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Ecology > Ecology Exam 3 > Flashcards

Ecology Exam 3 Flashcards

1
Q

iteroparity

A

reproduce more than once (most perennial plants, most vertebrates)

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2
Q

semelparity

A

reproduce only once (most annual plants, agave/century plants, many short-lived insects)

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3
Q

why be semelparous?

A

if favorable years for reproduction are rare, reproduce only during favorable years (harsh environment)

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4
Q

what conditions are needed for iteroparity?

A

good environment with lots of resources

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5
Q

life-history tradeoffs

A

female age at maturity vs. offspring weight
# vs. size of offspring
population growth rate vs. generation time
reproduction vs. mortality

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6
Q

energy expenditure per offspring

A

tradeoff between total # of offspring and per individual size

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7
Q

three types of organisms based on energy expenditure

A

species with live birth/well-protected young have larger offspring that develop inside parent (arctic species)
species with eggs and lots of yolk have fairly large offspring (arctic and tropical species)
species with eggs and little yolk have small offspring (tropical species)

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8
Q

most common clutch size in birds should be that which results in…

A

the most young fledged

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9
Q

having more eggs/offspring raised by birds can result in…

A

reduced offspring weight and lower parental survival

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10
Q

clutch size in a year is involved in a tradeoff with…

A

future reproductive output

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11
Q

r selection happens for populations that are…

A

far from K

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12
Q

K selection happens for populations that are…

A

close to K

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13
Q

why is there r and K selection?

A

small populations that have abundant resources select for different traits than large populations that strongly compete for resources

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14
Q

r-selected characteristics

A

rapid development
short-lived individuals
many small offspring
immediate reproduction

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15
Q

K-selected characteristics

A

slower development
long-lived individuals
fewer/larger offspring
delayed reproduction

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16
Q

the r-selected plants in the goldenrod experiment were…

A

smaller and occurred in disturbed habitats

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17
Q

the K-selected plants in the goldenrod experiment were…

A

larger and occurred in less disturbed habitats

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18
Q

what are the three basic plant life strategies?

A

ruderal
stress tolerant
competitive

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19
Q

ruderal

A

plants that can live in highly disturbed environments and may depend on disturbance to allow them to persist in competition with other plants

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20
Q

traits of ruderal plants

A

rapid growth/reproduction
invest large portions of biomass in reproduction
produce many seeds that are capable of dispersing to new areas

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21
Q

ruderal plants are most similar to…

A

r-selected species

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22
Q

stress tolerant

A

plants that can live in very stressful environments that experience low rates of disturbance (deserts, salt flats, tundras)

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23
Q

traits of stress tolerant plants

A

slow growth
often evergreens
conserve energy and nutrients for brief periods of favorable conditions
highly defended against herbivores

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24
Q

stress tolerant plants are…

A

intermediates between r and K selection

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25
Q

competitive

A

plants that specialize in environments where both stress and disturbance are low, selected for strong competitive abilities vs. other plant species

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26
Q

competitive plants are most similar to…

A

K-selected species

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27
Q

birds have larger clutches…

A

at higher latitudes
at higher elevations (altitudes)
on mainlands vs. islands

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28
Q

four hypotheses for latitudinal patterns

A

day length
predation
spring bloom
migratory effect

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29
Q

day length hypothesis

A

since birds at higher latitudes breed during a time of the year when the day length is longer, more time to feed young

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30
Q

problem with day length hypothesis

A

nocturnal birds breeding at high latitudes also have larger clutches

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31
Q

predation hypothesis

A

more potential nest predators in tropics, so fewer offspring = fewer trips to/from nest to feed offspring –> less chance of attracting predators

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32
Q

spring bloom hypothesis

A

food is more abundant during breeding season in temperate regions, allowing adults to raise more offspring

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33
Q

migratory effect hypothesis

A

migration increases risk of mortality, so birds with far-away breeding grounds should produce larger clutches when there to compensate for increased risk during longer migration

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34
Q

tests of clutch size hypotheses in survey of seven tropical-temperate species pairs found…

A

clutch sizes consistently higher in temperate vs. tropical
increased nest visitation –> increased food to nest –> increased predation
at similar nest predation rates, clutch size is greater in temperate vs. tropical
nest predation lower and food delivery higher in tropical regions

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35
Q

r vs. K hypothesis

A

more disturbance in higher latitudes, higher altitudes, and on mainlands favors r-selected traits such as increased clutch size

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36
Q

trends in clutch size in plants

A

seeds per individual higher in tropics vs. temperate
seeds per individual higher in lowlands vs. mountains

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37
Q

why does plant seed size (clutch size) have a different pattern than bird clutch size?

