exam 6 (no biomes) Flashcards
1
Q
biosphere
A
global ecosystem
the sum of all the planet’s ecosystems and landscapes
2
Q
global ecology
A
how the regional exchange of energy and materials influences the functioning and distribution of organisms across the biosphere
3
Q
landscape
A
or seascape
mosaic of connected ecosystems
4
Q
landscape ecology
A
focuses on the factors controlling exchanges of energy, materials and organisms from across multiple ecosystems
5
Q
ecosystem
A
the community of orgamisms in an area and the physical factors with which those organisms interat
LIVING AND NONLIVING THINGS
6
Q
ecosystem ecology
A
emphasizes energy flow and chemical cycling between organisms and the environment
LIVING AND NONLIVING
7
Q
community
A
group of populations of different species in an area
LIVING ONLY
8
Q
community ecology
A
examines how interactions between species, such as predation and competitoon, affect the community structure and organization
LIVING ONLY
9
Q
population
A
group of individuals of the same species living in an area
10
Q
population ecology
A
analyzes factors that affect population size and how and why it changes through time
1 SPECIES ONLY
11
Q
organismal ecology
A
includes subdisciplines of physiological, evolutionary, and behavioral ecology, is concerned with how an organism’s structure, physiology and behavior meet the challenges posed by its enviroment
12
Q
ecology
A
scientific stufy of the interactions between organisms and the environment
13
Q
weather
A
short term conditions of temperature and percipitation and wind in a given area
14
Q
climate
A
the long term prevailing weather conditions in a given area
15
Q
4 physical factors of climate
A
temperature
percipitation
sunlight
wind
16
Q
abiotic
A
nonliving factors
17
Q
biotic
A
living factors
18
Q
macroclimate
A
climate at a global, regional, and landscape level
19
Q
march equinox
A
equator faces sun directly
neither pole tilts toward sun
all regions on earth experience 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness
20
Q
december solstice
A
northern hemisphere tilts away from sun and has shortest day and longest night
southern hemisphere tilts toward sun and has longest day and shortest night
21
Q
september equinox
A
equator faces sun directly
neither pole tilts toward sun
all regions on earh experience 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness
22
Q
june solstice
A
northern hemisphere tilts toward sun and has longest day and shortest night
southern hemisphere tilts away from sun and has shortest day and longest night
23
Q
california current temp
A
goes down the west coast
is cold
24
Q
gulf stream current temp
A
goes from the gulf (cuba area) and rises to europe and netherlands and that place
warm to cool
25
labrador current
east coast of north america from greenland is cold
26
biomes
major life zones characterized by vegetation type or by the physical environment
27
climograph
plot of the annual mean temperature and precipitation in a particular region
28
distrubbance
an event such as a storm, fire, or human activity that changes a community, removing organisms from it and altering resoiurce availability
29
ecotone
the area of intergradation between biomes may be wide or narrow
30
canopy
in many forests the layers rom top to bottom consist of the upper canopy, the low tree layer, the shrub understory, the ground layer of herbaceous plants, the forest floor (litter layer) and the root layer
31
photic zone
wherre there is sufficient light for photosynthesis
32
aphotic zone
where little light penetrates
33
pelagic zone
the photic zone and aphotic zone combined
34
benthic zone
deep or shallow
just the bottom of the ones that is like ground and stuff
consists of organic and inorganic sediments and is occupied by communities of organisms called BENTHOS
35
littoral zone
coast
| shallow well lit waters close to shore
36
limnetic zone
not coast
water is too deep to support rooted aquatic plants, is inhabited by a variety of phytoplankton including cyanobacteria and small drifting heterotrophs, or zooplankton that graze on the phytoplankton
37
oligotrophic lakes
nutrient poor
| oxygen rich
38
eutrophic lakes
nutrient rich
| oxygen poor
39
coral reefs
formed from the calcium carbonate skeletons of corals
40
ocean pelagic zone
vast realm of open blue water, whose surface is constantly mixed by wind-driven currents
41
deep sea hydrothermal vents
food producers are chemoautotrophic prokaryotes
| sulfur instead of oxygen
42
marine benthic zone
consists of the sea floor
| except for the sallow, near coastal areas, the marine benthic zone is dark
43
intertidal zone
periodically submerged and exposed by the tides
44
wetlands
inundated by water atleast sometimesz and support plants adapted to water saturated soil
45
estuary
transition zone between river and the sea
| salinity varies based on tide
46
thermocline
in the ocean and in most lakes, a narrow layer of abrupt temperature change called a thermocline separates the more uniformly warm upper layer form the more unifromly cold deeper waters
47
dispersal
one factor that contributes greatly to the global distribution of organisms is dispersal
the movement of individuals or gametes away from their area of orign or away from centers of high population density
48
biotic factors of dispersal
```
predators hebivors
presence of absence of pollinators
food resources
parasites
pathogens
competing organisms
```
49
abiotic factors of dispersal
```
temperature
water and oxygen
salinity
sunlight
rocks and soil
```
50
density
of a population is the number of individuals per unit area or volume
51
dispersion
is the pattern of spacing among individuals within the boundaries of the population
52
immigration
the influx of new individuals from other areas
53
emigration
the movement of individuals out of a population and into other locations
54
clumped dispersion
individuals are aggregated in patches.
