Exam 3 Study Guide + Part 3 Plant Terms Flashcards
Our diet compared to plants:
List examples of tree shrub (plants) and herbaceous plants in each of the following categories
Bark
Leaves
Seeds
Roots
Much of the south was once grazed upon with herbivores (mostly buffalo and mice) in the past.
- What happened to the plants on this land because of the large amounts of herbivores?
- What happened when the herbivores died because of hunters?
- The plants eventually died and destroyed vegetation on the land
- Dead buffalo and mice restored vegetation on grasslands.
There were tremendous changes on the food web when we hunted species.
What are the 4 schematic elements involved in considering the role of herbivory?
1. The probability the animal finds the plant- Biodiversity helps plants survive from predators. A farmer planted a hatch that exposed many spaced out plants and they were eaten. He made another space where he put a lot of plants side by side and were not eaten by predators. You can’t eat everything around you so it’s better to have others around for protection.
2. Probability animal will eat the plant (Plants may have defenses that will change the animals mind of eating it)
3. Consequences that the animal eats the plant. (Quantity and quality tissue damage)
4. Population and community impact
Explain the difference between these types of animals
- Granivores-
- Grazers-
- Browsers-
- Frugivores-
- ) Granivores- Feed on the seeds of plants as a main or exclusive food source, in many cases leaving the seeds damaged and not viable
- ) Grazers- A herbivore that feeds on plants such as grasses, or other multicellular organisms such as algae. Many small selective herbivores (cows) follow larger grazers (giraffes), who skim off the highest, tough growth of plants, exposing tender shoots.
- ) Browsers- Eat leaves in the trees above the ground like giraffes
- ) Frugivores- Eat fruit, but not the seeds within the fruit
Name the 3 types of defenses plants have and an example of each one
- ) Mechanical- Spines, bark, thorns
- ) Chemicals- Digestibility reducers, cellulose that animals that can’t digest, lignins, waxes (holly leaves are waxy), tannins (Can’t break down proteins), silica
- ) Toxins- Alkaloids (nicotine, cocaine, morphine is a poison against animals), terpenoides (mint leaves), cyanide, sappenoides
Explain the concept of the Arm’s race and an example regading the concept
Animals can evolve to counteract the toxins that plants make
Teeth are our counter attack for toughness of foods leaving us with proteins we can digest from things like nuts
Example: Milkweeds (Asclepias)- Has a milky sap that has glucosinolates which is a poison against vertebrates. Caterpillars developed a chemical defense mechanism to eat the milkweed so that they won’t get eaten by birds because they would throw up since the caterpillars have glucosinolates in them.
What is coevolution? Give an example of it.
Is a change in the genetic composition of one species (or group) in response to a genetic change/stresses in another.
Example: The flower called Darwin’s orchid has its nectar is stored at the bottom of a really long tube. The only animal that can reach this nectar to feed is the Morgan’s sphinx moth.
What did we learn about in plant ecology? (Be vague)
Nature is important
Nature changes and bad things happen (invasives)
Plants are born; seeds, clonal growth
Animals play a role; pollination, dispersal
Physical environment molds plant communities, ecotypes, disturbances
Plants can be common and plants can be rare
Soil is alive (affects growth)
Human habitat is growing and stressful
Restored habitats powerpoint: Name at least 4 ecosytem services that could help the planet
Cleansing air and water
Building dams to restore habitats
Pollination of natural vegetation
Dispersal of seeds through the landscape
Aesthetic beauty and recreation
We are known to have the urban problem of fragmentation.
What is the general definition of fragmentation?
Involves alteration of habitat resulting in spatial separation of habitat units from a previous state of greater continuity.
Why is the Brooklyn Bridge park significant? What were the proposed habitats for this park?
Has a commercial port and can’t be used anymore because of excessive construction
Used to be filled with plants (mostly weeds and mugwort) and then people ruined it Could me turned into a meadow or marsh, but soil is crummy and water is salty. Salt marshes got in the way of boats, which is why a lot of plants were destroyed there.
