Exam 1 Study Guide Flashcards
What are the levels in biological organization?
- Sub cellular
- Cell tissue
- Organism
- Population- One species
- Community- Two or more cells interacting
- Ecosystem- Biotic and abiotic
Evolution is the organizing principle for biotic change
Name 3 solanum species
- Potato
- Tomato
- Egg plant
What is special about solanum tuberosum?
(aka potato)
Solanum- Is a green poison that is used against enemies
- Native to Andes in South America
- The eye of the potato can start a new potato
- Sexually reproduced
Why can we eat potatoes, but not oak leaves?
- We can cook the potatoes to overcome their defenses
- The oak has stronger chemical defenses that humans can’t overcome if consumed
What role does photosynthesis play?
- Makes sugars
- On a chemical budget
- Must disperse through entire plant
What does invasive mean?
Species that are rapidly expanding outside of their native range
80% of people use plants for…
Medicine
Where is New Jersey’s drinking water preserved?
South Jersey and the Pinelands
What are the 4 types of ecological services?
- Provisioning
- Regulating services
- Supporting services
- Cultural services
What does provisioning services include?
- Food- Amount of vegetables and meat we have to sustain the population
- Raw materials such as wood, oil, and fuel
- Medicinal Resources- Herbs to cure diseases
- Fresh Water
What do regulating services do?
- Notify cautions of local climate
- Carbon sequestration and storage
- Waste water treatment- Using septic systems to breakdown bacteria
- Erosion prevention- Preserving land
- Pollination
- Biological Control- We need certain species to control others
What do supporting services do?
- Habitat for Species (Species need to be in a habitat to be sustainable in a population )
- Maintenance for Genetic Diversity (Sexual reproduction with different genotypes and abilities such as dealing with temperature)
What do cultural services do?
- Recreation- People want to see the natural wonders of the world and will pay a lot of money for it
- Mental and physical health- People are more happy when they are in a nature park
- Tourism $- Mountains, waterfalls, and lakes
- Spiritual Experience- Religious people going down to the river to throw away their sins
Weeds are known as…
Ruderal plants that can withstand floods
For invasiveness, you need to reproduce at a young age and
have small seeds
The 10’s rule states that
1 in 10 of the plant and animal species brought into a region will escape to appear in the wild and become invasive
What’s lag phase?
An invasive species has a low number and not noticeable. It can be brief or last a century
What causes plant invasions?
- Disturbances
2. Nitrogen and calcium levels
Name 3 kinds of famous invaders
- Plants (Tree of heaven)
- Fungi (Dutch elm disease)
- Herbivores (Gypsy moth)
Name 2 pathways of intrduction
- Intentional
2. Accidental
What are the aspects of intentional introduction?
- Horticulture of plant collecting- Collecting plants
- Resource- Medicine, spices
- Bio-control efforts- Having one invasive specie control another
What are the aspects of accidental introduction?
- Ship ballast
- Planes, trains, and cars
- Shipping/packaging
- Shoes/clothing
How does the CSR triangle works with invasive specie traits?
*Plants can only have 2 of the 3 traits
* Usually ruderal and competitive
CSR Triangle- Evolutionary tradeoffs
Strategies:
C= competitor
S= Stress tolerator
R= Ruderal
How do Invaders Succeed?
- Enemy release hypothesis- Silene latifolia grows faster and makes more flowers away from enemies
- Evolution of increased competitive ability
- Novel weapons hypothesis- proposes that some invasive plant species gain advantages over native plants by possessing the novel allelopathic, defence, or antimicrobial chemicals.
- Altering ecosystem characteristics
- Filling empty niches
What are some invasion phases?
- Introduction
- Naturalization
- Lag phase- Where people aren’t too worried about it
- Rapid population growth and range expansion
- Range stabilization
What are the results of Invasion?
- Near monoculture- Low diversity
- Biotic homogenization- The process by which species invasions and extinctions increase the genetic, taxonomic or functional similarity of two or more locations. Has consequences.
- Near elimination of certain native species. American chestnut, American elm
- Defoliation disturbances- gypsy moth (Occurs when leafeating insect populations explode
- Economic impacts with forestry and agriculture
What makes a community invasive?
