Exam 6 study questions Flashcards
What is ecology
Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with their environment
What is the goal of ecology
The central goal of ecology is to understand the distribution and abundance of organisms. How many individuals are there, where are they located and why.
Organismal ecology
Subdisciplines are physiological ecology (investigates how organisms are physiologically adapted to their environment) and behavioral ecology (how the behavior of an individual organism contributes to survival and reproductive success).
Population ecology
Factors that affect population size, how and why it changes through time. Focuses on groups of interbreeding individuals. Includes studies of species interactions. Predation, competition, parasitism and mutualism
Community ecology
Interactions between species; effect of disturbance on groups of species. Focuses on why some areas are species rich while others are species poor. Studies how species composition and community structure change over time, particularly after disturbance
Ecosystem ecology
Energy flow, chemical cycling. An ecosystem consists of all the organisms in a particular region, along with nonliving, or abiotic components. Study how nutrients and energy move among and between organisms and the surrounding atmosphere and soil or water
Landscape ecology
Factors controlling exchanges of energy, materials, organisms across ecosystems. What is the relationship between spatial patterns and ecological processes? What is the interaction among pattern, process and scale? How do ecosystems interact
Global ecology
Regional exchange of energy, materials, across the biosphere. How do changes in one area of the globe affect other regions? How do human activities influence atmospheric chemistry? How does energy use relate to global climate change
energy flow and nutrient cycling between organisms and the environment
eosystem
view of the biosphere as the global ecosystem, examines regional exchange of energy and materials
global
how an organism’s structure and behavior make it well adapted to its
environment
organismal
interactions between different species living in the same area
community
examines groups containing members of only one species to see how and why the sizes change over time
population
Biotic
describes a living component of an ecosystem; for example organisms, such as plants and animals
Abiotic
components are non-living chemical and physical factors in the environment which affect ecosystems
What are some examples of abiotic factors
temperature, sunlight/seasonality, water, wind, soil type, disturbances
rue are False: ecology and environmentalism are interchangeable terms
FALSE. Ecology provides scientific understanding of living things and their environment. Environmentalism is advocacy focused on conservation and preservation of life on Earth
Climate
is the prevailing long-term weather conditions found in an area. Climate determines broad species distributions of populations
Weather
specific short-term atmospheric conditions of temperature, precipitation, sunlight and wind. Extreme weather can impact individuals, but rarely affects populations
Proximate
Explains HOW actions occur in terms of the genetic, neurological, hormonal, and skeletal-muscular mechanisms involved
How does the animals experience during growth and development influence the response?
Ultimate
Explains WHY actions occur based on their evolutionary consequences and history
How does a particular behavior help individuals to produce offspring in a particular environment?
What is Rachel Carson famous for
She began the modern environmental movement and wrote the book Silent Spring. She thought that chemicals like DDT (which is an old pesticide) caused her to develop breast cancer
Population
groups of same species living in the same area
Community
groups of different species living in the same area
What kinds of biotic factors can limit geographic distribution
predation, parasitism, competition, disease
