth rate = death rate
If multiple populations start with the same initial size, what determines which one grows the fastest under exponential growth conditions?
The population with the highest intrinsic growth rate (r) will grow the fastest
whooping cranes. the conservation effort of buying land changes the
change in the carrying capacity K
more room to live and create more animals
Competition
If both individuals get harmed
When an animal eats a plant this is called
Herbivory
Primary consumer
Which of these species is an exoparsite
Head lice
Animals may pollinate plants while eating nectar. this is called
Mutualism
Most frog lays hundreds of thousands of eggs Very few survive what life strategies
Type 3
If a plant has 10,000 kcal of energy how much is left for the snake?
10 kcal
What percentage of the energy is lost between the producer and the primary consumer?
90%
Which is an abiotic component of ecology?
The carbon in our local caliche layer
How are humans adding more carbon into the earths atmosphere?
Cutting down trees, Driving cars, etc
Which compound contributes the most to global climate change?
Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
What causes small jagged changes in CO2 Levels in this figure?
Seasonal activity of plants in temperate biomes
Population Density formula
Number of individuals/Area
The greatest annual input and least seasonal variation in heat occurs in the
Tropics
Most of the world’s deserts are located at latitudes where
hot, dry air moving toward the poles descends
A group of individuals of a single species that occupy the same general area defines a
Population
Assume that there are five alligators per acre in a swamp in northern Florida. This is a measure of the alligator population’s
Density
The Mexican Wolf can be found in New Mexico and Arizona. The is a description of that species
Distribution
When you are looking up a “range map” of a species, you are finding out the _____ of that species.
distribution
A survivorship curve is a
graph that plots an individual’s likelihood of being alive as a function of age.
Type 1 survivorship curve is the result of which of the following life history traits?
parents providing a lot of care for a few offspring
A newly mated queen ant establishes an ant nest in an unoccupied patch of suitable habitat where resources are abundant. Assuming that no disasters strike the nest, which of the following types of equation will best describe its population growth?
exponential
The maximum number of individuals a habitat can support is called its
Carrying capacity
If an ecosystem is above its carrying capacity the population will
decrease
preventing whooping cranes from extinction required
captive breeding and reintroduction.
In an ecosystem, you would expect to find interspecific competition between
populations of two species that utilize the same resources
The prokaryotes that cause tooth decay have a ____ relationship with humans
Parastic
A tree is a ____ in an ecosystem
Producer
In a food chain consisting of phytoplankton → zooplankton → fish → fishermen, the fishermen are
Producer ➡️primary ➡️secondary ➡️tertiary
Tertiary
In a food web, what could be true?
Several species of primary consumers may feed on the same species of producer
One simple thing that you can do to help safeguard the environment is to eat a diet consisting only of organisms that are
Producers
What is an abiotic factor?
temperature
The flow of ______ into ecosystems occurs in one direction only and then is lost,
energy; nutrients
The level of ecological organization that incorporates abiotic factors is the
Ecosystem
Which does not release CO2?
A) humans breathing
B) burning fossil fuel
C) burning trees
D) photosynthesis
Photosynthesis
What is a Type I survival curve
Few offspring and provide substantial parental care
High survival early and middle life, rapid decline later (e.g., humans)
What is a Type II survival curve?
Moderate offspring and care
Constant death rate across lifespan (e.g., birds)
What is a Type III survival curve
Many offspring (often hundreds or thousands), little to no parental support
High death rate early, survivors live long lives (e.g., trees, fish)
Chaparral
Grows around the mediterranean
Scrubby
Tundra
Cold permafrost
Frozen
Desert
Very dry hot or cold
Tropical Rainforest
Rainiest and warmest biome
Most diverse biome
Temperate Broadleaf Forest
Trees lose leaves in the winter
Key word: Deciduous trees
Coniferous Forest or Taiga
Cold forests of evergreen trees and pine
Keyword: Pine
Canada, Alaska, Siberia
Temperate grasslands
Grassy fertile soil
Key word: great for farming
Savanna
Warm grassland, scattered trees
Animals such as zebras lions and antelopes live there
Exponential Growth is
J curve
Ideal conditions- lots of food and space, no predators or disease
Population doubles and grows faster over time
rN
growth rate x Population size
Logistic Growth is
S shaped curve
Realistic conditions- limited resources
Pattern- starts looking like exponential then slows down as population gets larger
Levels off at the carrying capacity (K)
rN(K-N/K)
Batesian Mimicry
palatable organism looks like a toxic one to scare off predators (ex viceroy butterflies trying to mimic monarch butterflies)
Müllerian mimicry
two distasteful organisms look alike to signal their toxicity (ex bees and yellowjackets)