A

plant reproduction needs to consider entire length of growing season, which is greater in tropics and lowland regions

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38
Q

competition

A

a negative-negative interaction between species

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39
Q

exploitative competition

A

indirect interaction between individuals of species 1 and species 2 that occurs through each species’ impact on shared resources (they decrease resources available for each other)

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40
Q

interference competition

A

direct interaction between individuals of species 1 and species 2 that occurs via aggression, territorial defense, etc.
costs to both species may result from fighting/injury
competition is often asymmetric

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41
Q

how might stationary organisms have interference competition

A

they can compete by producing chemicals that harm other species

42
Q

competitive exclusion

A

extreme overlap of resources in which species 1 wins and species 2 goes extinct (or vice versa)
this result always occurs

43
Q

gause’s principle

A

when resources and space of a two species overlap, there will be competition

44
Q

stable equilibrium (coexistence)

A

both species persist and neither go extinct

45
Q

unstable equilibrium (coexistence)

A

either species 1 or species 2 wins depending on their initial abundances (more abundant species has a tendency to win)

46
Q

Lotka-Volterra competition equations

A

dN1/dt = r1N1([K1 - N1 - α12N2] / K1)
dN2/dt = r2N2([K2 - N2 - α21N1] / K2)

47
Q

meaning of variables in LK equation

A

in terms of species 1, species 2 is reverse:
r1 = per capita rate of increase of species 1
N1 = population size of species 1
K1 = carrying capacity of species 1
α12 = competition coefficient (per capita effect of species 2 on species 1/how much carrying capacity of species 1 that each individual of species 2 removes)

48
Q

ZNGI

A

zero net growth isocline where dN/dt = 0

49
Q

lessons from LV equation

A

complete competitors can’t coexist
complete exclusion is reached more slowly with higher resource abundances
stable coexistence requires niche differentiation (intraspecific > interspecific)

50
Q

resource partitioning definition and types

A

ways in which species differ in their use of resources
types:
food, size, hardness, and type
space (habitat)
time

51
Q

broad (macrohabitat)

A

organisms live in different ecosystems

52
Q

narrow (microhabitat)

A

organisms live in the same vegetation type but in different places within that habitat type

53
Q

daily (time)

A

when organisms eat during the day

54
Q

seasonal (time)

A

when organisms eat during the year

55
Q

ecological niche

A

set of environmental conditions within which an organism can maintain a viable population

56
Q

fundamental niche

A

the total range of environmental conditions that are suitable for existence in the absence of interspecific competition, predation, or other interspecific interactions

57
Q

realized niche

A

the part of the fundamental niche occupied in the presence of interspecific competition, predation, and other interspecific interactions

58
Q

limiting similarity

A

that degree of similarity in resource use that just allows coexistence; any greater similarity would result in one of the species becoming extinct
measured in units of d/w

59
Q

d

A

the distance between the means of the curves

60
Q

w

A

the standard deviation or niche width

61
Q

what does niche width tell us

A

how “fat” the curves are

62
Q

generalist vs. specialist

A

generalists have a large w
specialists have a small w

63
Q

shaded area between curves

A

shaded area = α of LV model
the larger the shaded area, the larger the α

64
Q

small overlap of curves

A

more different than limiting similarity (small α, d/w > 1)

65
Q

medium-sized overlap of curves

A

limiting similarity (d/w about equal to 1)

66
Q

large overlap of curves

A

no coexistence (large α, d/w < 1)

67
Q

competitive extinction

A

if species are too similar, one drives the other to extinction

68
Q

co-evolution

A

species are initially very similar, but diverge over evolutionary time (reduce similarity)

69
Q

character displacement

A

species are more different from each other when in sympatry (geological ranges overlap) than when in allopatry (no range overlap)

70
Q

predation

A

predator kills prey relatively quickly (wolves, killer whales, etc.)

71
Q

herbivory

A

plants are eaten but generally survive

72
Q

pathogens

A

infect host, cause diseases as a means of reproduction/transmission (myxoma virus, fungi, cold, flu, ebola, AIDS, covid)

73
Q

parasitism

A

host is not killed quickly, exploited for resources which eventually leads to health problems for host

74
Q

endoparasites

A

inside host (tapeworms, liver flukes, etc.)