plants and fungi are often clumped where soil conditions and other environmental factors favor germination and growth
insects and salamanders might be clumped because of humidity
clumping is also associated with mating behavior
sea stars group together where food is abundant
55
uniform dispersion
evenly spaced
may result from direct interactions between indiiduals in the population
some plants secrete chemicals that inhibit the germination of nearby individuals that could compete for resources
rarer than clumped patterns
56
territoriality
the defense of a bounded physical space against encroachment by other individuals
57
random disersion
unpredictable spacing
the position of each individual in a population is independent of other individuals
this pattern occurs in the absence of strong attractions or repulsions among individuals or where key physical or chemical factors are relatively constant across the study area
58
demography
the study of the vital statistics of populations and how they change over time
59
life tables
age specific summaries of the survival pattern of a population
60
cohort
the best way to construct a life table is to follow the fate of a cohort, a group of individuals the same age, form birth until all of the individuals are dead
61
survivorship curve
a plot of the proprotion or numbers in a cohort still alive at each age
62
type I curve
flat at the start, reflecting low death rates during early and middle life, and then drops steeply as death rates increase among older age-groups
many large mammals, including humans, that produce few offspring but provide them with good care exhibit this kind of curve
63
type III curve
drops sharply at the start, reflecting very high death rates for the young, but flattens out as death rates decline for those few individuals that survive the early period of die-off
this type of curve is usually associated with organisms that produce very large numbers of offspring but provide little or no care, such as long-lived plants, many fishes, and most marine invertebrates
64
type II curve
intermediate with a constant death rate over the organisms's life span
this kind of survivorship occurs in some rodents, invertebrates, lizards, and annual plants
65
reproductive table
fertility schedule
age specific summary of he reproductive rates in a population. it is constructed by measuring the reproductive output of a cohort from birht until death
66
change in population size equation
births+immigrants-deaths-emigrants=change in population size
67
N
population size
68
t
time
69
B
number of births in the population during the time interval
70
D
number of deaths in the time interval
71
b
annual per capita birth rate
72
m
per capita death rate
73
r
per capita rate of increase
b-m
r>0 then population is growing
r<0 then population is declinging
74
zero population growth
per capita birht and death rates are equal
75
r inst
instantaneous per capita rate of incerase
76
exponential population growth
population increae under idea conditions
77
r max
per capita rate of increase in exponential growth
78
j-shaped curve
exponential growth
79
s-shaped curve
logistical growth
80
carrying capacity
limit to the number of individuals that can occupy a habitat
81
K
carrying capacity
82
life history
the traits that affect an organism's schedule of reproduction and survival
83
k-selection
density dependent selection
| selection for traits that are sensitive to population density and are favored at high densities
84
r-selection
density independent selection
| selection for traits that maximize reproductive success in uncrowded environments (low densities)
85
density independent
a birth rate or death reate that does not change with population density
86
density dependent
birth rate that fals with rising density
87
population dynamics
all population for which we have long term data show msome fluctuations in size
such population fluctuations from year to year or place to place, called population dynamics, are influenced by many other factors and in turn eaffect other species, including our own
88
competition for resources
increasing population density intensifies competition for nutrients and other resources, reducing reproductive rates. Farmers minimize the effect of resource competition on the grouwth of grains such as wheat (Triticum aestivum) and other crops by applying fertilizers to reduce nutreint limitations on crop yield
89
intrisnic factors
physological factors
hormone
sometimes random
90
metapopulation
immigration and emigration are particularly important when a number of local populations are linked, forming a metapopulation
91
interspecific interactions
competition predation herbivory symbiosis (parasitism, mutualism, commensalism) and facilitation
92
interspecific competition