Proposed Habitats:
Proposed Habitat Types
Woodlands and shrubs
Freshwater and wetlands
Meadows
Dunescapes
Salt marsh
Submarine habitat
Rookeries
Name some species that live in the Wetlands of Brookland Park
Eldeberry (Sambucus)
- Needs saturated soil
Blueflag Iris (Iris Versicolor)
- Seen in the wetland habitats
Big Bluet
- Common insect in the wetland habitats
Name some climate risk info facts about flooding, air temperature, and sea levels
Flood heights will go from 15ft to 17.6ft by 2050
Air temperature will go from 3 to 6.5 degrees fahrenheit by 2050
Sea levels will rise 11 inches to 31 inches by 2050
Landscape Ecology:
Explain what is happening in this picture
1831- Originally the woods in Wisconsin (also applies to North America) was endless, then it got cut down for construction and firewood
1882- The white part represents people and destruction
1902- More destruction was taking place
1950- There is hardly anything left. The number of plants and forests was decreased by 95%. Now they are all houses and roads.
What is landscape ecology?
The study of the pattern and interaction between ecosystems within a region of interest, and the way the interactions affect ecological processes
Explain the difference between intact and relictual. Also explain what corridor means.
Intact- Has 90% or more remaining, an intact forest has little habitat destruction (10%), there is high connectivity of remaining habitat and a low degree of modification of remaining habitat
Relictual- Has 10% and less forest remaining, the degree of habitat destruction is high (90%), has NO connectivity of remaining habitat, has high degree of modification of remaining habitat. HMF is a relictual example because it is fragmented.
(Corridor-An area of habitat connecting wildlife populations separated by human activities or structures)
Explain the importance of area in this picture
- These all have the same areas, but have different shapes
- Hard to find center of the one that looks like a worm and there no middle to be found
- That area can be unfavorable, but others such as the circle is favorable for either soil or sunlight so that light is spread evenly
- Edges are more vulnerable to pollutants than area
- You want the shape that has less edge
- This is important because we live in a world with 8 billion people
- Overall, shape affects function
What does the X- axis represent?
What does the Y-axis represent?
Exaplain whats happening in each graph
Graph 1: Red Eyed Vireo
Graph 2: Scarlet Tanager
Graph 3: Wood Thrush
Graph 4: Ovenbird
(Need confirmation on answer)
X- axis is area of forest
Y-axis is probability of occurrences
Red-eyed Vireo- The more area there is (90%), the more likely birds will live their. Its easier to live in a big area to find food and hide from predators. Area affects ecological function.
Scarlet Tanager- Has a slightly lower probability (85%) for occurrences because they can’t fill big areas as easily.
Wood Thrush- It levels at 50% and lives in areas between 32 to 1000 (hectars)
Ovenbird- It levels at 70% around an area of 100 hectars.
What happened in the nest experiment that was performed? What was the outcome?
The experimentalist put artificial nests in a forest
- After 7 days on the edge of the forest, 30% were eaten
- After 14 days on the edge, 100% were eaten
- After 7 days in the middle of the forest, 15% were open
- After 14 days in the middle of the forest, 40% were eaten
- After 25 days in the middle of the forest, 80% were eaten
The same can go for plants.
What are the 2 patterns of extinction rates with species on an island?
The further from a mainland, has a low amount of species
The closer to a mainland, the more species there are
(Example: Galápagos Island species)
Metropoltian Dynamics:
What do the graphs tell us?
Big circles- Big populations
Small circles- Small populations
Some populations are closer together than others which affects pollination and seed dispersal
Some populations may last a long time because they are preserved or not near human activity. Longevity plays a role that determine if a species can persist.
Size, shape, and quality distances determines colonization of land
The ones further to the right have a higher death rate (Called a “sink”). The seeds there can’t mix and the plants that are there won’t be there for a long time.
