LEC 9/3 Ecology1 Flashcards
def: eco
home
def: logy
understanding
Fact
ecology is NOT the same as environmentalism
def: environmentalism
social movement dedicated to protecting the natural world
def: ecology
is the scientific study of the interactions between organism and their environments
def: abiotic factors
non-living chemical and physical factors. ex o2, sunlight, cO2
def: biotic factors
living organisms. ex bees, birds, plants get eaten, bacteria in stomach
fact
organism interact with environment and can modify their environment for their survival
def: population ecology
group of individuals
def: community ecology
all organisms in a particular area
def: ecosystem ecology
all organisms and abiotic factors
def: population
group of individuals of same species living in a particular area
def: population ecology
studies how and why populations change
def: growth rate
change in the size of a population expressed as a percentage of the population
how does a pop. grow b a fixed growth rate?
exponential
def: exponential growth
j-shaped curve, fixed % rather then a fix amount, takes less time to double the population. ex money in savings amount over time it keeps growing
under which environmental conditions does exponential growth happen?
under unlimited resources, endless amount food, space, no disease, no predators
in nature, can an exponential growth continue forever?
no, resources are limited not endless.
what are some environmental resistance that low down exponential growth?
water, space, food, predators, disease
during logistic growth what happens?
pop grows exponentially
when resources dwindle, growth slows close to zero
births=deaths
def: carrying capacity
pop size stabilizes, the max # of individuals of a given species that the environment can sustain (s-shaped curve)
will the carrying capacity be the same for rabbits in tasmania?
no because rabbits are much smaller and require less resources.
fact
it took 1.5million yrs to reach the 1st billion (human pop)
fact
earth’s carrying capacity for humans is between 4-16 billion
fact
higher consumption= higher footprint
def: ecological footprint
measures the amount of earth surface that an individual or a country needs
how does ecological footprint and carrying capacity relate to each other?
higher footprint the less carrying capacity
