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Ecology > Exam 3 > Flashcards

Exam 3 Flashcards

1
Q

which type of animal likely spends the least amount of time in the handling phase of the predation process

A

herbivores

Handling involves dispatching the prey and accessing the edible portions, which will likely be more difficult for animal prey compared to plant prey

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2
Q

Prairie dogs live in colonies where some members are always on the lookout for predators. If they see a predator, they will call out a waring for other colony members to flee. This would be classified as a … defense.

A

behavioral

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3
Q

A prey species with great cryptic defenses will likely elicit which type of functional response from a predator?

A

type III

A Type III response indicates difficulty for predators in finding their prey until the density increases to a certain point.

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4
Q

If at a certain point in time, you find that both the predator and the prey populations are more abundant than their respective isocline value, you would expect predator populations to … and prey populations to ….

A

increase; decrease

This scenario would occur in quadrant 3; you would expect predators to increase and prey to decrease.

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5
Q

variation in population size over time and space

A

population dynamics

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6
Q
  • populations that grow beyond their carrying capacity
  • can occur when the carrying capacity of a habitat decreases from one year to the next
A

overshoot

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7
Q

a substantial decline in population density that typically goes well below the carrying capacity

A

die-off

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8
Q

regular oscillation of population size over a long period of time

A

population cycles

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9
Q

populations are stable at

A

carrying capacity

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10
Q

when a population experiences a large reduction in size during a die-off, it can

A

undershoot its carrying capacity

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11
Q
A
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12
Q

Whenever the size of the population decreases due to predation, disease, or a density-independent event, the population responds by

A

growing

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13
Q

when the abundances of trophic groups in a community are determined by the amount of energy available from producers in that community

A

bottom-up control

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14
Q

when the abundance of trophic groups is determined by the existence of predators at the top of the food web

A

top-down control

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15
Q

because most communities contain an abundance of vegetation, trophic groups must be controlled from the

A

top of the food web

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16
Q
  • indirect effects that are caused by the changes in the traits of an intermediate species
  • commonly happens when a predator causes its prey to change its feeding behavior, which in turn alters the amount of food consumed by the prey
A

trait-mediated indirect effects

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17
Q

indirect effects that are caused by the density of an intermediate species

A

density-mediated indirect effects

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18
Q
  • occurs when two species interact without involving other species
  • often set off a chain of events that affects stlll other species in the community
A

direct effect

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19
Q

when two species interact in a way that involves one or more intermediate species

A

indirect effect

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20
Q
  • when indirect effects are initiated by a predator
  • can also be initiated when one species causes changes in the traits of another species
A

trophic cascade

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21
Q

group species that feed on similar items but need not be closely related

A

guilds

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22
Q

the levels in a food chain or food web of an ecosystem

A

trophic levels

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23
Q

first trophic level of a food web

A

producers

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24
Q

those that eat producers

A

primary consumers

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25
Q

those that eat primary consumers

A

secondary consumers

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26
Q

eat secondary consumers

A

tertiary consumers

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27
Q

consumers of dead organic matter

A

scavengers, detritivores, and decomposers

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28
Q
  • linear representations of how species in a community consume each other and therefore how they transfer energy and nutrients from one group to another in an ecosystem
  • greatly simplify species interactions in a community
A

food chain

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29
Q
  • complex and realistic representations of how species feed on each other in a community and include links among many species of producers, consumers, detritivores, scavengers, and decomposers
  • Describe the feeding relationships of ecological communities
A

food webs

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30
Q

why is analyzing the feeding relationships of ecological communities so important

A

feeding relationships help determine whether a species can exist in a community and whether it will be rare or abundant

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31
Q

frequently disturbed habitats typically support

A

species that are adapted to disturbances

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32
Q

tells us that more species are present in a community that experiences occasional disturbances than in a community that experiences frequent or rare disturbances

A

intermediate disturbance hypothesis

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33
Q

When the product is a high value (rτ > 1.57)

A

the population continues to exhibit large oscillations over time, a pattern known as a stable limit cycle

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34
Q

a population that continues to exhibit large oscillations

A

stable limit cycle

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35
Q

If this product is an intermediate value (0.37 < rτ < 1.57)

