Exam 3 Flashcards
Greek term Oikos-logos
Study of the common home
The term ecology is derived from…
The Greek term Oikos-logos
Why study ecology?
Taxonomic diversity, numerical abundance, diversity of life histories, economic importance, evolutionary history
Members of a single species that live together in a specified geographic area
Population
Populations of all species living in a region
Community
Physiology; physical functioning of an individual
Organism
Community plus all non-living elements that interact with it (soil, sunlight, chemical nutrients, etc.)
Ecosystem
Large ecosystems
Biomes
The largest scale of life on earth
Biosphere
The study of changes in population size over time
Population dynamics
Population change mathematical growth models
Exponential growth model, logistic growth model, life table analyses
Rate of increase keeps accelerating…the larger the population size, the larger the growth; assumes no limiting factors
J-shaped (exponential)
Disease, competition, predation, etc.
Limiting factors
Starts accelerating but eventually slows and stabilizes at K; takes competition into account; environmental resistance
S-shaped (logistic)
Carrying capacity
K
Starts as accelerating, reaches K and then goes through cycles around K
More complex growth
Intrinsic rate of increase
r (growth rate)
Birth rate - death rate
Growth rate
If r = 0
Births = deaths
No population growth
If r > 0
Births > deaths
Expanding population
Birth rate
Natality
Death rate
Mortality
The maximum number a given habitat will support for a sustained period
Carrying capacity (K)
Density/level around which population fluctuates due to biotic and abiotic factors
Mean equilibrium level
Produce few young, but most survive until old age (elephants and humans, honeybees)
Type I
Late loss species
Produce moderate number of young which die at a constant rate (imported cabbageworm)
Type II
Constant-loss species
Produce many young, but most die young (grasshoppers and flies)
Type III
Early loss species
Number of individuals per unit
Density
Spatial arrangement of individuals
Dispersion
Types of spatial distribution
Random, aggregate, uniform
Feeds on plants
Phytophagus
Abnormal growth on a plant, produced by stimulation of an insect or other organism which houses that organism
Galls
Simplest halls and involve swellings with no major distortion or discoloration
Indeterminate galls
Galls which have a form and color different from the host plant
Determinate galls
Taxonomic work on gall wasps provided a methodology for his studies of human sexual behavior
Alfred Kinsey
Feeding stimulants
Phagostimulants
When plants are less damaged from attack because of heritable characteristics
Resistance
When a plant lacks an insect attractant
Antixenosis
When plant chemistries injure or destroy attaching insects
Anti-biosis
Plants that survive despite insect attack
Tolerance
“Arms-race” between plants and insect herbivores has produced many adaptations to resist insect attack
Co-evolution
Small hairs
Trichomes
Chemicals which are not directly connected with the normal metabolic processes of the plant and whose role is thought to be defensive
Secondary plant compounds
Bitter fasting and toxic (nicotine and caffeine)
Alkaloids
Bind with proteins, tannins, quinones
Phenolics
Variety of actions (cardenolides, pyrethrum)
Terpenoids
Phytoecdysone and precocene
Hormone analogs
An inflammation of the skin induced by a plant with the help of sunlight
Phytophotodermatitis
Phenolic polymers that bind to proteins and interfere with digestion
Tannins
Plants that eat insects
Entomophages
Production of a signal by an individual that influences the behavior of another individuals and is adaptive to one or both participants
Communication
Any characteristic under selection to inform or convey information (behavior, sounds, light, or chemical)
Signal
Sense light
Photoreceptors (eyes)
Sense vibration
Mechanoreceptors
Sense chemicals
Chemoreceptors
Sense temperature and humidity
Theromoreceptors, hygroreceptors
Visual pigments in insects
Rhodopsins
Visual eyes of larvae, may be clustered
Stemmata
Simple eyes sensitive to the intensity of light (and UV green)…helpful in flight and sensing day length
Ocelli
Production of light by living organisms
Bioluminescence
Cuticular stress mechanoreceptor; oval, dome like areas of cuticle that raise or lower as adjacent exoskeleton moves
Campanuliform receptor
Sensillae (touch) mechanoreceptor; hair-like setae that help detect touch, contact, wind, etc.
