Importance of Ecology Flashcards
Knowledge of carbon cycle
Can address big questions related to carbon cycling among plants and biosphere
Global warming
Knowledge of nitrogen cycle
Look if enough N or P to support increased growth of plants due to rising CO2
Ecological Maxims
- You can never do just one thing
- Everything goes somewhere
- No population can increase in size forever
- There is no free lunch
- Evolution matters
- Time matters
- Space matters
- Life would be impossible without species interactions
Major takeaways from the course
There are different environments across Earth that put different pressures on the organisms in them
Organisms are shaped by interaction with others
To understand pattern in ecology- think about basic mechanisms
Much of biology understood by long term histories of selective pressures from environment and interactions with other organisms
Understand mechanisms important as we push resources to cascading failure
Positive feedback
Destabilizing
From an equilibrium point: adding a bit of something leads to further increase in that thing
Decreasing a bit of something leads to further decreases in that thing
0 or 100
Ex. of Positive Feedback
Allee effects like inbreeding depression and pollination
Trick or treating
Densities around town
Inbreeding increases likelihood of offspring with harmful genes and create cycle that amplify negative effects over time
Negative feedback
Stabilizing
From an equilibrium point:
Adding a bit of something leads decreases in that thing
Decreasing a bit of something leads to increases in that thing
Ex. of negative feedback
Resource limitation, number of species on an island, time spent on a class and grade
Ex. Resource limitation because resources limit growth and prevent overuse
Adding resources, populations use, causing resource to decrease
Decrease resources, fewer population use, causing resource to recover and increase over time