A

the population initially oscillates, but the magnitude of the oscillations declines over time (damped oscillations)

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36
Q

the population initially oscillates, but the magnitude of the oscillations declines over time

A

damped oscillations

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37
Q

When this product is a low value (rτ < 0.37)

A

the population approaches the carrying capacity without any oscillations

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38
Q

The smallest populations experienced the … probability of extinction and the largest populations experienced the … probability of extinction

A

highest; lowest

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39
Q

When a model is designed to predict a result without accounting for random variation in the population growth rate

A

deterministic model

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40
Q

When random variation in birth rates and death rates is due to differences among individuals and not due to changes in the environment

A

demographic stochiasticity

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41
Q

when random variation in birth rates and death rates is due to changes in the environmental conditions

A

environmental stochiasticity

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42
Q

When disturbances in a community are of low frequency or intensity species richness is

A

is relatively low

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43
Q

when disturbances are moderate in frequency or intensity, species richness

A

is relatively high

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44
Q

when disturbances are high in frequency or intensity, species richness

A

declines

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45
Q
  • substantially affect the structure of communities even when the individuals of that species may not be particularly numerous
  • can cause a community to collapse
  • influence the structure of a habitat
  • sometimes called ecosystem engineers
A

keystone species

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46
Q

species diversity is affected by

A
  • resource availability
  • habitat diversity and connectivity
  • keystone species
  • disturbances
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47
Q

a larger population is broken up into smaller groups of conspecifics that live in isolated patches

A

subpopulations

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48
Q

The collection of subpopulations that live in isolated patches are linked by dispersal

A

metapopulation

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49
Q
  • show the relative abundance of each species in a community in rank order from the most abundant to the least abundant
  • are particularly good for illustrating how communities differ in species richness and species evenness
A

rank-abundance curves

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50
Q

a comparison of the relative abundance of each species in a community

A

species evenness

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51
Q

in a rank-abundance curve, the most abundant species receives a rank of

A

1

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52
Q

The greatest evenness occurs when

A

all species in a community have equal abundances

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53
Q

the least evenness occurs when

A

one species is abundant and the remaining species are rare

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54
Q

measures of species diversity

A
  • Shannon-Wiener Index
  • Simpson’s Index
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55
Q

patterns of abundance

A

absolute and relative

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56
Q

a normal, or bell-shaped distribution that uses a logarithmic scale of the y axis

A

log-normal distribution

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57
Q

the number of individuals of each species that are counted

A

absolute abundance

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58
Q

the proportion of individuals in a community represented by each species

A

relative abundance

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59
Q

refers to the number of species in a community

A

species richness

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60
Q

When individuals frequently disperse among subpopulations, the whole population functions as a

A

single structure and they all increase and decrease in abundance synchronously

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61
Q

live on the outside of organisms

A

ectoparasites

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62
Q
  • live inside organisms
  • typically cause fatal diseases
A

endoparasites

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63
Q

When dispersal is infrequent, however, the abundance of individuals in each subpopulation

A

can fluctuate independently of one another

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64
Q

a process by which small habitats represent only fragments of the original habitat

A

habitat fragmentation

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65
Q

we characterize communities by

A

either by their dominant organisms or by the physical conditions that affect the distribution of species

66
Q

when do metapopulations typically occur

A
  • when a habitat is naturally patchy
  • result of human activities
67
Q

models of spatial structure of subpopulations

A
  • basic metapopulation model
  • source-sink metapopulation model
  • landscape metapopulation model
68
Q
  • those in which the species do not depend on each other to exist
  • composed of species that live in the same place because they have similar adaptations and habitat requirements
A

independent communities

69
Q
  • those in which species depend on each other to exist
  • act as superorganisms
A

interdependent communities

70
Q
  • describes a scenario in which there are patches of suitable habitat embedded within a matrix of unsuitable habitat’
  • emphasize how colonization and extinction events can affect the proportion of total suitable habitats that are occupied
  • indicates that a metapopulation persists because of a balance between extinction of the subpopulation in some habitat patches and the colonization of others
A