75
Q

ectoparasites

A

outside host (ticks, lampreys, etc.)

76
Q

brood parasitism

A

parasite lays eggs in nest of host species, host raises parasite’s young

77
Q

egg mimicry

A

type of brood parasitism where parasite egg looks like host spp egg, parasite young can kill host spp young –> greater share of food

78
Q

nestling mimicry

A

type of brood parasitism where parasite young look like host spp young, tricking host into feeding it

79
Q

why is nestling mimicry common in tropics

A

tropics are older –> more time for co-evolution
tropical birds are less territorial –> more vulnerable
MAFIA BEHAVIOR

80
Q

Lotka-Volterra predator-prey model

A

prey: dV/dt = rV - aVP
predator: dP/dt = caVP - qP

81
Q

meaning of variables in the predator-prey model

A

V = # of prey
P = # of predators
r = intrinsic rate of increase of prey
a = capture efficiency (prob. a pred.-prey interaction leads to prey being eaten)
c = conversion constant (# of prey needed to make a single pred.)
q = death rate of predators

82
Q

assumptions of LV predator-prey model

A

growth of prey population is limited only by predation
predator is a specialist that can persist only if prey population is present
individual predators can consume an infinite # of prey
predator and prey encounter one another randomly in homogeneous environment

83
Q

equilibria of predator-prey model

A

when no prey are present or P = r/a
when no predators are present or V = q/ca

84
Q

mutualisms

A

interactions between individuals of a different species that benefit both partners (a +/+ relationship)

85
Q

mutualisms can…

A

increase birth rates
decrease death rates
increase equilibrium population densities
raise the carrying capacity for each species

86
Q

degree of dependence

A

the necessity of the interaction for one or both partners in a mutualism

87
Q

obligate mutualism

A

organisms can’t survive and/or reproduce without the mutualism (ex: 70% of plants rely on insect pollinators)

88
Q

facultative mutualism

A

organisms benefit from, but can survive and/or reproduce without the mutualism (ex: cleaner fish and marine organisms)

89
Q

degree of specialization

A

the necessity of, or involvement of, one species in the interaction

90
Q

specialist (mutualism)

A

only two species can participate in the interaction (ex: ant/acacia symbiosis)

91
Q

generalist (mutualism)

A

there are a variety of suitable partner species
(ex: most bee-flower pollinator mutualisms)

92
Q

benefits from mutualisms

A

trophic
transport
protective
nutritional
energetic

93
Q

tropic (benefit)

A

mutualists rely on each other for food (ex: honeyguides and humans)

94
Q

transport (benefit)

A

movement of gametes or seeds of one mutualist by another (ex: pollination and/or seed disperal)

95
Q

protective (benefit)

A

active or passive defense of one mutualist by another (ex: gobies and shrimp)

96
Q

nutritional (benefit)

A

interactions in which nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are transferred from one mutualist to another (ex: fungi in mycorrhizal symbioses)

97
Q

energetic (benefit)

A

interactions in which energy obtained by one mutualist is made available to another mutualist (ex: transfer of photosynthate from symbiotic bacteria to coral polyps)

98
Q

two important things to note about mutualisms

A

each partner in a mutualism may get different types of benefits
if one partner dies or goes extinct, the other may persist in doing apparently “irrational” things

99
Q

what separates mutualism from parasitism or competition?

A

the ability to reward “friends” and punish “cheaters” (ex: Yucca plant and Yucca moth)

100
Q

degree and type of density dependence

A

mutualistic per-capita benefits can be independent of population density, or they can increase/decrease with population density

101
Q

some good case studies about mutualisms to understand

A

plants and mycorrhizal fungi –> fungi increase water access and nutrients to plants, plants create carbs and share them with fungi

Pseudomyrmex ants and swollen-thorn acacias –> acacias provide shelter, sugar, liquids, oils, and proteins to ants, ants defend acacia against herbivores and remove other plants from growing near it

zooxanthellae and corals –> zooxanthellae provide organic compounds to coral, coral provides nutrients like nitrogen and protection against predators to zooxanthellae

honeyguides and humans –> honeyguides help humans find well-hidden honey bee nests, humans provide honeyguides with easier access to honey (cheated honeyguides will lead humans to nasty honey badgers 0_0)

Ecology (3 decks)

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