-/- that occurs when individuals of different species compete for a resource that limits their growth and survival
93
competitive exclusion
even a slight reproductive advantage will eventually lead to local elimination of the inferior competitor
94
ecological niche
the specific set of biotic and abiotic resources that an organism uses in its environment
95
resource partitioning
the differentiation of niches that enables similar species to coexist in a community
96
character displacement
the tendency for characteristics to diverge more in a sympatric than ina allopatric populations of two species
97
predation
+/-
| interaction between species in whcih one species, the predator, kills and eats the other, the prey
98
cryptic coloration
camoflouge
99
aposematic coloration
warning coloration
poison dart frog
hella bright
100
batesian mimicry
a palatable or harmless species mimics an unpalatable or harmful one
101
Mullerian mimicry
two or more unpalatable species resemble each other
102
herbivory
+/- interaction in which an organism eats part of a plant or alga
103
symbiosis
when individuals of 2 or more species live in direct and intimite contact with one another
104
parasitism
+/-
| when one organism, the parasite, derives its nourishment from another organism, the host, which is harmed in the process
105
endoparasites
parasites that live in the body of their host
106
ectoparasites
parasites that live on the external of the host
107
mutualism
+/+
| interspecific interaction that benefits both species
108
commensalism
+/0
| interaction between species that benefits one of the species but neither harms nor helps the other
109
facilitation
+/+
+/0
species can have positive effects on the survival and reproduction of other species without necessarily living in the direct and intimate contact of symbiosis
110
species diversity
the variety of different kinds of organisms that make up the community
has two components
species richness
relative abundance
111
species richness
number of different species in a community
112
relative abundance
the proportion each species represents of all individuals in the community
113
biomass`
the total mass of all individuals in a population
114
invasive species
organisms that become established outside their native range
115
trophic structure
relationships
structure and dynamics of a community also depend on the feeding relationships between organisms in different trophic levels
116
food chain
the transfer of food energy up the trophic levels from its source in plants and other autotrophs through herbivores to carnivores and eventually to decomposers
117
food webs
food chains are not isolated units but are linked together in food webs
118
dominant species
in a comunity are the species that are the most abundant or that collevtively have the highest biomass
119
keystone species
are not usually abundant in a community
| they exert strong control on community structure not by numerical might but by their pivotal ecological roles or niches
120
ecosystem engineers
species that dramatically alter their environment
121
bottom up model
postulates a unidirectional influence from lower to higher trophic levels
122
top down model
postulates the opposite
predation mainly controls community organization because predators limit herbivores, herbivores limit plants, and plants limit nutrient levels through nutrient uptake
123
biomanipulation
ecologists have applied the top down model to improve water quality in polluted lakes
124
nonequilibrium model
describes most communities as constantly changing after disturbance
125
intermediate disturbance hypothesis
states that moderate levels of disturance foster greater species diversity than do low or high levels of disturbance
high levels of disturbance reduce diversity by creating environmental stresses that exceed the tolerances of many species or by disturbing the community so often that slow growing or slow colonizing species are excluded
low levels of disturbance can reduce species diversity by allowing competitvely dominat species to exclude less competitive ones
126
ecological succession
the disturbed area may be colonized by a variety of species, whcih are gradually replaced by other species, wich are in turn replaced by stilll other species
127
primary succession
when ecological succession begins in a lifeless area
| pioneer species
128
secondary succession
occurs when an existing community has been cleared by some disturbance that leaves the soil intact
129
evapotranspiration
the evaporation of water from soil and plants together
130
pathogens
disease causing organisms and viruses
131
zoonotic pathogens
those that are transferred to humans from other animals
| either through direct contact with an infected animal or by means of an intermediate species, called a vector