- Charles Elton argued that disturbed and species poor communities are most likely to be invaded (fires and floods)
What is the role of disturbance?
- Disturbance is important in invasions, but its role varies
- Disturbance decreases invasion in disturbance adapted communities
What is the role of species richness?
Observational data consistently shows a positive trend between species richness and invasions
What is the role of soil nutrients?
- Areas with high soil nutrients are more likely to be invaded
- In new range, spends less on defensive traits, grows faster and makes more flowers
(An example is silene latifolia) - High stress environments are least invaded
- High Stress: Alpine, desert, extreme ph, deep shade, nutrient deficient
What are the characteristics of invaded sites in NJ?
- Human use- Past and present, canopy openings, deer overabundance
- Appalachian trail
How do we get rid of them?
- No method will completely eradicate a plant
- All are time consuming and expensive
- Options: Mechanical, chemical, and biological control
What are annual species?
- Weeds and field crops that begin reproducing within a relatively short time after germination
- They produce many seeds in one or two bouts of reproduction
Die within a year. Ex: Hawaiian Silverswords
What are perennial plants?
- Woody perennials such as trees and shrubs
- Must reach a certain minimum size after a few years before reproducing and produces few seeds each time they flower, but they last a lifetime
What does monocarpic mean?
Plants that produce flowers once
What does polycarpic mean?
Plants that produce flowers more than once
What is a plant’s life history?
A plant’s schedule of birth, mortality, and growth
What does a plant’s phenology- mean?
The timing of growth and reproduction within a year
What are trade-offs?
- Caused by limited resources. - Increasing one thing leads to a decrease in something else
(If all plants had no tradeoffs then there would be countless seeds reproduced and produce continually, it would grow rapidly as well)
True or False: The cottonwood tree produces many seeds?
True
What are the advantages of large seeds?
Larger seeds contain more endosperm and take up more nutrients than smaller seeds
Producing more smaller seeds reduces…
the plants success because they grow more slowly
What did John Harper suggest?
Suggested that variation in seed size is quite limited in most plant species. (Other scientists later said that there is much more variation in seeds size)
Variable seed size is favored when…
the environment varies over time
What is inclusive fitness?
A measure of how well that individual passes on its genes
What is granivory?
Seeds predation of animals, but they mainly eat big seeds
If seeds are dispersed by wind, then there will be…
an optimal size to maximize distance traveled
What are some life history strategies?
Organisms must apportion resources amount completing demographic functions: survival, growth, and reproduction and that determines its fitness
What does vernalization mean?
- A period of cool or cold temperatures, before flowering. - - Happens to plants in northern regions
Winter annuals germinate in…
autumn and flower in the spring
What are biennials?
Flower after 2 years (Ex: Platte Thistle)
What are Semelparous Perennials?
Live a number of years before flowering (Tundra plants)
Describe r and k selection
- r is the intrinsic rate of population growth (weeds)
- K is the carrying capacity (makes a wiggle line)
True/False There HAS to be a tradeoff between r and k
False. There are no tradeoffs
Environments imposing high stress and little disturbance would select for…
stress tolerance
Environments imposing low stress and high disturbance would select for…
competitive ability
True/False Once there is no more room, other plants are shaded out and don’t grow
True
True/False The goldenrod can pollinate itself and makes thousands of seeds
True
What is the carrying capacity?
The amount of nutrients that plants need to live
Those plants that can make seeds early can live longer in a disturbed habitat than…
plants who produce seeds late
True/False It’s better to allocate your resources little by little
True
What does plastic mean?
Change on the environmental condition and is controlled by a genetic trait. You don’t know when exactly they are going to die
What does determinated mean?
Programmed pre-determined death. (Fruit flies live 3 weeks)
What does winter annual monocarpic mean?
Germinate in autumn and blossom in the spring
What does biennial monocapric mean?
1st year makes leave, and makes flowers and seeds in its second year. ex: Daycus Carata
What does delayed biennial monocarpic mean?