basic metapopulation model

71
Q
  • builds on the basic metapopulation model and adds the reality that different patches of suitable habitat are not of equal quality
A

source-sink metapopulation model

72
Q
  • occupants of high-quality habitats are a source of dispersers
A

source subpopulation

73
Q
  • low-quality habitats that rarely produce enough offspring to produce any dispersers
  • These habitats depend on outside dispersers to maintain the subpopulation
A

sink subpopulations

74
Q
  • incorporates differences in the quality of the suitable patches and the quality of the surrounding matrix
  • most realistic, yet the most complex, spatial structure of the populations
  • Fluctuations in abundance in one subpopulation can influence the abundance of other subpopulations
A

landscape metapopulation model

75
Q

how we determine whether a community is made up of an interdependent or an independent group of species

A
  • line transect studies
  • removing one or more species from the community
76
Q
  • boundary created by sharp changes in environmental conditions over a relatively short distance, accompanied by a major change in the composition of species
  • typically support a large number of species
  • typically documented by a line-transect survey to determine the abundances of different species along an environmental gradient
A

ecotone

77
Q
  • When two species have a negative effect on each other through an enemy–including a predator, parasite, or herbivore
  • causes an outcome that looks like competition, but the underlying mechanism is not competition
A

apparent competition

78
Q
  • individuals consume and drive down the abundance of a resource to the point that other individuals cannot persist
A

exploitative competition

79
Q

types of competition

A
  • apparent
  • exploitative
  • interference
80
Q
  • when competitors do not immediately consume resources but defend the resources
  • antagonistic interactions that result in resource exclusion for the subordinate competitor; energy is spent interfering w/ competitor
A

interference competition

81
Q

interference competition involves a … interaction

A

direct

82
Q

exploitative competition is considered an … interaction

A

indirect

operates through a shared resource

83
Q

types of interference competition

A
  • aggressive interactions
  • allelopathy
84
Q
  • occurs when organisms use chemicals to interfere with their competitors
  • can be a phenotypically plastic trait
A

allelopathy

85
Q

the most competitive animals are typically

A

the most susceptible to predators

85
Q

the outcome of competition can be altered by

A
  • abiotic conditions
  • disturbances
  • interactions w/ other species (predation and herbivory)
86
Q

If the subpopulations rarely exchange individuals, the fluctuations in abundance will be

A

independent among subpopulations

87
Q

if subpopulations are highly connected by individuals frequently moving among habitat patches, the subpopulation will

A

act as one large population, with all experiencing the same fluctuations

88
Q

ways to increase the total number of individuals in a metapopulation

A
  • provide corridors between neighboring populations, thereby increasing the rate of colonization
  • decrease the rates of extinction reducing the major causes of population decline in subpopulations
89
Q
A
90
Q

habitat patches are … equal in quality

A

rarely

91
Q

which patches are less likely to be occupied

A
  • small
  • distant
92
Q
  • the phenomenon of dispersers supplementing a declining subpopulation that is headed toward extinction
  • should result in a higher probability that less isolate patches will be occupied
A

rescue effect

93
Q

When any species is introduced to a region of the world where it has not historically existed

A

introduced / exotic / non-native species

94
Q

an introduced species that spreads rapidly and has negative effects on other species and human economies

A

invasive species

95
Q
A
95
Q
  • live within and consume the tissues of a living host, eventually killing it
  • limit the abundance of their prey
A

parasitoids

96
Q

introductions of one species to help control the abundance of another species

A

biological control

97
Q

predators that exist in ecological communities

A
  • mesopredators
  • top predators
98
Q

competition is most intense between what relation of species

A

closely related species

99
Q
  • one species persist, the other dies out
  • two species cannot coexist indefinitely when they are both limited by the same resource
  • when two species are limited by the same resource, one species either is better at obtaining the resource or is better able to survive when the resource is scarce
A

competitive exclusion principle

100
Q
  • states that a population increases until the supply of the most limiting resource prevents it from increasing further
  • assumes that if a given resource limits the growth of individuals and populations, increasing the availability of other resources will not improve such growth
  • whichever resource reaches its limiting value first will be the resource that regulates the growth of the diatom population
  • When two species compete for a single limiting resource, the species that wins in competition is the one that can persist at lower level of the resource
A

