Introduction Flashcards
Define the term Ecology, it is the study of what? Coined by who? Current public usage?
- “Oikos”
- Ernst Haeckel 1869
- study of the relationships, distribution and abundance of organisms in the environment
- Ecology as an environmental science as physics is to engineering (Principle vs Application)
What 5 components encompass ecology?
- Organisms, populations, communities, ecosystems, earth (as a biosphere)
Explain one component of each of 5 components that encompass ecology.
- Organisms look at individual plants and animals (behavioural ecology)
- Populations look at groups of conspecific individuals living in the same place at the same time (population ecology)
- Communities are all the species of plants and animals living in the same place at the same time (community ecology)
- Ecosystems is the totality of all communities in the same place and the same time
- Biosphere (earth) is the totality of all ecosystems (deep ecology)
Define Ecological genetics. Name the 4 components of it
genetic variability, natural selection, evolution, and geological timetable
What facets foes ecological genetics and genomics look at?
- examines the genetic and phenotypic variability in natural populations of plants and animals – linked to their relationship to the ecological process
- variability is the norm in natural populations
Why is genetics and genomics critical ecological processes? and what sorts of differences do these entail?
- since each individual in a population is genetically different from all other individuals
- theses differences are in morphology and behaviour
What are some examples of morphological and behavioural differences?
- shape, size, pattern, colour
flowering time, nesting, foraging method, defense
How does genetic variability occur? what are the two resulting cases when a genotype is either AA or AB?
- genetic variability originates with a mutation (point and chromosomal) leading to the production of a different allele
- if all individuals are AA (two of the same alleles) population is referred to monomorphic for that locus – homozygote
- if one or more individuals in the population are AB, the population is referred to as polymorphic for that locus – heterozygote
On average what percentage of loci/individuals are polymorphic?
- 5-15% of individuals
- roughly 20,000 genes in an individual
Is there a correlation between population size and heterozygosity?
- there is a relation between heterozygosity and population size
- in smaller populations, one will expect to experience little genetic variability
- the proportion of heterozygosity increases with increase in population size
What happens in an experiment with genetic variation as generations are grown while maintaining the original population size? What does this experiment bring to light?
- over time, number of generations, there will be a general trend of loss of heterozygosity (we are examining the change in heterozygosity as a percentage)
- examples of populations dying out altogether
- results in inbreeding - and emergence of recessive traits
Using the example of survivorship in new born zoo animals, explain the 3 trends in the rates of juvenile mortality of outbreds (AB) and inbreds (AA)
- while you still observe mortality in outbreds, there is a higher rate of mortality in the inbreds
- reduced numbers of individuals results in increased inbreeding
- increased inbreeding leads to increased homozygosity (reduced heterozygosity)
- increased homozygosity
What is one challenge with increasing rates of homozygosity within a population, give an example.
- homozygosity will lead to the inability to cope with pathogens and parasites from a lack of immunocompetence resulting in disease and death
- persistence of populations over 50 years in relation to population size of Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep
Define MVP
- minimum viable population
- it is the ability to retain 90% of genetic variability after 200 years
What minimum viable population size will maintain genetic variability? give an example.
- the population is dependent on the amount of habitat it needs
- a mountain lion vs a mouses habitat needs