Checkerspot Butterflies:
Explain what is happening in these two graphs
Left Hand Graph:
- The number of butterflies varied from year to year (over decades) in a preserve
- This graph is unique cause there’s a lot of variation and there could have been a disease one year
Right Hand Graph:
- If you look at the solid line for letter H, it started low and went from 200 to 5000 in the population (in six years)
- Then went back down 300 then went up to 8000
- This population had a different biology than area G and C
- The G line area went extinct then came back up a little and then went back to being extinct
- In dry years, the plants could not grow and the decreases happened in almost all the populations except H, because they had the advantages of being resistant to poisons and changes in habitat
- Different places = Different biologies
Restoration Ecology: What is an ecological taget?
The type of species you would want to save or bring back to an area. Used for restoration.
Example: Wood and plant species protected by insects
How can we put more green spots on the planet?
Use soil
Use seed dispersals and Pollinators
Have corridors
(Urban area can’t acess restored areas and also invasives)
Placing grass seed to restore the soil to still make it a habitat
What happened with the freshkills landfill?
In Staten Island, the professor planted native species on the landfill to see how seed dispersal and pollination worked. Birds are going to birch on the trees and they are bringing in seeds from a lot of plants.
- 20,000 yards of soil compost distributed
Why are pollinators essential in restoration ecology?
Essential for plant reproduction . In order to have restoration be successful, there needs to be mutualism between animals
What types of ecological services are valued in restoration ecology?
Provisioning
Regulating
Habitat or supporting
Cultural
What makes a good habitat?
Structure and high density of plants
How have humans impacted urban soils?
- Variable
- Compaction
- Hydrophobic crust
- Elevated pH
- Restricted aeration and water drainage
- Nutrient cycling and soil organisms
- Pollution
- Higher soil temperature
How do we fix urban soils (especially in Manhattan)
Fix ph of soil by adding lime, nutrients
Adding new soil from manhattan- Old soil, steming is composting (leaves)
Scatter 15-16 acres of soil covering land
Plant as much as possible because species will die out in 20-40 years
What generally happens during photosynthesis?
- Oxygen given off as a byproduct
- CHO converted into starch and sugar
- Plants use oxygen for mitochondria
Why don’t evergreens lose their leaves?
Evergreen leaves/needles survive the winter because they are protected by a thick, waxy cuticle. This heavy coating also helps to reduce water loss from the leaves. In addition, rather than the thin, watery sap that is found in the cells of deciduous leaves, evergreen leaves have a kind of “antifreeze” in their cells that protect them from freezing.
What are the 4 benefits of being evergreen?
1. If you can keep your leaf all year long, you can make sugar on days when the temperature and water supply are present. You can always do photosynthesis. You could make more leaves and can get more carbon. Evergreen if efficient.
2. Nutrient requirement is much lower when you don’t lose your leaves that plays an advantage.
3. You don’t need much energy to rebuild leaves.
4. You get more nutrients in the leaves. The shorter the summer and longer the winter, the evergreens have an advantage.
ALSO evergreen leaves are not shaded since the trees are triangular than oak tress where they are just in a circle
Evergreen: Growth rate vs. time
Make a statement about this.
Evergreens grow much more slowly over time than deciduous plants
Evergreen: Growth rate vs. Nutrients
Evergreens can’t grow when it has low nutrients, however deciduous plants can.
With a high level of nutrients they can grow.
Describe with the compensation of light with evergreen trees.
Leaves distribute evenly with the sun
When the plants in an environment uses energy the same rate that it’s making it
Why are pigments importment?
- Accessory pigments allow a plant that doesn’t have sunlight (underwater plants) to still live
Billiproteins and caratnoids- seaweed and algae
What are the pathways of photosynthesis? What is CAM?
- A 3 carbon molecule that can metabolize to build other molecules along with water and oxygen
Crassulacean acid metabolism- Breaks photosynthesis into 2 steps. In a plant using full CAM, the stomata in the leaves remain shut during the day to reduce evapotranspiration, but open at night to collect carbon dioxide. Stomata closes during the day but open during the night. (Seculence) Large vacuoles to hold water.