Liebig’s law of the minimum

101
Q
  • constantly regenerated
  • can originate from either inside or outside the ecosystem in which the competitors live
A

renewable resources

102
Q

anything an organism consumes or uses that causes an increase in the growth rate of a population when it becomes more avialable

A

resource

103
Q

true or false:

ecological factors can be considered resources

A

false

104
Q
  • can cause the population of either species to decline and eventually die out
  • competition among individuals of different species
A

interspecific competition

105
Q

competition among individuals of the same species

A

intraspecific competition

106
Q

when two or more species continue to evolve in response to each other’s evolution

A

coevolution

107
Q

when all species involved in an interaction coevolve together, which species is likely to get an upper hand

A

none

108
Q

host adaptations to parasites

A
  • avoiding areas that have been contaminated w/ feces that contain parasites
  • removing ectoparasites from around their body
  • producing antibacterial and antifungal chemicals
109
Q

parasite adaptations against host

A
  • leaving the body of the first host and then searching for the second host
  • manipulating behavior of the first host to ensure that the second host consumes it
110
Q

hosts experience higher fitness if

A

they avoid being parasitized

111
Q

close synchrony of population cycles between predators and the prey they consume suggests

A

oscillations are the result of interactions between them

112
Q

incorporates oscillations in the abundances of predator and prey populations and shows predator numbers lagging behind those of their prey

A

Lotka-Volterra

113
Q

assumptions of the SIR model

A
  • no births of new susceptible individuals and that individuals retain any resistance they develop
  • if a pathogen can kill the host, the pathogen should increase in abundance until the hosts begin to die
  • as the host population declines, the pathogen population will subsequently decline, and as the pathogen population declines, the host population should subsequently recover
114
Q

if R0 > 1

A

infection will continue to spread through the population and an epidemic will occur

115
Q

when R0 < 1,

A

infection fails to take hold in the host population

116
Q

the probability that a host will become infected by a parasite depends on

A
  • parasite’s mechanism of transmission
  • mode of entry into host’s body
  • ability to jump between species
  • existence of reservoir species
  • response of host immune system
117
Q

when a new disease is discovered, or a formerly common disease that declined in the past suddenly becomes common again

A

emerging infectious disease

118
Q
  • occurs when a parasite moves between individuals other than parents to their offspring
  • risk of transmission is essentially zero
A

horizontal transmission

119
Q
  • occurs when a parasite is transmitted from a parent to its offspring
  • parasite must evolve in such a way that it does not cause the death of its host until after the host has reproduced and passed the parasite to its offspring
A

vertical transmission

120
Q

carry a parasite but do not succumb to the disease that the parasite causes in other species; serve as a continuous source of parasites as other susceptible host species become rare

A

reservoir species

121
Q

several groups of roundworms and flat worms that can cause serious diseases

A

helminths

122
Q
  • begin as a beneficial protein in the brain of an animal, but occasionally a proteinf olds into an incorrect shape and becomes pathogenic
  • do not contain RNA or DNA, replicate by coming into contact with normal proteins and causing the normal proteins to fold incorrectly
A

prions

123
Q

disadvantage of ectoparasitism

A
  • exposed to the variable conditions of the external environment
  • must find a way to pierce the flesh of their host to feed
124
Q

advantage of endoparasitism vs ectoparasitism

A
  • endoparasites have the advantage of being protected form the external environment and are therefore not exposed to most of their enemies
  • living inside the host gives easy asccess to the host’s body fluids on which they feed
125
Q

disadvantage of endoparasitism

A
  • must contend with host immune system
  • may have a difficult time getting in/out of the host body
126
Q

relationship between the density of the prey population and an individual predator’s rate of food consumption