Contact receptor
Vibration and sound (internal receptor) mechanoreceptor
Chordotonal receptors
Attached to connective tissue and muscles– register tension of soft tissues
Stretch receptors
Respond to the position of one part of the body relative to another
Proprioceptors
Sensory organ located in the pedicle of the antennae; sense movements of the flagellum
Johnston’s organ (chordotonal organ)
Sound reception
Tympanum
Sensillae that respond to chemicals in air or in liquids
Chemoreceptors
Detect odors or chemicals in air
Olfactory sensilla
Contact chemoreceptiok of substances in liquids
Taste receptors
Attract both sexes to a common place
Aggregation
Attractants which bring the sexes together
Sex pheromones
A chemical substance (or blend of substances) secreted by an animal to the outside that affects the behavior or physiology of other animals of the same species
Pheromone
The ways in which an organism adjusts to and interacts with its environment
Behavior
Behaviors that consist of more or less predictable responses (or sequences of) to different types of stimuli
Inherited or Innate Behavior
Behavior that is acquired as the result of experience of each individual
Learned behavior
Attributing human characteristics to animals
Anthropomorphism
Carry over of learned information from an immature to the adult stage (most common with feeding behaviors)
Pre-imaginal conditioning
Neural loop generating a response
Reflex arc
Processes that an organism uses to organize it’s behavior with respect to spatial features of the environment
Orientation behavior
Body position, posture control
Positional or primary orientation
Translatory processes
Secondary orientation
Random or undirected locomotor reaction in which the speed of movement or the frequency of turning depends on the intensity of stimulation
Kinesis
Movements directed towards or away from a source of stimulation
Taxis
A lack of overall movement
Akinesis
Constant angle to a light source
Menotaxis
Any enduring or relatively permanent change in behavior as a result of experience or practice
Learning
Learning to associate certain stimuli with reward or punishment
Operant conditioning
Association of an uncovered response with a conditioned stimulus
Classical conditioning
A short, sharp sound which is either a pulse or series of pulses as a discrete sound
Chirp
Succession or train of pulses (longer)
Trill
Calling in synchrony
Chorusing
Stimulate an immediate behavioral response
Releasers
Act to physiologically alter endocrine or reproductive systems; recipients may acquire new behavior patterns
Primers
Area or space where the concentration of a pheromone is above the threshold for response
Active space
Grouping of segments into body regions
Tagmosis
Specialized for visceral functions (food digestion and storage, circulation, reproduction)
Abdomen
Body cavity
Hemocoel
Food procurement and processing
Digestive process
Alimentary canal
Digestive system
Long tube like structure that runs from the mouth to the anus and is centrally located within the body cavity
Digestive system
Anterior most region; primary function is to begin breakdown of food or ticked and transport to next region
Foregut (stomodeum)
Mark end of foregut and beginning of midgut; increase surface area for more nutrient absorption
Gastric caecae
Cardiac valve
Sphincter
Major area of digestion and absorption; undigested particles then pass on to next region
Midgut
Thin, long structures near junction of midgut and hindgut
Malpighian tubules
Undigested food particles pass into this region which consists of the ileum, colon, rectum, and rectal pads (often); functions in water and solute reabsorption and waste excretion
Hindgut (proctodeum)
Openings of exoskeleton that allow for gas exchange
Spiracles
Deliver oxygen to internal organs and tissues
Trachea
Functions in transport
Circulatory system
Insects have a ____ blood vessel and a ______ circ. system
Dorsal, open
Insect blood
Hemolymph
Small slits in the heart region of dorsal vessel designed for Hemolymph uptake
Ostia
Nerve impulse transmission
Nervous system
Insects have a _____ nerve cord
Ventral
Reception of information
Dendrite
Conveyor of information
Axon
Junction between neurons and other cells
Synapse
Ecology
The study of the interactions living things have with each other and with the environment around them