Name a fact about misteltoes
- Roots of the mistletoe are parasitic
- They need a host plant to take water from
- We use it culturally
What does this graph on global diversity represent?
Comparison of warm and cold environments with rainfall
Temperate Rainforest- 8 feet of rainfall
Temperate forest- In the middle
There are 25 habitats in the world
*They can’t be 2 extreame environments coexisting
Name an environment and list its plants
Continents separated and so did diversity of species
Red represents the desert and its in California where the mountains are
Bright Yellow- Many Grasslands in South America and the lower part of Africa
Dark Yellow- Savannah
Prairie- Occupied by herbivores
Glacier- Covered in snow and wildflowers
Chaparral- Dry grassland
What does this graph represent?
Represents numbers of breeding land-bird species in different parts of North America
How is climate change currently affecting New Jersey and California?
Glacier in Morristown melted
Their used to be more land connected to new jersey and as glaciers melted, the land went under water
Crops are failing in Iowa and California is having a water crisis. It will one day look a like New Mexico in terms of its dryness.
How has the human footprint been affecting our world
- Pollution/emissions
- Destruction
What did the 2013 Climate Risk Info say?
Flood heights will go from 15ft to 17.6ft by 2050
Air temperature will go from 3 to 6.5 degrees fahrenheit by 2050
Sea levels will rise 11 inches to 31 inches by 2050
By 2050 NYC temperature will rise by 6.5 degrees fahrenheit and sea level will rise by 31 inches
Changing plant ecology Interactions with a changing climate will affect…
Range limits- Moving seeds north will be harder
Germination of seeds with their dormancy
Pollination
Seed dispersal- Not many animals available to disperse seeds
Herbivory/pathogens- Bacteria and beetles
Growth and survivorship/stress
Community interaction among plant species- Communities will get broken with a higher climate
People and plants: New interplay- Their will be a new pattern of life on Earth
What happens to species as the climate gets warmer? (Refer to graph)
0- Where we are today
Left Graph: Represent animals and plants
Each symbol represent a different group of organisms
Everything is moving north because of their biology by many kilometers
The Y-axis is the observed shifts of the organisms
Right Graph: Represent a Mountain Range
As the world warms, higher elevation on mountains get warmer so plants can grow higher up
Plant are 100ft higher than they used to be which is significant
What does this graph represent and tell us?
Observed latitudinal shifts of the northern range boundaries of species within four exemplar taxonomic groups, studied over 25 years in Britain. (A) Spiders (85 species), (B) ground beetles (59 species), (C) butterflies (29 species), and (D) grasshoppers and allies (22 species). Positive latitudinal shifts indicate movement toward the north (pole); negative values indicate shifts toward the south (Equator).
What will happen to lands near the coast?
Many lands will become marsh lands in the future
More water will move in and land will be lost
Where are the future flood zones?
- Mostly in Brooklyn and Queens in this picture for New York
What is the ecologist’s role to save the planet?
Ecosystem services
Solutions to urban challenges
Ecological preparedness
What is happening with global temperature and carbon dioxide emissions?
There is a higher slope of carbon dioxide since WW2
Measures global temperature around the world
The last several years have been the hottest on Earth
things will continue to get hotter
What is the significance of Hurricane Sandy, Boston Harbor, Jamaica Bay and Mississippi River?
Huge sea level rise projections happened
Much more land will get flooded in those areas with episodic flooding
In 100 years many more things will be flooded and is even worse with storms
Boston is going to go underwater in 100 years
Many people will be suffering as well as subways, trains, and bus lines
We need to be rethinking the boston harbor edge and how to protect it
Maybe build up a vegetated dune where few people live
Resiliency to save the planet includes…
Ecology & Environments
Economy
Culture
What will happen to the New Jersey Shoreline and coast?
The shoreline wIll be very thin from ocean currents
Why are the pinelands important in relation to rising sea levels?
It’s where the shoreline actually starts and supports marine lif
Mythology:
What anology was given about Usyllyus and climate change?