A

functional response of the predator

127
Q
  • occurs when a predator’s rate of prey consumption increases linearly with an increase in prey density until the predator is satiated
  • functional response used by Lotka-Volterra
A

type I functional response

128
Q
  • occurs when the number of prey consumed solows as prey population density increases and then plateaus
  • the number of prey consumed slows because as predators consume more prey, they must spend more time handling the prey
  • slowing rate of prey consumption causes a decline in the proportion of prey consumed by each predator
A

type II functional response

129
Q

costs of defenses against predators

A
  • reduced feeding or increased crowding as prey move to locations away form predators
  • cost of reduced growth and development
  • energetically expensive to produce
130
Q

when a palatable species evolves to closely resemble an aposematic species

A

Batesian mimicry

131
Q

occurs when several unpalatable species evolve a similar pattern of warning coloration

A

Mullerian mimicry

132
Q

the advertising by an animal to potential predators that it is not worth attacking or eating

A

aposematism

133
Q

predator hunting strategies

A

active hunting or ambush hunting

134
Q

most ommon behavioral defenses agaisnt predators

A

alarm calling, spatial avoidance, reduced activity

135
Q

avoiding being detected by a predator through camouflage that either matches the environment or breaks up the outline of an individual to blend in better with the background environment

A

crypsis

136
Q

a change in the number of predators through population growth or population movement due to immigration or emigration

A

numerical responses

137
Q
  • prey consumption increases very slowly when prey population density increases from very low numbers
  • consumption is rapid when prey population density is moderate
  • prey consumption slows when prey population density is high
  • as predators spend more time handling prey and eventually become satiated, this proportion subsequently declines
A

type III functional response

138
Q
  • number of predators associated w/ a stable prey population
  • P = r/c
A

predator zero growth isocline

139
Q

in the region above the predator isocline line, the prey population

A

decreases because predators remove them faster than they can reproduce

140
Q
  • number of prey that causes the predator population to become stable
  • any combination of predator and prey numbers that lie to the right of the line allows predator population to increase (increased abundance of prey
  • in region to left, predator population decreases due to lack of prey
A

zero growth prey isocline

141
Q

change in abundance by considering trajectory of both populations simultaneously

A

joint population trajectory

142
Q

three factors that impact the slowly increasing consumption at low prey population

A
  • prey can hide in refuges where they are safe from predators
  • predators have less practice locating and catching prey and therefore are relatively poor at doing it
  • prey switching
143
Q

occurs when one prey species is rare and a predator changes its preference to another prey species that is more abundant

A

prey switching

144
Q

a learned mental image that helps the predator locate and capture food

A

search image

145
Q

simplest model of infectious disease transmission that incorporates immunity

A

susceptible-infected-resistant (SIR) model

146
Q

differences between the parasite-host and predator-prey model

A
  • parasites, unlike predators, do not always remove host individuals from a population
  • hosts, unlike prey, may develop immune responses that make some individuals resistant to the pathogen
147
Q

the first individual to be infected by a pathogen

A

primary case of disease

148
Q

variables that convert between the number of individuals of one species and the number of individuals of the other species

A

competition coefficients

149
Q

line that represents all population sizes at which a population experiences zero growth

A

zero population growth isocline

150
Q

in stressful environments, how likely is it to see competitive interacts

A

unlkely

151
Q

what specific characteristic is not a trait ticks use to detect, pursue, catch, and handle “prey”?

A

barbed tongue

152
Q

true or false:

Liebig’s law of the minimum: the species that’s better at surviving with smaller amounts of resource is a better competitor

A

false

153
Q

true or false:

carnivores typically have longer digestive tracts than herbivores

A

false

154
Q

which statement is consistent with the competitive exclusion principle?

A

2 species with identical niches cannot coexist indefinitely

155
Q

group of species interacting in the same place at the same time

A

community

156
Q

factors that determine communities

A

water, soil, topography

157
Q

the theory of how communities assemble that emphasizes immigration, extinction, and speciation, and the randomness of those processes; more ecological drift

A

neutral theory

158
Q

the theory of how communities assemble that focuses on species traits and adaptations; more stable communities

A

niche theory

159
Q

can occur by resource partitioning (at different times or different locations)

A

competitive coexistence

160
Q

competition alters a species … niche and requires a … resource

A

realized; limiting

Ecology (3 decks)

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