Takes more than 2 years to make seeds and flower and depends on many environmental conditions. They are very advantageous plants.
What is a short lived perennial polycarpic?
After they make seeds, they don’t die and make it through the next year and makes more seeds. After a few more years, that plant can make fewer and fewer over years
What is a monocarpic perennial?
Big Bang reproducers. Where they are sterile for many years then pop out fruits or whatever. Ex: Bamboo. As soon as they make that one seed, they die.
What are perennial with senescence polycarpic?
Lasts through the winter and doesn’t die and lasts through fires and floods because their roots are strong. Makes many seeds after every year then weakens and dies. We are seeing oak trees that last hundreds of years
What is perennial without senescence polycarpic?
- The plant that lives seemingly forever and makes seeds year after year
- They have the physiology to withstand the local dangers.
- Unwanted plant species that are all over the place
What does density independent mean?
Doesn’t matter how many plants are there, they will all be washed away. Examples are fires and floods.
What does density dependent mean?
Only some plants are dying
What are range limits?
Are physical and include soil, heat, cold, wet
What is a seed pool?
Number of seeds in the ground
The anatomy of the flower consists of petals, anthers, pistil, and stigma. Describe each characteristic.
Petals- An indicator for pollinators
Anthers- Male function where the pollen is made and released
Pistil- The female and middle part of the plant where the eggs/ovules are kept
Stigma- The long stem in the middle of the flower where fertilization occurs and the embryos/ Zygote become seeds
What are some functions of seeds?
- Reproduction
- Dispersal, colonization, and new populations
- Feeds the embryo
- Protects the embryo
- Dormancy, avoid bad seasons, persistence
- Genetic Diversity Introduced
What are the advantages of reproduction?
There can be an increase in numbers
What size seeds can go long distances?
Small seeds
How does an embryo get fed?
- Light
- Endosperm
- It needs freshwater and many plants can’t live in salt water
How does an embryo get protected?
Has a very hard and woody covering that’s good for its protection. The more protected an embryo is, the more it’s hard to disperse and nourish
What are the disadvantages of dormancy and bad seasons?
You have less energy if you’re living in a bad environment and endosperm is harder to get
How is genetic diversity introduced?
Some structures have an advantage over others. Sexual reproduction is making diversity for the changing world. You can’t have a lot of dispersal for genetic diversity.
How does ant dispersal work?
There’s a whole bunch of seeds next to the mother plant and can attract predators. That is why it’s useful that the ants take them to a different location from other predators. It’s a way of hiding.
How does competition avoidance work?
If their are many seeds together and they grow up together, they will be competing for resources
How do seeds avoid fires?
The ants disperse the seeds underground and are saved from fires.
How far must seeds disperse?
It must grow away from the mother plant in order to grow normally
How do ants get nourishment from the seed?
After the ants eat the elaiosome off the seed, the seed gets dispersed into soil.
How is there mutualism between the seed and the ant?
The ant gets food and the seed gets dispersed/moved by the ant
What are the advantages of making large seeds?
The more they can get dispersed but they can’t get enough endosperm
Describe what pollination limitation is
When the bee and wasp population is getting lower and lower. Then we won’t have enough plants
What happens to a seed if it uses too much energy?
A plant that grows in a field with no nutrients and poor ph means that seeds can’t grow efficiently
What does defoliation mean?
Every seeds have predators like deer
What is a diaspore?
The part of the plant that gets dispersed usually contains seeds
What is the eliaosome?
Fat body on the diaspore that ants eat
What is a Myrmecochore?
An ant-dispersed plant
What happened during the Fresh Kills Landfill Demonstration Plantings?
People planted all these fruit plants and they were wondering if they could collect seeds from them that the birds would drop off. They ended up collecting 14,000 seeds. Mostly they came from a nearby forest and not by the plants that were planted.
What does it mean when a plant is asexual?
It has male and female parts. Therefore, plants can’t move around and transfer their gametes
What is the function of a flower?
To attract pollinators with colorful petals, scent, nectar and pollen
What is the Carpel or pistil ?
Total female reproductive organs
What is the stigma?
Where pollen sticks (Female)
What is the style?
