Introduction to Ecology

Question 1

is the scientific study of the distribution and abundance of organisms, and their interactions with the environment.

Answer 1

Ecology

Question 2

The roots of ecology, “oikos” and “logos” mean..

Answer 2

Oikos - House

Logos - Study

Question 3

The scientific approach dating back to European enlightenment of sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

Answer 3

Hypothetico - deductive approach

Question 4

The scientific sequence

Answer 4

Observations - Hypothesis - Predictions - Experiment

Question 5

A suggested explanation for a phenomena, based upon a conceptual working model of how a system works

Answer 5

Hypothesis

Question 6

If predictions of the hypothesis are not correct, it becomes

Answer 6

Falsified

Question 7

Result after hypotheses are held true for multiple experiments, they explain how the world works and they inspire future research but limit its direction

Answer 7

Scientific Paradigms

Question 8

The zonesomata fly experiment tested why the wings evolved, what was confirmed?

Answer 8

They evolved them to scare away jumping spiders because the jumping spiders did not attack zonesemata with their own wings.

Question 9

Why does ecology lack a single scientific paradigm? In other words, why is it an exciting field where new discoveries can have an enormous impact?

Answer 9

Because many of its underlying ideas have not been suffieciently tested or have crumbled.

Question 10

The four levels of organization in ecology

Answer 10

Individuals
Populations
Communities
Ecosystems

Question 11

Is it always easy to identify individuals (single, discrete organisms)?

Answer 11

No. The distinction can be arbitrary or nonexistent like Aspen trees or fungus mycellium which are all interconnected underground.

Question 12

What kind of ecology examines how a cave cricket finds its way in and out of the entrance of a cave?

Answer 12

Organismal Ecology

Question 13

Very frequently, these questions concern abundance, density, population growth, and limits to growth. For instance, this ecologist might study the extent to which the number of available nest sites affects the maximum number of tropicbirds an island can sustain.

Answer 13

Population Ecology

Question 14

This ecologist might ask questions about the extent to which parasitic wasps control outbreaks of pine sawflies, and whether the presence of parasitoids is necessary for the presence of pine trees.

Answer 14

Community Ecologist

Question 15

interacting assemblages of living things living in a particular area, accounting also for the nonliving components, such as light, water, nutrients, soil, and seasonality, that are important to life.

Answer 15

Ecosystem Ecologist

Question 16

True/False: There are ecosystems nested within other ecosystems

Answer 16

True

Question 17

might ask questions about the role of bat guano entering the caves, and the extent to which nutrients and energy brought in by the bats from outside, via their guano, support the nonphotosynthetic ecosystem in the cave.

Answer 17

Ecosystem Ecology

Question 18

Says that a species is a group of actually or potentially interbreeding organisms that can mate and produce fertile offspring

Answer 18

Biological Species Concept

Question 19

Says that species are groups of organisms that share certain morphological or biochemical traits, used to study fossils

Answer 19

Morphological species concept

Question 20

A species is a discrete lineage, propagated, ancestor to descendent through time, which is recognizably different from other such lineages and shares a distinct evolutionary history. It defines a species by its relationship to other species.

Answer 20

Phylogenic Species Concept

Question 21

Researchers examined the importance of birds in controlling herbivores by putting some trees in cages. This was an example of

Answer 21

Ecological Hypothesis Test

Question 22

Are ecological experiments often reproducible? Why or why not

Answer 22

No. Conditions vary from year to year and place to place. This yields mixed results.

Question 23

Shorter than the evolutionary time scale, it represents ecological time scales that may occur over days to millenia.

Answer 23

Ecological Time Scale

Question 24

broad assemblages of plant and animal communities generally defined by the dominant vegetation

Answer 24

Biomes

Question 25

Paint a broad swath of an area based upon what the dominant vegetation looks like.

Answer 25

Biomes

Question 26

Major ecosystems that result from predictable patterns of climate as influenced by latitude, global position, and climate. More specific form of biomes.

Answer 26

Ecoregion

Question 27

have characteristic vegetation determined by the amount and timing of water, the amount of available sunlight, and by temperature.

Answer 27

Terrestrial Biomes

Question 28

provides a spatial structure to terrestrial biomes

Answer 28

Vegetation

Question 29

creates micro-environments important to various different organisms

Answer 29

Spatial Structure

Question 30

The 4 major physical factors that influence terrestrial biomes

Answer 30

Rainfall Timing of rainfall Sunlight Disturbance

Question 31

Warm wet areas favor... Intermediate areas favor.... Little precipitation favors...