Usyllyus was very smart and clever to win the war for the greeks
Instead of going to war he acted crazy and plowed the beach with an ox and a horse which didn’t make sense
He pulled his plow back to protect the baby under it to stop his “act”
Its an analogy of what were are doing and we are usyllus doing crazy human activity
What are the negative effects of purple loosestrife (Lythrum Salicaria)?
- Disrupts wetland ecosystems by displacing native plants and animals
- It is agressive and competitive and is a disturbance for vegetation
- This plant takes away an animals food source
Does purple loosestife have the same negative effects in its native range? Why or why not?
- No, it does not because the species is more controlled in Europe where vegetation is not destroyed
What methods have been used to control the species?
- Cutting them (not effective)
- Flooding them
- Fires
- Mowing
- Chemicals/Pesticides
What is biocontrol? What advantage does it have?
- It is taking control of a non-native species by introducing another species that is a predator/parasite to attack it in its native environment
ON EXAM: Describe the process of developing and testing bio control agents.
- Identify pest species
- Survey for natural enemies to attack the pest
- Determine host specificity and impact on the targeted species and non targets for safety
- Get approval from federal and state officials
- Test the pest species and its attacking enemy to see if their are reduced densities of the pest species
- Release the enemy for biological control and evaluate it over the long term
How are insects used to control loosestrife?
- They can eat leaves on a plant to stunt its growth and reduce seed production
- Deposits eggs (larvae) into the stems of the plant to destroy a plants nutrient source
What are pollen cells/grains?
The pollen grain is the structure used to transport the male gamete to the female part of a flower. Pollen must be strong to protect the male gametes on their journey.
What is wind pollination?
Is a form of pollination where by pollen is distributed by wind
Describe cycad pollination by beetles
- Cycads have been proven to be insect pollinated by a strong smell
- Cycads have symbiotic associations with host-specific insects, mostly beetles and are attracted to cycad cones
What are shortcomings of biocontrol?
- The chosen predators to kill the pest may switch to a different target
- Its a slow process
- Involves a lot of planning and money
- No followup
What is buzz pollination?
Is a technique used by some bees using vibrations to release pollen which is more or less firmly held by the anthers, which makes pollination more efficient.
How are UV colors are useful to bees?
- Bees base all their colors on UV light and blue and yellow colors
- The UV light designates where the nectar is for the bees
What are specialized visitors?
- When bees are specialized on a specific pollen source
- What is an example floral mimics? (sexual deception by orchids)
What happens with blow flies on dead horse arum?
- Orchids look like wasps that release a similar phermone of female wasps and the male wasps get confused and mate with the flower
- The dead-horse arum when it’s ready to pollinate, the flower begins to generate a scent. The scent smells like rotting flesh, which attracts blow-flies. The flies, looking for a place to lay their eggs, crawl into a pocket around the base of the flower stalk.
- There, the blow-flies are trapped by spines and filaments. If these flies had previously visited another dead-horse arum, they transfer the pollen they picked up there to the female parts of the plant.
- The next day, when the male parts of the flower are producing pollen, the flies, now coated with this pollen, are released to pollinate another arum.
Titan arum – huge, monocarpic
- The largest flower in the world that smells like rotten fish thats attracts insects
What are oil rewards?
- Flowers that have scented oils are used to attract females
- BUT it doesn’t come for free because its super slippery and somtimes the flower defends itself to keep the bee’s away
What are some unusual orchids?
Red orchid
Describe veterbrate pollination involving geckos, lemurs, and perching birds
- When nectar is hard to get out of a palnt so lemurs and other vertebrates get it by using traits such as having long tongues
- They usually get pollen on them that is used to pollinate other plants
- Lemurs climb on plants
How are hummingbirds related to the birds and the bees?
- Hummingbirds collect the sweet nectar from the flower and they get pollen on their neck to fertilize other plants.
- They have a color spectrum like us and can see blue and red easily
- Lack a sense of smell
What is special about Heliotropic poppies and arctic plants?