Long tube that connects stigma to ovary (Female)
What does the plant’s ovary do?
Where ovules are located; will become the fruit (Female)
What is the function of the ovules?
Contains female gametes, becomes the seed when fertilizes (Female)
What is the stamen?
Total male floral organ
What does the anther do?
Produces pollen
Describe what filament is
Stalk-like structure that holds anther
What pollen also known for?
Male gametes
What is the definition of pollination?
Transfer of pollen from anther to stigma
What is the definition of fertilization with respect to plants?
When the pollen nucleus joins the egg cell
What is the difference between (1) animal pollinated species and (2) wind pollinated species?
1.Pollinated- Have sticky or barbed
pollen grains
2. Wind-Have lightweight, small and smooth grains
What is abiotic pollination?
- Gymnosperms & some angios
- Pollen small
- Stigmas large & sticky
- Flowers small & grouped
- Cheap but inefficient
What is biotic pollination?
87.5% of Angiosperms rely on animals for cross-pollination:
•Insects – bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, moths
•Birds – hummingbirds, honey creepers
•Mammals – bats, mice, monkeys
What colors are bees, birds, bats, and butterflies attracted to?
Bees: blue, yellow, UV Birds: red Bats and moths: white (+scent) Butterflies: red, orange, pink flowers birds
Why do animals/bees pollinate?
Nectar = sugar Pollen = protein
Adults eat nectar, larvae eat…
Pollen
Describe the advantages/disadvantages of animal pollination?
- Flowers expensive
- Pollen expensive (often consumed)
- BUT…pollen MUCH more likely to end up on the stigma of the correct flower!
Describe the advantages/disadvantages of wind pollination?
–Less expensive flowers
–Less expensive pollen
–BUT… pollen unlikely to end up at the right place
- Pollen doesn’t go far either way
How does convolution work and give an example
- Results when interactions between two different species act as selective forces on each other, resulting in adaptations that increase interdependency.
- Interaction between animals and flowering plants is a classic example of coevolution.
What is the difference between a generalist plant and a specialist plant?
Generalist plant
–More likely to encounter a pollinator
–BUT, any given pollinator is less likely to deposit your pollen on female of the same species
Specialist plant
–Less likely to encounter a pollinator
–BUT virtually guaranteed that the pollen will reach a female
•Why are pollinators declining?
- Habitat destruction and pesticides (neonicotinoids)
* Climate change
What is a granivore?
An animal that only eats seeds (rice, bread, corn)
The more energy that is stored… the more
seeds a plant can make
How can predators be avoided?
- Predators can move when plants don’t make seeds because they are storing energy for them.
- Then the predators move to a different location and don’t come back when the plant makes a ton of seeds.
If there are a low amount of seeds on the ground, then the chance of them getting eaten is…
high
Why do plants disperse?
In a stable environment, some dispersal is always an advantage as long as one seed replaces the mother
What does clonal growth mean?
- When genetic diversity does not change
- One seed creates numerous stems
- One goldenrod can make “many bodies”
WHat is the difference between a ramet and a genet?
Genet- All parts of the plants that are genetically identical
Ramet- Ecologically functional unit (1 stem) (There can be 32 stems that came from one genet)
What are the advantages of clonal growths?
- New ramets supported for extended periods of time
- Whole clone benefits from good conditions encountered by one ramet
- Can reallocate resources to stressed parts of clone
- Correlates branching and growth = less intraclonal competition.
- Avoids seedling/baby stage.
- Successful genotypes co-opts local resources.
- Movement is possible, leaving bad environment
What are the costs of clonal growth?
- Resources and respiration to maintain
- Local stress of damage may affect whole plant
- Growth, survival, reproduction of healthy ramets may be sacrificed to maintain weaker one.
- Disease may spread more rapidly.
- Meristems for flowering are used up.
- Fewer seeds/sexual reproduction available (new genetic combinations; escape in space)
What is brown field?
A ground where an industrial site use to be. (Post industrial)
What is old field and
Old woods at HMF?
- Used by agriculture and now is a meadow
2. Woods that were never cut since the europeans showed up