Answer 31

Rainforests Grassland or forest (depending on seasonality) Tundra and desert

Question 32

characterized by the lack of trees, the dominant vegetation is lichens, annual grasses, and, in some places, very specially adapted shrubs and woody plants. Plants and insects flourish during the short growing season

Answer 32

Tundra

Question 33

occurs in polar climates and at high elevations, where the growing season is very short. Nearly all precipitation falls as snow

Answer 33

Tundra

Question 34

Cone-bearing trees such as pine, spruce, and fir dominate. most are dominated by one or a few species

Answer 34

Taiga or Coniferous Forest

Question 35

This biome is very common, covering huge areas at high latitudes or high elevations

Answer 35

Taiga or Coniferous Forest

Question 36

The cool to warm summers are the growing season Plants are dormant during the winter, when temperatures drop far too low for photosynthesis. Often, much of the precipitation falls as snow. Snow melt releases a great deal of water into the communities that make up the taiga

Answer 36

Taiga or Coniferous Forest

Question 37

Low rainfall, generally less than 30cm per year | Many are very hot (at least during the day), but some, such as the Great Basin and the Gobi, are cold most of the year

Answer 37

Desert

Question 38

The dry environment often causes a dramatic difference in temperature between day and night

Answer 38

Desert

Question 39

Grasses are usually found when water is available (they are dormant underground, or as seeds, when there is no water). Succulents, such as cacti and euphorbs, and shrubs with specialized water-saving adaptations, are present. Trees are uncommon or totally absent.

Answer 39

Desert

Question 40

Cool, rainy winters and dry summers Dense, spiny, evergreen shrubs dominate Seasonal fires Most of the plants are fire-adapted. Many species can only reproduce via periodic fires

Answer 40

Chaparral

Question 41

This biome has high biodiversity, with a great deal of endemism.

Answer 41

Chaparral

Question 42

This biome is rather uncommon, being confined to relatively few locations with a Mediterranean climate, California, Costal South America, South Africa, the Mediterranean, and Western Australia

Answer 42

Chaparral

Question 43

Grasses and forbs dominate. Fire and grazing prevent the establishment of shrubs and trees Moderate to low rainfall and a wide range of temperatures permit grasslands

Answer 43

Grassland

Question 44

Seasonal drought, occasional fires, and grazing by herbivores prevent the establishment of trees as the dominant vegetation It is a widespread biome

Answer 44

Grassland

Question 45

grassland mixed with scattered trees (sometimes it is considered its own biome

Answer 45

Savannah

Question 46

Moderate rainfall and mild to warm summers with cool to cold winters. Occur at mid-latitudes, where moisture is sufficient to support the growth of large trees

Answer 46

Temperate Deciduous Forest

Question 47

Winters are cold enough to prohibit photosynthesis, and most organisms go dormant or hibernate over the winter

Answer 47

Temperate Deciduous Forest

Question 48

Dense stands of deciduous trees predominate | Trees tend to have distinct vertical layers; including one or two strata of trees and an understory of shrubs

Answer 48

Temperate Deciduous Forest

Question 49

The most productive biome on the planet, also harbors the most biodiversity. Most are located near the equator, where temperatures are warm and relatively constant year round

Answer 49

Tropical Rain Forest

Question 50

Plants are broad-leafed evergreen trees, shrubs, woody vines, and epiphytes.

Answer 50

Tropical Rainforests

Question 51

plants that live on other plants, usually trees. Examples include orchids and mistletoe

Answer 51

Epiphytes

Question 52

High rainfall-usually with a pronounced rainy season and dry season. Competition for light is intense. Pronounced stratification with several layers of trees.

Answer 52

Tropical Rainforest

Question 53

tend to occur in lowland areas, where the distinction between the wet season and the dry season can be very pronounced deciduous trees, thorny shrubs, and succulents are very common

Answer 53

Tropical Dry Forests

Question 54

The broadest categorizations of terrain, divided into divisions and provinces

Answer 54

Domains

Question 55

The term “biome” is not generally applied to aquatic environments, though the oceans have been broken into

Answer 55

Oceanic Regions

Question 56

Water provides spatial structure in aquatic environments?

Answer 56

Water columns

Question 57

Light penetrates the top few meters Except in areas of upwelling, nutrient concentrations are generally low, because the remains of dead organisms sink to the bottom of the ocean.

Answer 57

Pelagic Zone

Question 58

All organisms are floating or free-swimming “nekton”. The major producers are photosynthetic algae.

Answer 58

Pelagic Zone

Question 59

Nutrients reach this zone by falling from pelagic zones. | Light is absent. This zone supports a wide variety of specially-adapted organisms

Answer 59

Abyssal Zone

Question 60

areas covered in water that support aquatic plants They range from periodically flooded regions, to soil that is saturated with water during the growing season, to permanently flooded areas

Answer 60

Wetlands

Question 61

Wetlands that occur at the mouths of rivers

Answer 61

Estuaries

Question 62

Wetlands that are flooded areas dominated by trees

Answer 62

Swamps

Question 63

Wetlands that are flooded areas dominated by sedges and grasses

Answer 63

Marshes

Question 64

Which direction on the earth does biodiversity increase, it's called the latitudinal gradient

Answer 64

Towards the equator

Question 65

True/False: Reason for increasing biodiversity towards equator is clear cut

Answer 65

No

Question 66

Theories of why biodiversity increases towards tropics.

Answer 66

1) greater productivity in tropics 2) history 3) complexity of habitats 4) less disturbance