They are always facing the sun in order to get as much light as possible to survive
Cushion plants in the high mountains
- Have small rounded humps to conserve heat
Fig wasps: Describe their pollination method
- The fertilized female wasp enters the fig.
- She crawls inside the fig and pollinates some of the female flowers. She lays her eggs inside some of the flowers and dies.
- After weeks of development in their galls, the male wasps emerge before females through holes they produce by chewing the galls. The male wasps then fertilize the females by depositing semen in the hole in the gall.
- The males later returns to the females and enlarge the holes to enable the females to emerge and then the males die.
What are Lithops which are the window plants of South Africa?
- Lithops cactus plants are often called “living stones” but they also look a bit like cloven hooves. These small, split succulents are native to deserts.
What is cross-pollination?
The transfer of pollen from the anther of a flower of one plant to the stigma of the flower of another plant of the same species.
Describe the importance of Mt. Roraima, Venezuela (Carnivorous plants Drosera, bladderworts)
Some plants - Have a slippery hole for pollinators where they slip into the plant stem and are drowned to death and ingested by the pant
Bladderwort- Traps organsims underwater using differences in air pressure
Drossera- Catch insects by using sticky scented hairs
Describe the aspects of the giant Amazon water lilies (leaves and pollination)
- Have spines to protect itself and are boyant in water
- It is 6 feet in diameter
- Grow flowers that give off a strong perfume and the flower closes at night
- The flower attracts beetles on its first day to get pollinated
What is the importance of swamp and mangrove apatations?
- Through physiological adaptations, mangroves are able to live in harsh saline environments.
- Mangrove trees are adapted for survival in oxygen-poor or anaerobic sediments through specialized root structures
- Mangroves have poorly developed, shallow below-ground root systems while having well-developed aerial roots. These aerial roots allow for the transport of atmospheric gases to the underground roots.
What are the adaptations to kelp on the rocky coast?
- Moved with the tide to gather light
- Live in fresh and salt water
What is the role of phytoplankton?
- Are the autotrophic components of the plankton community and a key factor of oceans, seas and freshwater basin ecosystems
- Move with the tide to gather light
Name some plants we saw on the Herbarium tour
What is Endolithic algae, in arctic stones?
- Grow slowly in rocks
- Burst into bloom during the summer months and are close to the ground from the wind
Name some more plants and their features from the hebarium
Arctic plant adaptations
- Are close to the ground to protect them from the wind
- Have a short growing season when there is warmth
- Use dead animals to grow from their warmth and nutrients
- Always faces the sun to not waste any sunlight they need to survive
- Have small rounded humps to conserve heat
How do some plants protect themselves from the cold?
- Plants can have dense hairs
- Dead leaves are used to prevent them from getting ice solid
- Plants can fold over their thick leaves at night to protect themselves
What are some drought adaptations regarding the Namib Desert?
- Self amputation when plants choose to loose leaves to survive
- Some small plants have cones that dont break until rain comes where they then can produce flowers
Describe the aspects of saguaro cacti of Arizona
- Are large succlents that retain water
- Grow high to collect even the slightest bit of water before it evaporates
Name some examples of seed dormancy as a desert adaptation
- Live underground where its cool OR in the hot sand until the rain arrives and the desert turns into a meadow
- The plants produce rapidly after a rainfall
Why are herbariums important?
Beyond their customary value to taxonomy, herbarium collections have become crucial for a wide array of studies including such things as reconstruction of plant phylogeny, the spread and habitat preferences of invasive species, population trends of rare plants, identifying priority sites for conservation, pollination ecology, education, forensic studies, ethnobotanical studies, and phenology studies to name a few.
What is convergent evolution?
The process whereby organisms not closely related (not monophyletic), independently evolve similar traits as a result of having to adapt to similar environments or ecological niches.
What is the difference between
Euphobia (Africa)- Old (Chemical defenses)
Cacti (Arizona)- New World (physical defenses)
