Ecology Test Flashcards
What are the effects of deforestation?
Decreased biodiversity
Mudslides or soil erosion
Habitat loss
More Carbon dioxide in atmosphere (Forests absorb the carbon dioxide)
Kill off a species or threaten a species
Climate change due to loss of Carbon dioxide
Food webs
Webs can vary based on the biome they are in
Can have multiple producers and consumers
Range of possibilities/chains
Trophic Level Order: Primary producer (AKA autotrophs), primary consumer (AKA herbivores), secondary consumer (AKA carnivores), tertiary consumer (AKA carnivores), quaternary consumer (AKA carnivores)
All the energy from the top consumer goes into the decomposers
If one dies off predators decrease and prey increase
Succession
Organisms change in an ecosystem as time goes on because it depends on the food source available at the time and will adapt to new food source available
At different times of succession there will be different organisms available–progression of both plants and animals
Organisms change because the environment changes
Ecological Succession
transition of species composition of a community following a disturbance
Limiting factors
Density dependent: factors that affect populations when the population density is high
EX: water, nutrients, predation, toxins, disease, food
Density independent: factors that affect populations no matter what size they are
EX: natural disasters, humans
how do invasive species affect the species diversity
It lowers the diversity because of competition of species
Species Diversity
variety of organisms that make up a community
Invasive species
not natural to that area, introduced species
how two organisms can live in the same area of overlapping area and still survive
Can get some overlap of niches but no two are the same=resource partitioning–it is okay if they overlap as long as they do not compete; therefore, it will not affect them too much
Most of the time they are unique to the species
Ecological Niche
specific set of biotic and abiotic resources that an organism used in its environment where an organism lives and goes about its daily activities
Food chains
Trophic Levels: Primary producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer, quaternary consumer
Bottom-always producers (most numerous)
Tend to have few levels (trophic levels)
how much energy goes on to the next level
~90% of energy is lost at each level (heat, metabolism, feces, etc…)
~10% energy goes to next level
Parasitism:
(+/- interaction) one is benefited and one is harmed
Endoparasites live inside other organisms
EX: tapeworm
Ectoparasites live on external surface of other organism
EX: tick
Commensalism
(+/0 interaction) one is benefited and one it not harmed or benefited
One benefits, other neither harms or helps
EX: Barnacles that live on whales
Mutualism
(+/+ interaction) both are benefited
EX: Nitrogen fixing bacteria and plant roots
EX: clownfish and sea ananimes
Facilitation
(+/+ or +/0 interaction) either both are benefited or one is benefited and the other is neither harmed nor benefited
Common in plants
One organism benefits the other without coming in contact with it
Aposematic coloration
Warning coloration
EX: bright colors of the poison dart frog
Cryptic coloration
camouflage
EX: flounder in the sand, octopus, chameleon
Batesian mimicry
harmless species mimics a harmful one
EX: larvae that looks like a venomous snake
Mullerian mimicry
two or more unpalatable resemble each other
EX: cuckoo bee and yellow jacket
Fundamental Niche
a niche potentially occupied by a species if no competition
Realized Niche
the portion of the fundamental niche it actually occupies
Invasive Species
not native to area, but come in and can survive and reproduce competing for resources
why do invasive species proliferate
They proliferate because they have no natural predators
how can humans stop invasive species
Humans can stop them by finding a predator or kill the
Review the water cycle
Water is essential to all organisms
Liquid water is the primary physical phase in which water is used
The ocean contains 97% of the biosphere’s water; 2% is in glaciers and polar ice caps, and 1% is in lakes, rivers, and groundwater
Water moves by the processes of evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, and movement through surface and groundwater
When water reaches the land it can either runoff or go into groundwater
Exponential curve
increasing at a common factor at a common rate, J curve
Always increase until resources disappear
Carrying capacity
(K) maximum population size that a particular environment can sustain
Where the logistic graph levels off
Logistic curve
stationary, growth, carrying capacity phases
Has a carrying capacity once the resources become slim
Primary Succession
disturbance causes new rock to form-volcanic or retreating glacier
Starting with bare rock due to volcanic activity or glaciers
Pioneer species=lichen, than moss
Secondary Succession
already existing community which is disturbed by things such as natural events (fire, tornado, etc…) or human activity
A disturbance occurs and it starts with soil
Pioneer species is anything with a seed: flowers
Pioneer Species
First organism that will grow in an area that is newly made or disturbed
Keystone Species
not usually the dominant organism but has a huge effect on environment (Species that keeps the environment and other species in balance)
What is the significance of keystone species
Exerts control over the community structure by the nature of its ecological role
Review the effects of nitrates and phosphates on aquatic environments
Increase amounts of nutrients in the water that causes algal-blooms and the algae use up the oxygen in the water resulting in fish kills and other organisms dying because there is not enough oxygen
r-strategist
organisms that tend to over produce, habitat is usually unstable therefore they produce a lot so their animals survive
EX: fish, rodents, turtles
k-strategist
organisms that have a stable environment, have less offspring, offspring is more likely to survive
EX: humans, elephant, horse
Biomass
biological mass without water
Tropical Forest Biome Organisms
insects, spiders, arthropods
Savanna Biome Organism
wildebeests, zebras, lions, hyenas
Desert Biome Organism
scorpions, ants, beetles, snakes, lizards, migratory, birds, rodents
Chaparral Biome Organism
deer, goats,
Temperate Grassland Biome Organism
wild horses, prairie dogs
Northern Coniferous Forest Biome Organism
moose, brown bears, siberian tigers
Temperate Broadleaf Forest Biome Organism
mammals hibernate in winter, birds migrate in summer
Tundra Biome Organism
bears, wolves, foxes, snowy owls, caribou, reindeer
Nitrogen Cycle
the natural process by which nitrogen, either from the atmosphere or from decomposed organic material, is converted by soil bacteria to compounds assimilated by plants. This incorporated nitrogen is then taken in by other organisms and subsequently released, acted on by bacteria, and made available again to the nonliving environment
Nitrogen Fixation
the conversion of atmospheric nitrogen (N2) to ammonia (NH3). biological nitrogen fixation is carried out by certain prokaryotes, some of which have mutualistic relationships with plants
ammonification
is performed by bacteria to convert organic nitrogen to ammonia
denitrification
is a microbially facilitated process where nitrate is reduced and ultimately produces molecular nitrogen (N2) through a series of intermediate gaseous nitrogen oxide products
